Regs Newsletter 2

8/14/2019 Regs Newsletter 2

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REGINALD BLANTONTexas Death Row.

Interview with Dee, Founder of the Abolishment

Movement 2008

HELP SAVE A LIFE

Page 1 of 12

When I first received a letter from Reggie in

December, he said to me "You know what

makes no sense at all? My having almost all my

clothes on, I mean all the clothes I own,including head covering and an ugly green

jacket, just to stay warm in my cage. I'm

dressed as if I were outside." Reggie is a fighter,

a fighter for human rights and member of

DRIVE, an online death row organization that

uses peaceful measures to fight against prison

abuse, and injustices. Listed on the DRIVE site

are numerous articles and poetry Reggie has

written. Reggie was one of the participants of

the Texas Death Row Hunger strike in whichseveral inmates protested the conditions on the

Polunsky death row unit in Livingston Texas by

going on a hunger strike.

.

Here is my interview with Reggie, from his death rowcell, he speaks about his case, about his friend who h

was accused of murdering, and shows how he i

innocent.

Reggie, can you please give us a bio of yourself

I was born blue behind my twin brother, Robert, in a

Oakland California hospital. My dad retired from th

Navy and we moved to Texas, to be closer to mmamas side of the family, while getting away from

California's earthquakes and rapidly growing gan

culture. For 11 years I grew up in a househol possessed by dad's alcoholism, and because da

would quit his jobs a lot, we had to move a lot. A new

kid in the neighborhoods we moved to, I had to fight

lot, not necessarily to fit in, but to be left alone

Though initially fighting was something I didn't lik

to do, I had to eventually adapt to its norms. Anywa

early one morning mama rounded up my sistebrother, me and as much of our belongings we could

fit into her bronco and moved us to an apartment sh

already had waiting, divorcing herself from dad, th

fights, and from what alcoholism was doing to ou

lives.

However my relationship with mama was shattere

by what I felt was stress-relieving, overkillin

whippings she gave me. I held them against mam

just as I did the divorce. Mama and I began arguinjust as she and dad did. I would leave the house teither get into a fight at school, or on my way hom

from school, then again once I got home with mama.

www.myspace.com/freereggieb

www.freereginaldblanton.com


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Page 2 of 12

So when it came time to deciding whose rules Iwould live by, mama's or the subculture, both of

which were diametrically opposed to one another,

I chose the latter especially since the family I

identified with was outside mama's house. A

family I identified with because we were alllargely rebelling with anger against something wedidn't understand. So living as one of them, I

became one of them, a locc'd out crip

Gangbanging and criminalism was the subculture

norms, norms that led to my incarceration several

times for non-felony crimes. After going to T. Y.C. (Texas Youth Commission), when I was 16, by

the time I got out at 18, something about me

changed. I wasn't changed by their so called

"resocialization" program, but because I was

disgusted with being caught up in the system, and

the subculture that had me enslaved to it.Interesting enough, when I said "it" I meant both

the "system," that is, the juvenile system as well as

the subculture, both of which should be seen as

part of the same body. At the age of 16 I was

already in the 10th grade. When I was released, if

that is the appropriate word, from T. Y. C. I hadmy GED. I had intentions of taking T. Y. C. up on

their offer of 2-years of free college education tobecome a licensed vocational nurse, but my parole

officer John Rubulcava, refused to do the

necessary paper work to make it happen. In what I

felt was a dire attempt to save my life, whichmeant getting away from my parole officer who

seemed more concerned with violating my parole

by forcing me to work full time while reporting

and doing more community service than he was

allowed to give me each week all by city bus, then

writing me up if I was late, I tried to get him toauthorize, as they had done for another parolee,

for me to take the A. S. V. A. B. after which if I

passed, I would have been released from parole

and into the hands of the military.

But he flat out refused to even do this. So I took him

to his supervisor who begged me to give him

chance, and I did. Then a week or so later, I wa

being snatched away from my girlfriend and her

year old son whom I wanted to adopt, for th

Capital murder of a friend of mine.

Your currently on Texas Death Row, What wa

your conviction and how long have you been on

The row.

