9781422281291

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What Is Capital Punishment?

I n May 1981, Gary Graham went on a crime spree in Houston, Texas. In a week, he committed nine robberies involving guns and the threat of violence. At his trial, he was accused of murdering Bobby Grant Lambert. Graham pleaded guilty to the robberies but denied murder. Despite flim- sy evidence, Graham was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. From the start, it was clear that Graham had not been well defended at his trial. The main evidence against him was pro- vided by an eyewitness named Bernadine Skillern. However, she was the only one, out of six witnesses, who identified Graham as the killer. Furthermore, the incident took place at night, and Skillern only saw the killer fleetingly. Yet the defense attorney did not cross-examine Skillern or challenge her statements. Also, ballistics experts could not say with any

Gary Graham’s guilty plea to robbery charges stemming from his 1981 crime spree. However, Graham denied being involved in the murder of Bobby Grant Lambert.

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