Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 12, 2006 20:36:24 GMT -5
Fla. Gubernatorial Nominee Acknowledges Mistake In 1990 Vote
After months of political attacks, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jim
Davis is admitting he made a mistake when he voted in 1990 in the state
Legislature to deny compensation for 2 black men convicted, and later
cleared, of killing 2 white gas station attendants.
Davis was to meet Tuesday with Freddie Pitts and Wilbert Lee to apologize
to them for his vote and admit it was mistake, after he reviewed the
voluminous record in the case, Josh Earnest, a Davis spokesman, said
Tuesday.
"In keeping his promise that he made a couple of weeks ago, Davis went
back and reviewed the record and is going to talk more about the vote
based on a fresh look at the 16-year-old case," Earnest said.
Pitts and Lee originally pleaded guilty to the 1963 killings. They claimed
they were beaten, threatened and interrogated for hours until they
admitted to the crime on the advice of their attorney, hoping they would
receive life in prison instead of the death penalty. The court, however,
sent them to death row, where they remained for 9 years.
The case was eventually overturned, but the pair were again convicted by
an all-white jury in a 2nd trial. Both had maintained their innocence, and
reports later surfaced that the prosecution had withheld evidence in the
trial. Another man eventually admitted to the killings.
They were pardoned in 1975 by then-Gov. Reubin Askew, who cited
substantial doubt about either man's guilt. The other man's confession
also played a part in the pardon.
Pitts and Lee then failed for years to get compensation for their wrongful
imprisonment. In 1990, Davis, along with 5 other lawmakers on a 10-member
panel, again denied payment to them.
They were eventually awarded $500,000 each by the Legislature in 1998.
The 1990 vote dogged the Davis campaign throughout the Democratic
gubernatorial primary race, as his then-opponent, state Sen. Rod Smith,
accused Davis of failing to undo injustice.
The issue resonated with the black community as leaders called on Davis to
admit he made a mistake. Davis had said he didn't have enough evidence at
the time to approve the compensation.
After repeated attacks throughout his campaign for governor, Davis finally
agreed to review the record again.
Even supporters called on Davis to renounce his vote.
"It is critically important to get past the possibility of being defined
as someone that does not care about African-Americans because he cast a
vote that was not favorable to two individuals who were clearly victims of
an atrocious injustice," U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings said Monday.
"I think Davis made a mistake, that's my opinion," the Miramar Democrat
said. "I think he made a bad vote."
However, Hastings, who is black, also noted that Davis has been a strong
supporter of issues that matter to the black community.
"It would be impossible for me to support Jim Davis if I felt his animus
was such that he would be harmful to a group of people because of their
race," Hastings added.
Hastings did not immediately return a telephone seeking comment Tuesday.
Davis was put on the spot at a campaign stop the weekend before the Sept.
5 primary election, when a bishop at a predominantly black church in
Riviera Beach called on the congressman to admit a mistake or explain his
vote.
"This is bigger than black versus white," the Rev. Thomas Masters, of the
New Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, said in an interview Monday.
"It's a matter of right versus wrong. It's a moral issue."
Dexter Douglas, a Tallahassee attorney who was appointed by the state to
present the first compensation request from Pitts and Lee to a claims
committee in the 1970s, said the record never showed the pair was
innocent, just that they deserved a fair trial.
He said witness testimony was sketchy and changed often.
"It could have very well happened that they were hammered into pleading
guilty, but it could also very well have been that they were guilty,"
Douglas said in an interview Monday. "I would have ruled that it presented
enough evidence of guilt that it had to be presented to a jury."
Douglas said even Askew wasn't sure of the pair's innocence when he
granted them a pardon.
"He said, no, he couldn't say they were innocent, but he granted them a
pardon because he thought they did not and could not receive a fair
trial," Douglas said.
Pitts never forgave Davis for that vote, and hoped that one day the
congressman would admit his mistake. He said Tuesday he was pleased but
also noted the timing was suspicious.
"I think this all has to be looked at with the politics that brought it
out," Pitts said. "I just wish it had been under different circumstances."