I've been on death row now for 7 years which ca

only be understood as lifetimes of incarnations. A

for what I was convicted of, you are speaking of

different type of conviction that I only hope leave

people feeling convicted that the Judicial system, a

least here in Texas, is broken. My brother Robe

and his girlfriend Latoya arrived unexpected at mapartment, to cruise around and visit family an

friends. With nothing to do, I left with them. Of th

family and friends we visited with, Carlos Garz

was one of them, or at least we tried to visit himHere is where things get difficult to discuss. Whe

we left from Carlos's apartment after getting n

response, we went to the other side of town to se

some other friends. On our way to our respectiv

homes, I asked my brother to stop by the pawn sho

so I could pawn some jewelry. It was a last minutdecision on my part. What makes this difficult t

talk about is the fact that the jewelry had previousl

belonged to Carlos. So this alone is supposed

infer my guilt. And, superficially, it would seem

questionable. But while we were on the East side

the particular side of town we were leaving frombefore we stopped by the pawn shop, somebody wa

kicking in Carlos's door, killing him.

Carlos and I had always traded or rolled dice fo

jewelry we both wore. We always had a lot jewelry that was expendable to the both of u

Besides I had been in a cleaning up process. I hamoved in with my girlfriend and changed my job t

be closer to our apartment. I had told her that after

sold the rest of my marijuana, I wasn't going to se

drugs anymore.


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Page 3 of 12

I had already been pawning my jewelry, not because

I needed money but because I was slowly cleaning

myself up. The District Attorney asked the question,

which I couldn't answer because my trial attorneyswouldn't let me testify, why I had gone all the way

to the other side of town to pawn jewelry whenthere were pawn shops in the vicinity of where

Carlos lived. If I had testified I would have

explained that I didn't "go all the way to the other

side of town to pawn jewelry."The friends and myDad we attempted to visit, who all lived in the same

neighborhood as Carlos, was already on "the other

side of town" from where my brother and I lived.

We were just cruising, and seeing friends. The DA

said "the other side of town" to imply we were

running from something. Secondly, we went to "theother side of town" that is, the Eastside, to see some

more friends, not to pawn jewelry. Again, pawning

jewelry was a last minute thought. We were there,I

had some jewelry I was slowly getting rid of

already, so I sold it. As for why a pawnshop on the

Eastside instead of where Carlos lived? Not onlywasn't I thinking about pawning anything, even if I

had, a week or so prior when I attempted to pawn

some jewelry at pawn shops in that area, they

refused to give me anything close to the jewelry'svalue.My dad who had always pawned things, even

warned me not to do business with the pawn shops

in that area. But this is not it. Two and a half months

before Carlos's murder, his girlfriend took some

pictures of Carlos and me together with some other

friends. In these pictures, not only did he have on

some of my jewelry, but I had on the very same

jewelry I was pawning. There were also pictures of

another mutual friend of ours wearing some of the

same jewelry, which he had gotten from me. These

pictures were admitted into evidence at trial.

Furthermore, Carlos's girlfriend who took these

pictures,and the mutual friend wearing the jewellery

I had given to him both testified at trial that the

jewelry did belong to me, and that Carlos and I had

traded jewelry in the past. What does this all mean?.

Reginald Blanton On Texas Death Row

That anybody that has something that previous

belonged to their friend better not hope that frie

is murdered? That's ridiculous! The real question

why was all this evidence overlooked? T

pawnshop was a rare incident of coinciden

Carlos was my friend. Kill him for jewelry? Chea

jewelry? If I was hard up for money like that, whdidn't I take any of that money that was said to b

just laying around his apartment? Then, why m

friend instead of a stranger? It doesn't make sens

Besides, I'm not petty like that. I mean, I drove

Mercedes Benz. On top of it all, I'm loyal. Carl

and his cousin knew this. I've spent my money o

them and was willing to die for them. They kne

this. My realness is unquestionable. And though

have done some stupid things in my ignorant year

never would I pawn something I stole. That beyond comprehension. It's a commonly knowfact that pawned items are ran through t

computer to determine if they are stolen.

I must emphasize we weren't the only one wh

went to Carlos's apartment before his murder eith


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But I need him to understand that my love for him

is one that can't be devoured by this predatory

system, one that was only concerned with using

him. The other day in utter disgust, I finally threw

away the only letter I had from my brother, one in

which he was fighting to express emotions, another

part of him was fighting to conceal. And as I say

this, I feel like puking. Never, I mean never, has he

told me he wanted to kill himself except for in that

letter. I feel like I've lost my brother. My mama and

step-pops has even said he's not the same. And just

a couple of months ago, his girlfriend, a new

girlfriend, searched me out and left a message on

my Myspace page maintained for me by a friend,

concerned about my brother. Here's a women I've

never met telling me that all my brother does is talk

about me. She was also trying to find out thesignificance of the number 7 because it was a

number my brother was distraught over. I told her

my brother thought as I did, that I was going to be

murdered by the state last year, 2007. She said he's

holding something inside that is tearing him apart

and that she is losing her boyfriend. This death

penalty thing is a Frankenstein. A living death that

destroys lives. There is no healing in it. None! We

are only killing ourselves spiritually, morally, and

physically, by letting it go on it's rampage.

