Edward Green III | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

Edward GREEN III

A.K.A.: "Peanut"

Classification: Murderer

Characteristics:

Robbery

Number of victims: 2

Date of murders:

August 31,

1992

Date of arrest: September

1992

Date of birth: March 5,

1974

Victims profile: Edward Perry Haden, 72, and Helen O’Sullivan, 63

Method of murder: Shooting

(.357 revolver)

Location: Harris County, Texas, USA

Status: Executed by lethal injection in Texas on October 5,

2004

Summary:

Green spotted Haden and O’Sullivan in a car at a Houston street intersection and decided to rob them because they looked as if they had money. Green pointed a .357 revolver at Haden, who was driving, and demanded he get out the vehicle.

When Haden laughed and attempted to shift the car into reverse, Green fired three shots, hitting Haden in the head and chest and O’Sullivan in an arm and the abdomen. Haden died at the scene and O’Sullivan later died at the hospital.

Green was later arrested for an unrelated crime and after a Crimestoppers tip, was interviewed by police about the murder. After initially denying involvement, Green gave a complete confession.

Citations:

Green v. State, 912 S.W.2d 189 (Tex.Cr.App. 1995) (Direct Appeal).

Final Meal:

Two chicken fried steaks, fried chicken strips, fried shrimp, curly fries, a half-gallon of grape juice, a pint of carmel pecan fudge, ketchup and a pack of bubble gum.

Final Words:

"To the O'Sullivan and Haden families, I do not come here with the intention to make myself out to be a person I am not. I never claimed to be the best person. I'm not the best father, I'm not the best son or the best friend in the world. To my family and to you people, I can only apologize for the pain I have caused you. May God forgive us on this day. I'm ready when you are."

ClarkProsecutor.org

Texas Attorney General

Media Advisory

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Edward Green Scheduled For Execution.

AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott offers the following information about 30-year-old Edward Green III, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. October 5, 2004.

FACTS OF THE CRIME

Armed with a .357 revolver, Edward Green spotted Haden and O’Sullivan in a car at a southeast Houston street intersection and decided to rob them because they looked as if they had money. Green pointed his pistol at Haden, who was driving the vehicle, and demanded he get out the vehicle.

Haden laughed at Green and Green shot Haden in the head and chest and O’Sullivan in an arm and the abdomen. Haden died at the scene and O’Sullivan later died at the hospital.

In September, police detectives learned that Green was in the Harris County Jail for an unrelated offense. Based on information gathered in the case, the detectives interviewed Green at the jail. At first, Green said he knew nothing about the offense, but after the officers told him that they had information about his role in the killings, Green confessed to the murders.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On December 9, 1992, Green was indicted in by a Harris County grand jury for the capital murders of Edward Perry Haden and Helen O’Sullivan. A jury found Green guilty of capital murder on August 3, 1993.

On August 7, 1993, after a separate punishment hearing, the court sentenced Green to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Green’s conviction and sentence on October 4, 1995. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Green’s petition for writ of certiorari on June 24, 1996.

Green then filed a state application for writ of habeas corpus in the trial court on April 23, 1997. The trial court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law recommending that Green be denied relief. On March 28, 2001, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied the application based on the trial court’s findings.

On April 13, 2001, Green filed a federal habeas petition in a Houston federal district court. On March 29, 2002, the federal court entered a judgment denying Green habeas relief and his request to appeal.

Green then sought permission to appeal from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but the appeals court denied Green’s request on April 29, 2003. Green subsequently petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for certiorari review. The Supreme Court denied the petition on January 12, 2004.

PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY

At the punishment phase of Green’s trial, the State presented substantial evidence of Green’s future dangerousness. Several witnesses testified about Green’s conduct while he was in middle school.

According to former principals of Hartman Middle School, Green did not go to class, disrespected teachers, did not benefit from counseling, and got expelled for getting in a fight with another student. Green also had numerous disciplinary problems and a bad reputation. Further, students had violent encounters with Green.

A teen said Green raped her in October 1989. Green stated that he did not think that his sex offense against the girl was wrong.

Several police officers testified about Green’s involvement in five separate car thefts between 1989 and 1992.