(source: The Associated Press)
After months of political attacks, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jim
Davis is admitting he made a mistake when he voted in 1990 in the state
Legislature to deny compensation for 2 black men convicted, and later
cleared, of killing 2 white gas station attendants.
Davis was to meet Tuesday with Freddie Pitts and Wilbert Lee to apologize
to them for his vote and admit it was mistake, after he reviewed the
voluminous record in the case, Josh Earnest, a Davis spokesman, said
Tuesday.
"In keeping his promise that he made a couple of weeks ago, Davis went
back and reviewed the record and is going to talk more about the vote
based on a fresh look at the 16-year-old case," Earnest said.
Pitts and Lee originally pleaded guilty to the 1963 killings. They claimed
they were beaten, threatened and interrogated for hours until they
admitted to the crime on the advice of their attorney, hoping they would
receive life in prison instead of the death penalty. The court, however,
sent them to death row, where they remained for 9 years.
The case was eventually overturned, but the pair were again convicted by
an all-white jury in a 2nd trial. Both had maintained their innocence, and
reports later surfaced that the prosecution had withheld evidence in the
trial. Another man eventually admitted to the killings.
They were pardoned in 1975 by then-Gov. Reubin Askew, who cited
substantial doubt about either man's guilt. The other man's confession
also played a part in the pardon.
Pitts and Lee then failed for years to get compensation for their wrongful
imprisonment. In 1990, Davis, along with 5 other lawmakers on a 10-member
panel, again denied payment to them.
They were eventually awarded $500,000 each by the Legislature in 1998.
The 1990 vote dogged the Davis campaign throughout the Democratic
gubernatorial primary race, as his then-opponent, state Sen. Rod Smith,
accused Davis of failing to undo injustice.
The issue resonated with the black community as leaders called on Davis to
admit he made a mistake. Davis had said he didn't have enough evidence at
the time to approve the compensation.
After repeated attacks throughout his campaign for governor, Davis finally
agreed to review the record again.
Even supporters called on Davis to renounce his vote.
"It is critically important to get past the possibility of being defined
as someone that does not care about African-Americans because he cast a
vote that was not favorable to two individuals who were clearly victims of
an atrocious injustice," U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings said Monday.
"I think Davis made a mistake, that's my opinion," the Miramar Democrat
said. "I think he made a bad vote."
However, Hastings, who is black, also noted that Davis has been a strong
supporter of issues that matter to the black community.
"It would be impossible for me to support Jim Davis if I felt his animus
was such that he would be harmful to a group of people because of their
race," Hastings added.
Hastings did not immediately return a telephone seeking comment Tuesday.
Davis was put on the spot at a campaign stop the weekend before the Sept.
5 primary election, when a bishop at a predominantly black church in
Riviera Beach called on the congressman to admit a mistake or explain his
vote.
"This is bigger than black versus white," the Rev. Thomas Masters, of the
New Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, said in an interview Monday.
"It's a matter of right versus wrong. It's a moral issue."
Dexter Douglas, a Tallahassee attorney who was appointed by the state to
present the first compensation request from Pitts and Lee to a claims
committee in the 1970s, said the record never showed the pair was
innocent, just that they deserved a fair trial.
He said witness testimony was sketchy and changed often.
"It could have very well happened that they were hammered into pleading
guilty, but it could also very well have been that they were guilty,"
Douglas said in an interview Monday. "I would have ruled that it presented
enough evidence of guilt that it had to be presented to a jury."
Douglas said even Askew wasn't sure of the pair's innocence when he
granted them a pardon.
"He said, no, he couldn't say they were innocent, but he granted them a
pardon because he thought they did not and could not receive a fair
trial," Douglas said.
Pitts never forgave Davis for that vote, and hoped that one day the
congressman would admit his mistake. He said Tuesday he was pleased but
also noted the timing was suspicious.
"I think this all has to be looked at with the politics that brought it
out," Pitts said. "I just wish it had been under different circumstances."
(source: The Associated Press)