Well, anyway, as we prepared for trial the DAs

offered me a capital murder life sentence if I didn't

force them to spend money by taking my case to

trial where they would seek death against me.

However, when I went back to court for an

evidentiary hearing concerning my state habeasappeal on my wrongful conviction, when my

appellant attorney, Scott Sullivan, asked the district

attorney that tried my case, Tamura Butler, to takethe stand, I found it peculiar that when she was

asked if she offered me a plea-deal she lied, saying

she hadn't and that doing such wasn't the practice inthe Das office.

Only later, after reading Supreme Court Justic

Thurgood Marshall's opinion in Furman V

Georgia, the 1972 case on which the death penal

was abolished, I realized why Tamura Butler ha

lied. You see, Thurgood Marshall said, DAs can

claim the death penalty as a deterrent to crime

they use it to manipulate defendants to plea for

lesser offense. What I'm trying to say is how ca

they claim that I'm such a "severe threat

society" that I need to be killed by leth

chemicals that they cannot even use on animal

after offering to keep me alive if I didn't take them

to trial? Hypocritical.

I know I'm being a bit long winded, but it is vit

that the people are made aware of how careful

constructed my case and conviction was. When wpaneled the venire members, that is, called the 10

people from which we were going to compose ou

jury to come into the courtroom, after Tamu

Butler made a comment to my attorney about

black juror being the sole "holdout" juror in

previous trial, which led to a mistrial, she calle

for a jury shuffle, shuffling all the Africa

American venire-members who were seated in th

front of the courtroom, to the back. This was he

first attempt to keep African Americans off mjury. She was hoping that we would amass a jur

before interviewing them in a process called vo

dire. And listen to that, "them." Here it is 2008 an

we are still dealing with the "them" phenomenon

Well, we fought our way through interviewin

each venire member until we finally made it to ou

first African African venire member. Yet, minu

one, the district attorney only ended up using h

peremptory challenges or strikes, which t

defense gets the same number of, to exclude th

rest of the African Americans from serving on

jury.

.


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In light of the comment Tamura Butler made about

the holdout African American jury and her jury

shuffle, my court appointed attorneys raised a

"Batson" claim, requiring her to give "race neutral"

reasons for using peremptory strikes, which may be

used to strike a venire member for any reason

except race or religion Little surprise Tamura

Butler's reasons were deemed "race-neutral" by the

presiding judge, Juanita Vasquez-Gardner.

During my appeal, after examining the transcripts

of the interviews of each venire member it was

revealed that Tamura Butler asked questions

differently toward those that became jury members

than she had the African Americans she kept off.

Whereas she educated the former as to the

application of the law, she left the latter to theirown misconceptions as to justify excluding them

from serving on my jury based on their so-called

inability to apply the appropriate law. Then when

we, my trial attorney, educated them of the law and

they said that they could apply it accordingly,

Tamura Butler claimed "vacillation," swaying

opinion, as her race-neutral reason for striking

African Americans from serving on mv jury. Aclassic example of using a persons ignorance

against them.

Going back to my State Habeas Corpus evidentiary

hearing, after Tamura Butler took the stand, my

attorney had also asked her what her reasons werefor her jury shuffle. She said that she wanted to

move to the back venire members that were defense

attorneys, social workers, and teachers, while

moving to the front those with ties to law

enforcement. However in the first 20 venire

members, where 3 of the 5 African Americans onthe panel sat, there was only one teacher and

nobody with any of. the occupations she said she

was trying to shuffle to the back of the courtroom.

