Alabama

June 2, 2005

On June 2, 2005, the state of Alabama is scheduled to execute Jerry Paul Henderson, a 58-year-old white man, via lethal injection for the January 1984 murder of Jerry Wayne Haney in Talladega County.

Henderson killed Jerry Haney, his brother-in-law, on Jan. 1, 1984, in a murder-for-hire scheme orchestrated by Jerry Haney’s wife, Judy.  In May 1988, Henderson was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death.  Judy is currently serving a life term of imprisonment without the possibility of parole for her involvement in her husband’s death.

The murder-for-hire scheme was apparently hatched after Judy and her children, Tonya and Gary, came to stay with Henderson and his wife, Judy’s sister, in December 1983.  Judy and the children fled to the Henderson’s home in an effort to escape Jerry Haney’s aggressive personality and abusive behavior.  Evidence and testimony indicates that Jerry Haney possessed an “uncontrollable temper.”  That temper often manifested itself in the forms of physical and verbal abuse. 

Speaking of the December 1983 visit by Judy and her children, Henderson stated, “Judy mentioned that Jerry was coming after them [and] Tonya went into hysterics, saying that she didn’t want her daddy to come get her […] I could see terror in her eyes.  Excuse me.  I’ve never mistreated or hurt [a] child.  I don’t believe—I become very angry when somebody does.  I’m sorry, but it’s just in me.  I can’t stand it, I just become over angry and I just couldn’t control myself.” 

A pre-trial psychological evaluation of Henderson demonstrated that his inability to “control himself” was a result of a troubled upbringing.  Henderson was shipped around to various relatives throughout his childhood, never feeling as though he was truly loved by anyone—with the exception of his grandmother.  Sadly, she passed away when Henderson was just 10-years-old.  A psychologist testified at trial that this experience of a nomadic childhood, marked by feelings of dejection, produced in Henderson a “feeling to protect children.”  

Henderson has argued that his sentence was largely a product of ineffective assistance of counsel—claiming that his trial counsel put on virtually no defense during the trial’s guilt/innocence phase and introduced only a minimal amount of mitigating evidence at sentencing.  There may be some merit to Henderson’s claim that his trial counsel performed deficiently.  After all, it is difficult to fathom Henderson receiving zealous representation from a lead counsel who, at the trial’s plea proceedings, asked the prosecution, “Do you think we will be to the sentencing phase by Thursday?”

Unfortunately, Henderson’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim was procedurally barred after he waived his right to a petition that would have allowed him to preserve the claim.  Henderson contends that this waiver was not done knowingly, as he did not fully understand the petition.  Instead, he claims that the waiver was done on the suggestion of the attorney that was representing him at the time, whom he had met for the first time only one day prior.  If this is indeed true, it is very troubling, especially since this attorney possessed strong conflicts of interest—conflicts he failed to disclose to Henderson prior to representing him.  Not only was the attorney’s brother one of the prosecutors in Henderson’s trial, but he possessed a strong friendship with Jerry Haney’s brother.  These conflicts of interest, coupled with comments made by the attorney since then, call into serious question whether he truly had Henderson’s best interests at heart while representing him.  Please contact Gov. Bob Riley and request that he halt the state of Alabama's planned execution of Jerry Paul Henderson.