Governor Foster Asked to Stay Execution of Leslie Martin

Governor Foster: 

The American Civil Liberties Union urges you to grant clemency to Leslie Dale Martin. He is scheduled to be executed on February 8^th. The relief that we request on his behalf is warranted because there is no reliable evidence to support the sole aggravating factor upon which this death sentence is based.

  Unsubstantiated Aggravating Crime

  Mr. Martin was sentenced to die because he allegedly committed rape in connection with  murder.  Yet there is no direct physical evidence that the rape occurred. The only evidence of this additional aggravating crime is the testimony of a jailhouse snitch.

Snitch-testimony has been demonstrated to be notoriously unreliable. It has been found to be a factor in 21% of wrongful conviction that were later overturned due to exonerating DNA.  Here such testimony, with no corroborating evidence, is the sole basis upon which Mr. Martin has been sentenced to die.

Louisiana law defines first-degree murder as “the killing of a human being when the offender has specific intent to kill, or to inflict great bodily harm, and is engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of…aggravated rape…” Without the commission of another aggravated felony, resulting in the intentional death of the victim, an offender can only be convicted of second-degree murder, which is punishable by life with no possibility of parole.

Inadequate Representation

  Had Mr. Martin’s been allowed at trial to present an adequate defense, these issues would have received a fuller hearing and a more appropriate conviction and sentence.  However, Mr. Martin did not receive the adequate representation at trial. His lead attorney was appointed only three weeks before the trial date. Then, he spent most of that time seeking a postponement of the trial so that he could prepare to represent Mr. Martin.  Mr. Martin’s other lawyer spent only a week and a half preparing a defense and had little criminal, let alone death penalty, experience. 

The Louisiana Supreme Court itself stated that the trial judge should have granted more time, to ensure that Mr. Martin received a fair trial. Nevertheless, they did not find that Mr. Martin was entitled to relief.

It now falls to this clemency process and to you to do justice. There is a very serious question presented concerning the appropriateness and lawfulness of the death sentence that the state of Louisiana is poised to impose.  This is the forum of last resort that must determine whether, on balance, this death sentence deserves our confidence, and we respectfully submit that it does not.

In the interest of fairness, we ask that you grant Mr. Martin a reprieve, refer his case for review to a properly constituted Pardon Board, and consider commuting his death sentence to life without possibility of parole.

Respectfully,

Diann Rust-Tierney                                                             Joe Cook

ACLU Capital Punishment Project                                     ACLU of Louisiana