The Federal Court Judge recently ruled in my cas

that the jury shuffle was "racially motivated" an

that Tamura Butler's race neutral reason for h

peremptory strike against one African Americ

was "more rationalization than rationale." Y

contradicting himself, the Federal Judge Orland

Garcia, unbelievably denied my claim that th

prosecutor, Tamura Butler racially exclud

African Americans from serving on my jury

Yet this is not, the extent of Tamura Butler

prosecutorial misconduct. The Northwest

University School of Law, Center on Wrongf

Convictions, compiled a study called "The Snitc

System" in which they reveal that the fir

wrongful conviction involved a "snitch." The stud

also revealed that of the 111 exonerated from dearow, about half, 45.9% involved snitches. What

this about? Every study I've read most cases I'v

read, as well as most stories I've heard from peop

on death row right now had a "snitch" most

"jailhouse-snitches" involved in their convictions

When I was going to trial my lawyer asked me if

knew a Frank Trujiilo. I told him that the the nam

wasn't recognizable. My lawyer told me th

person knew me and would be testifying againme. One day after going back to the county ja

from trial, I saw this one prisoner in the leg

booths in booking I had been locked up around.

threw my head back to say "what"s up" to him, yo

know, just to say hello. He faintly moved his hea

to say "what's up" back, but his expression struc

me. It was like he was either shocked or didnrecognize me. I just kept on stepping to m

destination. Then came the day during trial whe

this Frank Trujiilo was supposed to testify againme. Into the courtroom walked the same person

had said "what's up" to that day I came back from

court. I was beyond words.


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On that stand he told one lie after another. He said

that we were friends in the freeworld though I didn't

meet him until I was locked up in the county 6 for

this crime. He said that I use to give him drugs

"under the table" at this motel he supposedly worked

at to pay for the room. He even said that I came tothe motel one day trying to sell him a gun of the

same caliber used to murder Carlos. When I was

being booked for Carlos murder I was thrown into a

small room with about 15 people sitting around me.

Everybody was asking everybody what they were in

for." When I was asked I said "for the Capital Murder

of my friend." When somebody else asked if I did it I

emphatically said "hell nah, But this jailhouse snitch

Frank Trujillo who was also present in this room

which is when I first met him, said on the stand that Ihad bragged about killing Carlos in front of all these

strangers. I was enraged. But what could I do about

it? I wanted to curse him out but that would have

only made me look worse. On top of it all my trial

lawyers had me strapped in a testifying straitjacket.

This trial is the reason why I now have high-blood

pressure. Another day when I came to my lynching

of a trial, as I walked past the one-man holding cells

behind the courtroom, I passed one cell where

Tamura Butler a pretty prosecutor I might add, satnext to this same jailhouse snitch, knee to knee,

talking to him. When they saw me they sort of staredat me shocked, like I caught them doing what I

thought as I walked off: Tamura Butler using her sex-

appeal to further coax Frank Trujillo to stay the

course in their plot to kill me. During my appeal I

asked my court-appointed federal attorney what had

happened to this jailhouse snitch. He said though hehad several felonies pending in several states, after

my wrongful conviction, all he received was 1-year,time served..He went home. Judge Paul J. Kelly Jr.

said "If justice is perverted when a criminal

defendant seeks to buy testimony from a witness it is

no less perverted when the Government doesso."Where does it all stop? Little wonder why the

majority of brothers here on Texas' death row

subsist in various levels of despair. Her

recently, we just lost another brother to suicide

That's some 4 suicides in about as many year

It's enough to be urged by an imate forc

toward self-preservation, only to have youhands tied as you watch your own murde

approach you; let alone to be encaged falsel

under sensory-depriving conditions with a cas

like mine, as many brothers have; a case o

endless corruption, too much to begin breakin

down. So what does most of these brothers do

They sit silenced, until they are silentl

murdered by the state, If they dont silently ki

themselves.

.

Are You Innocent?

As for your question of "innocence" I cringe athat word. What does it mean? Obviously it ha

lost meaning to most Americans, or mor

specifically, citizens of Texas since they didn

demand abolition or at the bare minimum,

moratorium on the death penalty when th

Lone Star State killed Todd Willingham, GarGraham, Francis Newton, Justin Fuller, an

lord knows who else that was also innocent.sort of feel ashamed of that word "innocence

Probably because I'm ashamed of being here.

don't know how else to explain how that wor

makes me feel. It's not enough to be innocenhere in America.

REGINALDS MOTHER AT VISIT 2008


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You either better have DNA evidence or a video of

you at another location at the precise moment of the

crime, to prove your innocence. What does thismean for people with a messy case like mine?

Constant refusals from law firms I've contacted to

help me? Certainly everybody doesn't have cases

where there were DNA evidence.

