Derrick W. Frazier has been on Texas Death Row since 1998 when he was convicted and found guilty of murder, and was sentenced to death. Despite having spent years desperately trying to prove his innocence, an execution date has now been set for him: August 31, 2006. We appeal to Governor Rick Perry of Texas to grant Mr. Frazier clemency based on the following reasons:

-The constitutional right to an attorney was denied Mr. Frazier upon his arrest and during the interviews made by the investigators in the case.
-Proper legal representation was denied Mr. Frazier prior to, and during the trial.
(The court appointed attorney was under investigation for misconduct in another case. He was later suspended from practicing law for a period of three years, and was recently placed under suspension again for a shorter period of time. The assistant attorney had no prior experience in death penalty cases).
-The right to an impartial jury was denied Mr. Frazier.
(A female juror was overheard by a witness saying to a family member of the victims about Mr. Frazier that hes dead, while making a slashing gesture across her neck).
-Evidence was withheld by the prosecution.
(A videotaped confession in which Mr. Frazier admitted to having killed one of the victims was admitted and allowed as evidence and shown to the jury. The confession was made after threats had been made that they would seek the death penalty if he didnt confess, and he was offered a 30-year deal, which they later went back on. The jury was never shown several other videotapes in which Mr. Frazier denied having killed anybody, and they were not made aware of the 30-year deal).
-Proper testing of physical evidence was never done.
(Clothes that Mr. Frazier had been wearing at the time the murders took place was never tested to establish whether he had fired a gun which was the murder weapon - or not).
-The lack of physical evidence.
(There is absolutely no physical evidence that connects Mr. Frazier to the crime. The physical evidence found all pointed towards the co-defendant).
-Questionable jury instructions.
(The prosecution presented five different theories, some of which involved another crime, and the jury was instructed that if they found him guilty under any of these theories, then the verdict should be guilty. The jury came back with a general verdict that didnt specify which theory or which crime they had found Mr. Frazier guilty of. Mr. Frazier therefore does not to this day know what he was convicted for).
-Mitigating evidence was not presented during the punishment phase of the trial.
(The defense attorneys failed to present vital mitigating evidence at this phase of the trial such as childhood abuse).

The trial attorney(s) and the appeal attorneys have repeatedly failed to investigate issues and evidence that could have changed the outcome of the case if this had been known to the jury. There is new evidence and additional evidence that proves that it is very doubtful that Mr. Frazier committed the crime that he was sentenced to death for. Because of the lack of competence of earlier attorneys, all doors to present this evidence to the courts have been closed.

We therefore ask the Governor of Texas to grant Derrick Frazier a stay of execution, and to allow this evidence to be presented so that the courts can consider it to avoid an innocent man to be executed without the process of a fair trial and a fair appeal process.