On December 15, 1992, Green was in a segregation cell in the Harris County Jail and became combative. He grabbed a deputy, had to be restrained, and damaged property in the cell. Green got into several fights with inmates while in the jail.

ProDeathPenalty.com

The suspect charged in the murders of two people in southeast Houston said he shot them because one of the victims laughed at him.

Edward "Peanut" Green III, 18, has been charged with capital murder in connection with the shooting deaths of Edward Perry Haden, 72, and Helen O'Sullivan, 63.

Both victims worked at Forest Park-Lawndale Cemetery and Haden was taking Helen home. Both were shot as they sat in Haden's car at a stop sign at Morley and Dover near Hobby Airport.

The gunman got out the passenger door and shot Haden in the head and O'Sullivan in the abdomen, investigators said. Haden died at the scene, and O'Sullivan died hours later in surgery at Ben Taub Hospital.

Green said, "He laughed at me so I shot him." Houston police homicide Sgt. Boyd Smith said of Green, "He showed no remorse during our conversations with him. He spoke freely to us, but I never noticed any remorse."

Police also were searching for Jimmy Lee "Juice" Daniels, 18, who was the driver of the stolen car that blocked Edward Haden's car at the intersection, Smith said. Daniels is on probation for assault and is wanted on a unrelated felony theft charge, he said. Once in custody he is expected to be charged with capital murder, Smith said.

Green told investigators that the two suspects stopped Haden's car with the intention of robbing them, Smith said. Edward Haden tried to put the car in reverse, but missed the gear, he said. "I'm not sure if he was laughing at him. It was probably a nervous laugh or an "excuse me' laugh. I don't think that he would be laughing at a man holding a gun on him," Smith said.

The suspects committed a similar robbery about an hour before the couple were shot and killed, Smith said. They were possibly committing the robberies to get money for drugs, he said.

Green was arrested on an unrelated charge the day after Haden and O'Sullivan were killed, Smith said. A Crime Stoppers tip led authorities to Green, Smith said. "He was trying to get on a Metro bus without paying and there happened to be Metro police on board," Smith said. "He refused to identify himself, so they arrested him."

Police got the Crime Stoppers tip the same day of Green's arrest, Smith said. Green allegedly bragged to someone about the killings and that person informed police, he said. "When we got the tip, we didn't know that he was in jail. When we found him, he told us what happened," Smith said.

UPDATE: The second man wanted in the shooting death of a man and woman inside a car in southeast Houston last month turned himself in Sunday. Jimmy Lee "Juice" Daniels, 18, was booked into the Harris County Jail about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, said Houston police homicide Sgt. Boyd Smith.

Daniels has been charged with two counts of aggravated robbery and was being held in lieu of $80,000 bond, he said.

Daniels is suspected of being involved in the murders of Edward Perry Haden, 72, and Helen O'Sullivan, 63, as they sat at a stop sign at the intersection of Morley and Dover near Hobby Airport. Edward "Peanut" Green III, 18, has been charged with capital murder and was being held in jail without bond.

Green is believed to be the trigger man in the murder and attempted robbery, Smith said. Daniels was allegedly driving the car used to block Haden and O'Sullivan at the stop sign, he said. Green told authorities that he shot the two victims because Haden laughed at him.

UPDATE: A 20-year-old man whose life has become a study in rape, robbery and auto theft has been sentenced to die by injection for murdering an elderly couple because one of them laughed when he tried to rob them.

Jurors in state District Judge George Godwin's court deliberated 9 1/2 hours before deciding Saturday to condemn Edward "Peanut" Green III for the Aug. 31, 1992, killings of Edward Perry Haden , 72, and Helen O'Sullivan, 63.

"Edward Green showed absolutely no emotion throughout his whole trial until the judge said the words ". . . transferred to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to await the setting of a date for your execution,' and then his head popped up and his mouth fell open," prosecutor Don Smyth said. "That's when it hit him that it was serious."

The victims, inseparable friends, were shot at a southeast Houston street corner after Green spotted their Lincoln, figured they had money enough for him to buy marijuana, and ran up holding the revolver he'd just acquired. According to his confession, Green pointed his pistol at Haden and demanded that he get out of his Lincoln. When Haden laughed and put the car in reverse, Green said, he fired three shots, killing Haden and leaving O'Sullivan fatally wounded.