This whole system will make you feel guiltywithout really knowing why. I think innocence

needs to be redefined because we are dealing with a

situation that goes beyond the black and white lines

of guilt and innocence which, when we are talking

about capital punishment, respectively means life in

prison or a death sentence and freedom. What 1mean is, what if I was indeed guilty? Does this take

away from the man I have finally become? Myredemption? Anybody who is keen enough to see

who I really am through my words, let alone my

activism, knows the ghettos and hoods need people

like me as much as they did Tookie Williams, to

encourage growth and development.

Texas, if not the whole American Judicial System,

has a policy of condemnation that never takes into

consideration that change is an inherent part of

human nature. I mean, Texas' prison industrialcomplex is less concerned with true rehabilitation,

and more with mere imprisonment.

This says it all. I guess I will say that I've seen too

many brothers around here who admit that they

were guilty for their crimes but it was clear that

they were changed men that could change the

communities that they came from. yet their stories

were poisoned and their value died on that gurney

with a needle in its arm. So what is innocence?

Do you feel that your lifestyle and gan

association had anything to do with your fals

conviction?

I absolutely do. They placed a spotlight on me

Police officers referring to my brother and I a

the "Blanton Boys" or "Blanton Twins"? Tha

says a lot. It's one of the reasons why I wacleaning up my look. I was even in the proces

of downgrading my car from a Mercedes t

something more practical. These things made m

a target. Then when you get in the courtroom an

you have golds in your mouth, Varsace glasses

tattoos, and you are a member of the "notoriou

CRIPS" with a criminal history? It doesn't matte

how petty that criminal history is. It doesn

matter that you don't "gangbang.". Skille

prosecutors will scare the average juror in believing you are dangerous. I guess the re

question is how do you become dangerous jus

because you have these things? Perhaps becaus

when these images are arranged right, the

become symbols that tap into and dances wit

those misconceptions that dwell in th

subconscious of each juro

Do you feel you were railroaded? Why?

I do feel I was railroaded and not only becausof what I've already said, but consider thi

Carlos' apartment door was kicked in. Detective

were able to take a clear close-up picture of th

tread-print left on the door. The shoes I wore th

entire day of Carlos' murder was taken by polic

to be examined for blood-splatter and anythin

else that would link me to his murder. Of cours

they didn't find anything. However, I told m

trial lawyer, Anthony Cantrell, to get these shoe

to show the jury that the 12-inch shoe-print oCarlos' door wasn't mine. These shoes are a siz

9. But my own attorney grilled me about i

saying "Okay, okay, we're going to get them

right now!" as if I was lying and to see if I woulfreeze up. Needless to say, he never got th

shoes.


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Page 9 of 12

Railroaded? I presented to my State Habeas Corpus

attorney, Scott Sullivan, several vital claims for

him to include in the appeal he was supposedly

filing for me, one of which was about my shoes not

matching the shoe-print on the door. It was

especially important that he included all the claims

possible at this particular stage of my appeal

because if he didn't whichever claims he left out

would be lost forever, barred from ever being

raised in later appeals. Different character, same

plot. Mr. Sullivan refused to raise these innocent

claims in my appeal. So I compiled all the carbon-

copies of letters I sent him, pleading to him to file

my claims, and went to the court with it all

showing Judge Juanita Vasquez-Gardner, of the

399th District court in San Antonio, how my own

attorney refused to represent my legal interest. Butshe utterly ignored what I sent to her certified mail.

So, then I went to the State Bar of Texas about

what Scott Sullivan had done to my appeal but they

felt he had not committed any professional

misconduct and referred me back to Juanita

Vasquez-Gardner's court. I was ignored and swept

under the rug with all the other silenced. When my

Federal attorney attempted to file these claims to

the Federal court, the Federal judge said the claims

were procedurally barred from being heard withouteven considering how I diligently sought to have

my legal interest represented, only to be ignored by

my state habeas attorney, the judge over my State

Habeas Corpus appeal, who was also my trial

judge, and even the State Bar of Texas, who is

supposed to make sure that lawyers do their jobs.

This stuff makes me sick.

What stage is your appeals at?

My appeal was denied by the 5th circuit court of

appeals. My last resort, at least judicially, will be

the Supreme Court.

How do you spend your time on Death Row?

