Austin march for death row exonerated

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Several exonerated death row survivors were in Austin Saturday as part of the annual Witness to Innocence fall gathering.

The even is the largest gathering of exonerated death row survivors in the United States. This year participants marched in the 12th annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty .

"We exonerated death row survivors will be bringing our personal message of wrongful conviction to Texas," said Shuuja Graham, formerly on death row in California. "From October 12th through 19th, the Texas Witness to Innocence Freedom Ride will go to more than twenty five venues in five cities -- Houston, Dallas, Austin, Corpus Christi, and Huntsville. We are the human face of the injustice and torture of the death penalty system. We are bringing our faces and voices to confront that system at its worst in Texas!"

Freedom Ride participants Clarence Brandley of Texas , Dan Bright , Ryan Matthews and Albert Burrell of Louisiana, Greg Wilhoit of Oklahoma, Jeremy Sheets of Nebraska, Ron Keine of New Mexico Gary Drinkard of Alabama and Shuiaa Graham of California, all-together spent more than sixty years of their lives on death row before being exonerated.

"We will be urging all Texans to join us at the March to Abolish the Death Penalty on October 22 in Austin. We have also sent a letter to each person on Texas' death row, letting them know we stand with them, and urging them to get their families, friends and supporters to come out to the March," said Ron Keine, formerly on death row in New Mexico.

"As they see what the death penalty really means, in my case and others, more and more Texans believe that Texas can do without the death penalty," said exonerated death row survivor Clarence Brandley, from Conroe, Texas, who has been fighting for compensation from the state of Texas for over twenty years."

According to the group, Texas has executed 475 people since 1982 (as of Sept 23,2011). Under current Texas Governor Rick Perry, 236 people have been executed, including some with a strong case of innocence. Twelve people have been exonerated while on death row in Texas, the most recent being Anthony Graves in 2010. Since 1976, there have been 138 death row exonerations in the United States.

"Through their compelling stories, exonerated death row survivors have shown over and over that they can move citizens and public opinion more than any ordinary politician or activist can ever hope to do," said Hooman Hedayati, Texas Field Organizer for Witness to Innocence.

Witness to Innocence is the nation's only organization composed of, by, and for exonerated death row survivors and their loved ones. Since its creation in 2005, Witness to Innocence has played an essential role in the anti-death penalty movement in the United States by educating hundreds of thousands of people across the country.