Imminent Execution

Kenneth Mosley is scheduled for execution on September 24. He has been on death row for the past twelve years. Mr. Mosley was convicted of killing a police officer while attempting to rob a bank in Garland, Texas on February 15, 1997.

Kenneth Mosley

Kenneth Mosley

If and when he is executed, Mr. Mosley will be among the 200+ victims of the death penalty under a single Texas governor.

Mr. Mosley has committed a terrible crime, and things look grim for him. He overcame many adversities in his life, but finally a combination of addiction and difficult circumstances led to this tragedy. Still he says:

I’m staying positive and have hope that something good will happen …

Kenneth Mosley grew up in an abusive home. His family was very poor, and racial tensions ran high in the community.  In spite of it all, Kenneth managed to finish high school and a year of college. Unfortunately, he did not have the financial means to continue his education. He left college to work in a Coca Cola Bottling Company. Soon afterwards, he met and married his wife Carol.  They had a baby girl named Amber.

Life was going well for the Mosely family, but things started to fall apart when Ken became addicted to crack cocaine. He and his wife sought treatment from many different clinics, but after losing his job, he lost his health insurance and, with it, any hope of affording treatment for his addiction. His life went into a downward spiral.

One day, with a gun in his pocket, Ken walked into a bank. A police officer, who later paid with his own life, spotted him and attempted to stop him from robbing the bank. They struggled and crashed through a window. During the struggle,  the officer was shot and killed.

During Ken’s trial, the quality of the representation he received was so poor that he may as well have been deprived of his constitutional right to effective counsel.  The lawyers failed to present evidence of several mitigating factors that may have influenced the jury’s decision to impose the death penalty.  For example, despite the fact that Ken suffered a brain injury resulting in permanent damage, his attorneys did not even examine Ken’s medical records.  Nor did they address his debilitating addiction to crack cocaine.  No evidence of either impairment was presented to the jury.

If you wish to participate in efforts to obtain clemency for Kenneth Mosley, see Amnesty’s Urgent Action for Kenneth Mosley. For additional information, visit http://www.kennethmosley.org/.

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6 thoughts on “Imminent Execution

  1. No one to speak for him ?

    It is very obvious the racism & the APARTHEID conditions under which Black people live in america are directly involved in Kenneth Mosley's situation today.

    These should be taken into account, but the courts almost never do that.

    Nothing has changed, & nothing can, as long as this system remains towering above the minorities in the land.

  2. No one to speak for him ?

    It is very obvious the racism & the APARTHEID conditions under which Black people live in america are directly involved in Kenneth Mosley’s situation today.

    These should be taken into account, but the courts almost never do that.

    Nothing has changed, & nothing can, as long as this system remains towering above the minorities in the land.

  3. The criminal in this case shot the officer 5 times. The criminal in this case chose to fight the officer. The CRIMINAL in this case was recognized as a bank robber from a previous time.

  4. When we choose to categorize people as "criminals," it makes it easier for us to condemn them. But wouldn't it be better to remember that we all have flaws and we all make mistakes, and that, sometimes the only distinction between "criminal" and "non-criminal" is whether we get caught? I wonder, Virtuoso, if you have ever sped or jaywalked. If so, then let me be the first to welcome you to the "criminal" club.

    Ken had a terrible addiction, a disease. And he made a mistake. But let me advise of some facts that you seemed to have overlooked, Virtuoso: Ken didn't intend to shoot the officer. He accidentally shot him during a physical altercation. While it certainly terrible that the officer lost his life, will Ken's death bring him back? Let me assure you that such a scenario is highly unlikely.

    And let me take this moment to agree with a, savage that racism almost certainly plays a role in death penalty prosecutions. Maybe, Virtuoso, if you looked at Ken's situation from another perspective: Ken, a Black man, has never had a chance in a society where he is labelled "other" from the day of his birth. He has been swimming against the tide trying to make a better life for himself and his family. But swimming against the tide is hard, and sometimes you end up floating backwards. Ken ended up floating quite a ways. He got caught up in a rip tide of addiction and ended up lost at sea. Should he lose his life because of that? My answer to that is no.

    And I will also suggest that if "justice" truly was to be served, it would be best to start with the people that are oppressed. If we addressed the issues of the forgotten first, we would begin to see true justice in our society.

  5. The criminal in this case shot the officer 5 times. The criminal in this case chose to fight the officer. The CRIMINAL in this case was recognized as a bank robber from a previous time.

  6. When we choose to categorize people as “criminals,” it makes it easier for us to condemn them. But wouldn’t it be better to remember that we all have flaws and we all make mistakes, and that, sometimes the only distinction between “criminal” and “non-criminal” is whether we get caught? I wonder, Virtuoso, if you have ever sped or jaywalked. If so, then let me be the first to welcome you to the “criminal” club.

    Ken had a terrible addiction, a disease. And he made a mistake. But let me advise of some facts that you seemed to have overlooked, Virtuoso: Ken didn’t intend to shoot the officer. He accidentally shot him during a physical altercation. While it certainly terrible that the officer lost his life, will Ken’s death bring him back? Let me assure you that such a scenario is highly unlikely.

    And let me take this moment to agree with a, savage that racism almost certainly plays a role in death penalty prosecutions. Maybe, Virtuoso, if you looked at Ken’s situation from another perspective: Ken, a Black man, has never had a chance in a society where he is labelled “other” from the day of his birth. He has been swimming against the tide trying to make a better life for himself and his family. But swimming against the tide is hard, and sometimes you end up floating backwards. Ken ended up floating quite a ways. He got caught up in a rip tide of addiction and ended up lost at sea. Should he lose his life because of that? My answer to that is no.

    And I will also suggest that if “justice” truly was to be served, it would be best to start with the people that are oppressed. If we addressed the issues of the forgotten first, we would begin to see true justice in our society.

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