I try to divide my day into 8-hours of rest, 8

hours of self-reflection, research, and 8-hours o

writing. Because I'm largely at war with Maya

the Sanskrit term for illusion, I'm fighting my

self-illusions, seeking to realize my Highest selfI have found this is the only way I'm able to find

that space inside the pyramid of my being

imperturbable by the harmonious-chaos tha

surrounds me. From this place I find my inner

strength which I hope shines forth as inspiration

for all these brothers here on the row. From thi

place I find the strength to delve into intens

studies, searching for keys, keys that may unlock

within me insights, solutions to the problems tha

plague us within these walls, and the us outsidethese wails; that is, our brothers and sisters in

freeworld society.

This is why I have embraced the name Omar

Huduma, which is Swahili for "The Highes

Service." Not only do I strive to realize omari

the highest, that is, my highest self, but I dedicate

my life to the upliftment of my sisters and

brothers as the highest huduma, that is, service

have to give. Together with my cadre of brothers

Christopher Young, Gabriel Gonzalez, Rober

Will, and Kenneth Foster, who is now serving a

life sentence, we have breathed life into

movement we call D.R.I.V.E.: Death Row Inner

Communalist Vanguard Engagement

We are fighting for the abolition of the Death

Penalty and as humane living conditions a

possible as long as we must be confined under an

inhumane sentence of death. We're fighting by

not only educating the public of the atrocious andfar-reaching nature cf the Death Penalty, but by

hopefully being representative of the hope and

human dignity that still exist within these wall

of death.


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Page 10 of 12

We have taken Direct Action within these walls of

death nonviolently protesting these sensory-

depriving conditions and for better treatment by thisadministration.

We dedicate a lot of time toward helping brothers

within these wails overcome their self-illusions,whether it be racism or misogyny, while trying to

get them to see that they shouldn't just givethemselves to a man-made demise as their fate

because they still have worth, one worth fighting

for. We are literally fighting from the inside out in

every sense.

What are your feelings about the death sentence?

It's counter-justice. It doesn't promote healing withthe victims' family; it creates extended victims with

the prisoners' family; it ignores the humanity of the

condemned; it hardens the hearts of those that in

some way or some form promotes the process

leading up to the condemned's state sanctioned

murder; and it takes not only tax-dollars away from

rehabilitation programs badly needed but it takes

the lives of the condemned, who could very well

promote the rehabilitation of others that will

identify more with them than anybody else.

The death penalty is racially inclined do you see this

as a form of genocide

You know genocide is defined as the systematic

destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group.

Though the death penalty is racially inclined, ifracism wasn't a factor, it would be harder for

District Attorneys to secure convictions, we would

still be speaking of a systematic destruction via the

Judicial Persecution System of a cultural group oras I would rather say those largely from the

subculture. And the bottom line will always be thebottom class. If brothers and sisters on death row

could afford a topnotch defense team, they would

not be on death row.

If we look at those that made it off death row,

was largely one of two factors that played a rol

in it:

They either had a law firm or innocence projec

fighting for their lives, or a mass grassroo

movement.

What abuses have you and others endured at th

Polunsky Death Row Unit?

I watched as a neighbor of mine, Kenneth Clark

died in his cage because medical refused to hel

him. Geronimo Gutierrez is suffering from

painful medical condition and the medication his being given is not taking away his pai

Michael Sigala's sinus condition has gotten so ba

that fluid has built up in one of his ears to th

point that he has lost all his hearing in that ea

and the medication provided to him is n

enough. Medical has a notorious unwritten policof only being concerned about a death row

prisoners' health only if their lives are

immediate jeopardy. As long as we are alive unt

the state kills us, they have served their purpose

Our grievance system is broken. Generall

grievances either come up missing or we get runaround responses to them. Some of the food the

dish us is uneatable. Some brothers who ar

suffering from mental illnesses are mistreated b

officers who don't know how to deal with them

Officers refuse to feed or recreate some of them

As for my brothers in the DRIVE movement, as

result of our nonviolent protest, we have bee

subjected to excessive uses of force. We hav

been denied food, recreation, and showers. Whave had all our property taken away from u

against policy. We've had our mail tampered wit

or sometimes thrown away. There was even on

occasion where I was forced I mean carried into

cage smeared in feces and urine.


11/13

FOR CONTACT DETAILS SEE OVER THE PAGE

Page 11 of 12

HOW CAN THE PUBLIC HELP YOU?

I need an attorney that will aggressively fight formy life as if it were their own in the Supreme

Court should my 5th circuit appeal get denied.

