Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 16, 2006 12:26:09 GMT -5
Alternatives for death penalty forum focus
Saturday, September 16, 2006
By COLLEEN P. DUNN
Staff Writer
VINELAND -- It was a beautiful, clear day on Monday, May 2, 1984.
Juan Melendez was enjoying his lunch outside when several FBI agents drove up, jumped out of their cars, and ordered him to the ground.
They told him he matched the description of a man wanted for murder, but Melendez, who was 33, didn't know a word of English that could help him proclaim his innocence.
"I was thinking I did not commit this crime," he said during a death penalty forum at Sacred Heart High School Friday night. "I ain't no killer. My mamma didn't raise no killer."
But a trial would soon follow.
A trial with 11 white jurors and one African American.
There was no physical evidence and he had multiple alibi witnesses, but he was convicted within a week of a first-degree murder and armed robbery in Florida.
He was put on death row -- his future resting in the arms of an electric chair.
"I felt betrayed," he said. "I was sentenced to die for a crime I did not commit."
Friday's forum was held by New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NJADP).
Melendez spoke to a crowd of about 100 people, mostly high school students, about the 17 years of his life that he spent in a state prison.
He had rats for cell mates and only four hours a week in "the yard."
But he was able to maintain hope when he befriended other inmates who taught him to read, write and speak English.
"If they had never taught me, I wouldn't have survived that place," he said. "And I wouldn't be here talking to you."
Melendez spent years in jail, even after another man confessed to "his" crime.
His freedom didn't come for 17 years, eight months and one day.
"The death penalty is a law that we as human beings should fight against," the Puerto Rican native said, adding that it only brings more suffering and pain to the families of victims and accused.
He described how shocked and unbelievably happy he was to be released, but he couldn't help but think of the people he left behind on death row who could be innocent.
"If they don't abolish the death penalty, they're gonna kill them all," he said.
"I'm still a dreamer," he continued. "I dream and pray to God that in my time, I will see the death penalty abolished."
If it doesn't happen in his life, he hopes to plant the seeds for change by speaking to groups around the country.
Melendez is currently talking at several forums with Vicki Schieber.
Her daughter, Shannon, was raped and murdered in 1998 in Center City Philadelphia.
"We had all the best things in life," she said of her family's life before May of that year.
The Schiebers were a strong, Catholic family and Shannon was brilliant and beautiful, she said.
She scored a 1590 on her SAT's and graduated from Duke University with three majors in three years.
Then she went to graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania.
They were told her apartment was in a safe area, but a serial rapist took her life.
"Losing a child to murder is a tragedy of unimaginable proportion," Schieber said.
Her killer, Troy Graves, was captured four years later in Colorado and is currently serving several life sentences.
Shannon was victimized, but then her family felt victimized by the City of Philadelphia.
"It's a common assumption that if your (loved one) is killed, you'll want the death penalty," she said.
The prosecutors approached her and said they would seek the death penalty, and she couldn't believe they didn't even ask what she wanted.
"We looked at them and said killing someone else doesn't lessen our pain," Schieber said.
The death penalty, she said, is the highest form of hatred and her religion taught her to let go of hatred.
They faced criticism for their decision from people who assumed if they didn't want the death penalty, they didn't want justice.
A study commission is currently reviewing New Jersey's death penalty system.
For more information about NJADP, visit www.njadp.org.
© 2006 Bridgeton News
Saturday, September 16, 2006
By COLLEEN P. DUNN
Staff Writer
VINELAND -- It was a beautiful, clear day on Monday, May 2, 1984.
Juan Melendez was enjoying his lunch outside when several FBI agents drove up, jumped out of their cars, and ordered him to the ground.
They told him he matched the description of a man wanted for murder, but Melendez, who was 33, didn't know a word of English that could help him proclaim his innocence.
"I was thinking I did not commit this crime," he said during a death penalty forum at Sacred Heart High School Friday night. "I ain't no killer. My mamma didn't raise no killer."
But a trial would soon follow.
A trial with 11 white jurors and one African American.
There was no physical evidence and he had multiple alibi witnesses, but he was convicted within a week of a first-degree murder and armed robbery in Florida.
He was put on death row -- his future resting in the arms of an electric chair.
"I felt betrayed," he said. "I was sentenced to die for a crime I did not commit."
Friday's forum was held by New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NJADP).
Melendez spoke to a crowd of about 100 people, mostly high school students, about the 17 years of his life that he spent in a state prison.
He had rats for cell mates and only four hours a week in "the yard."
But he was able to maintain hope when he befriended other inmates who taught him to read, write and speak English.
"If they had never taught me, I wouldn't have survived that place," he said. "And I wouldn't be here talking to you."
Melendez spent years in jail, even after another man confessed to "his" crime.
His freedom didn't come for 17 years, eight months and one day.
"The death penalty is a law that we as human beings should fight against," the Puerto Rican native said, adding that it only brings more suffering and pain to the families of victims and accused.
He described how shocked and unbelievably happy he was to be released, but he couldn't help but think of the people he left behind on death row who could be innocent.
"If they don't abolish the death penalty, they're gonna kill them all," he said.
"I'm still a dreamer," he continued. "I dream and pray to God that in my time, I will see the death penalty abolished."
If it doesn't happen in his life, he hopes to plant the seeds for change by speaking to groups around the country.
Melendez is currently talking at several forums with Vicki Schieber.
Her daughter, Shannon, was raped and murdered in 1998 in Center City Philadelphia.
"We had all the best things in life," she said of her family's life before May of that year.
The Schiebers were a strong, Catholic family and Shannon was brilliant and beautiful, she said.
She scored a 1590 on her SAT's and graduated from Duke University with three majors in three years.
Then she went to graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania.
They were told her apartment was in a safe area, but a serial rapist took her life.
"Losing a child to murder is a tragedy of unimaginable proportion," Schieber said.
Her killer, Troy Graves, was captured four years later in Colorado and is currently serving several life sentences.
Shannon was victimized, but then her family felt victimized by the City of Philadelphia.
"It's a common assumption that if your (loved one) is killed, you'll want the death penalty," she said.
The prosecutors approached her and said they would seek the death penalty, and she couldn't believe they didn't even ask what she wanted.
"We looked at them and said killing someone else doesn't lessen our pain," Schieber said.
The death penalty, she said, is the highest form of hatred and her religion taught her to let go of hatred.
They faced criticism for their decision from people who assumed if they didn't want the death penalty, they didn't want justice.
A study commission is currently reviewing New Jersey's death penalty system.
For more information about NJADP, visit www.njadp.org.
© 2006 Bridgeton News