The state of Florida has a history of executing innocent people. In 1964, Sie Dawson, a black man with an I.Q., of 64, was executed on the basis of a confession that he provided because, "white officers told him to." Florida strapped James Adams into the electric chair, despite the fact that its Office of Law Enforcement withheld evidence which would have helped him prove his innocence at trial. Subsequent investigation has shown that Adams was an innocent man.
And now, on April 15, 1997, Florida wants to add another name to this list of executed innocents. Lee Alexander Jones has been convicted of killing policeman Thomas J. Szafranski on May 23, 1981. He has been sitting on Florida's death row for sixteen years for a crime that in all probability he did not commit.
Florida's appellate system has refused to take into consideration the following facts in upholding Leo's conviction and sentence. First, at the time of the shooting, witnesses reported seeing another man running down an alley near the crime scene with a rifle in his hands. These witnesses did not immediately tell the police about what they saw, fearing that man's reputation for violence.
On the day after the shooting, the man with the rifle asked his girlfriend to lie to police and provide him with an alibi for the previous night. Unfortunately, neither the testimony of the eye witnesses, nor that of the rifleman's girlfriend, were presented at Leo's trial.
Even more telling in some ways is the manner in which Florida officials brought Leo, to trial for this crime. Very soon after the killing took place, police searched his apartment, finding him and a friend with some rifles that could have fired the shots that killed Officer Szafranski. Feeling that they needed more evidence to connect Leo and his friend to this crime, the arresting officers proceeded to beat them continually. They beat Leo and threatened to kill him until he gave them a two-line confession. They beat Leo's friend so bad that he was "barely recognizable." He too gave the confession that the police wanted. They were then taken to a hospital.
The man who was seen running with the rifle has since openly admitted to family members, friends, and fellow inmates that he killed Officer Szafranski.
Florida Governor Lawton Chiles has a duty to grant Leo Alexander Jones clemency. The evidence of this man's innocence is simply too overwhelming to allow him to be put to death. Please write, call and fax Mr. Chiles with your support for Leo. Do not let Florida execute another innocent man.
PLEASE CONTACT:
Governor Lawton Chiles
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
(904) 488-2272 Phone
(904) 487-0801 Fax
Board of Executive Clemency
1309 Winwood Blvd.
Building 6, Room 323
Tallahassee, FL 32399-2450
(904) 488-2925 Phone
(904) 488-0695 Fax
The execution of Leo Jones is on hold at least until September, 1997, while Florida courts consider issues raised by the botched execution of Pedro Medina on March 25, 1997.