This attorney may just want to work in

conjunction with my Federal attorney. Thisattorney needs to be knowledgeable in the law as

it pertains to procedural default. Likewise, if mycase is reversed, I will need an attorney to

aggressively represent me at another trial.

My plight needs as much media exposure as

possible specifically here in Texas not only

emphasizing the injustices in a wrongfulconviction, but also my genesis into manhood,

my self-evolution, my redemption, in spite of

charges that I would never amount to anything.

I need people to relentlessly pursue,firstly,

influential people that are against the Death

Penalty such as senator Rodney Ellis, GreenParty's presidential candidate and former Georgia

senator, Cynthia McKinney, or Green Party

presidential candidate from San Antonio, Cate

Swift and those like them to persuade them to use

their influence to persuade the Texas State Bar to

accept and entertain the grievance I'm trying to

file against Scott Sullivan for refusing torepresent me; since the first grievance I attempted

to file against him was classified as an "inquiry"

and dismissed. We need pressure on the Texas

State Bar to do the right thing. This grievance can

be found on my myspace page.

We also need these influential people to persuade

others like them to stand with them in their

demand for true justice in my case. I need people

to use my plight as a means to further build thegrassroots movement to abolish the DeathPenalty.

I need people especially here in Texas and if the

are not in Texas to persuade people they may know

here in Texas to be willing to take to the streets; t be my voice and the voice for the voiceless; t

distribute literature on my plight everywhere the

go. Until someone enlightens me of a more viabl

approach this is the only way I believe we can levethis imbalanced scale of so-called justice.

At this time if there is anything you would lik

to add to the interview please do so

I need to say this to Carlos' Mama: Ma'am if tha

was you staring at me when my defense attorney

told me to sit facing those seated in the courtroom

if you are wondering what I tried to say to you said "I didn't do it." I can't find the words to encas

what I feel about the pain you have gone throughYour lost is mine. Though I don't know what yo

still feel I will say I hurt not only because of all tha

has grown out of Carlos murder but every time th

state of Texas kills one of my brothers.And the

guilt or innocence doesn't affect one way or anothe

this pain I feel. Just as I believe if Carlos was eve

sent to death row and the state of Texas killed him

whether he was guilty or not wouldn't affect on

way or another the pain that you would feel. Th

more important thing is I offer all the love of mbeing to you and your family. I mean all the love o

my being, everything I am. And Ms. Garza pleas

let me say also I would like for you to conside

meeting my Mama. Because I believe you will se

yourself in her as well as her pain.

May love, all our love, heal your wounds. I fight s

mothers like yourself, and family members for tha

matter, wont have these wounds.

Dee, thank you from the depths of my soul fo

giving me this opportunity. Being able to spill a

these things from my cup has done something t

me.


12/13

POEM WRITTEN BY REGINALD BLANTON

WOUNDED (sos)

She has never cried so hard, so utterly, in her life. She cries as if her life depended on it. In fact,lives do depend on it. Dark, angry clouds havent even known raindrops the size of her tears. O the

hurt. Her gapping mouth frowns with wails from her agony. I havent realized how my face contortsfrom the mere sight, the mere sight ofmy wound. Ive been wounded by the mistreatment of

Humanity who sits curled up like an abused child, precious child, in the corner of our souls, neglected

by the US; neglected by the STATE; neglected by this administration; and what hurtso it hurtseven

more, neglected by my fellow death row prisoners, whose faces turn away from this child because they

feel they dont deserve her. And when they turned their confused faces with tears in their eyes, it rippeda hold through my flesh; one so profound, I can peer through it to my Soul, to that child, the child that

cries.

I lay wounded in the ditch of my cage, left to die, this child and me. Passerbys hear the cries from my

woundtheir reflection, but they refuse to face themselves, passing US by. My wound cries for US,

which means YOU. The child in me, in US, needs YOU. WE can heal, but it must be TOGETHER; Icant do it alone,

My wound is bleeding my Soul.

PleasePlease dont pass US by.

CONTACT DETAILS

PLEASE HELP SAVE A LIFE

Anna Terrell

Phone # 210 508 7616

[email protected]

Ann Morrison

Email

[email protected]

Sandie Blanton

Phone# 011 44 1935 414176(please note this is a UK Phone #)

[email protected]

Or

[email protected]

Snail Mail Address

P.O. BOX OR 760776,

San Antonio,

Texas 78245


13/13

Page 12 of 12

Regs Newsletter 2

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Transcript of Regs Newsletter 2