Green went on to confess to being the "Jason" bandit, a name he may have given himself after he took to wearing a horror movie mask while sticking up dope dealers. The existence of such a bandit was news to police. The latter portion of Green's week-long trial was dominated by testimony from victims of Green's various crimes and witnesses to them.

A teen-ager said Green and a friend held her down and took turns raping her in 1990, when she was 13.

A policeman said Green and his friends stole rental cars at Hobby Airport. His juvenile parole officer said Green once came to his office stoned on marijuana, which was established by a quick urine test.

A series of witnesses went into detail about Green's behavior in juvenile jails and the Harris County Jail: He attacked prisoners with shanks, plugged toilets with T-shirts, antagonized and even assaulted jailers, they said. Prosecutors Jim Mount and Smyth argued that Green is guaranteed to continue committing violent acts, in or out of jail.

"Will Rogers never met Edward Green," Mount told jurors, referring to the humorist's famous comment that he never met a man he didn't like. Defense attorneys Ricardo Rodriguez and Ron Hayes asked jurors to spare Green's life, arguing that events in his life mitigated his violent record.

They said Green was the son of a professional boxer who was killed in 1985 by being hanged from a tree, and a mother whose drug habits were costing as much as $300 a day. Although defense lawyers couldn't say Green had been physically or sexually abused when he was growing up, they suggested he had to watch his mother being abused by men after his father's death.

They said numerous institutions -- Houston schools, the Texas Youth Commission, parole and probation agencies -- failed to save Green. Mount scoffed at that idea, saying Green has "an unbelievable fascination with violence. There was a suggestion that the defendant had so many problems he couldn't cope," Mount argued. "His problem is that he places no value on human life."

UPDATE: After spending 11 years on death row, Edward Green III was feeling "a lot of pressure" in the days leading up to his execution, which is scheduled tonight at the Huntsville "Walls" Unit sometime after 6 p.m.

Green pled not guilty in a Harris County court in 1993 to the shooting death of Edward Perry Haden, 72, and 63-year-old Helen O'Sullivan in Houston in 1992. He and co-defendant Jimmy Lee Daniels spotted the victims at a traffic light and decided to rob them for "weed" money. "I've been here since 1993, and I can't really remember any details," Green said in an interview from death row last week. "We were really smoking and smoking (marijuana laced with embalming fluid).

It was a real act of ignorance, and there really was no motivating factor." As unveiled in trail testimony, the 18-year-old Green jumped from the car Daniels was driving and pointed a gun at Haden, who was seated on the passenger side of the car, driven by O'Sullivan. When Haden failed to react quickly to Green's threats, Green fired three times through the window, striking Haden twice and O'Sullivan once.

But even after his arrest and conviction, Green said he never really understood he would end up on death row. "I think that when I first got here, I felt like I was not going to stay. I was in a stage of denial," Green said. "I mean, when you think about death row, you think about people like Charles Manson."

Green's lawyers were trying to stop the punishment by raising questions over the reliability of ballistics evidence presented at his trial.

Another appeal suggested he was ineligible for execution because he was mentally impaired since birth due to his mother's alcohol abuse. Green already was jailed on unrelated charges when police received a tip that led to his arrest for the Aug, 31, 1992, shootings of Haden and O'Sullivan.

Green told authorities he and a partner pulled their car in front of the couple's Lincoln at a stop sign to rob them because the pair wanted money for marijuana and rent. When Green ran up and pointed his pistol at Haden, the man shifted his car into reverse and Green opened fire.

Green said he has gone through different emotional stages on death row, and he realized after a while that he had to begin to make changes in the time he had left. A lot of people have given up on me in my life," he said. "But other inmates here have helped me stay motivated, and now I believe I am on a righteous path. "Had this situation not occurred, I would not be the person I am today. I would probably already be dead or homeless. I wonder if I would have ended up here if I had somebody to take me in and show me what being a man is all about. "I think the violence in me came from the lifestyle I was living and not being comfortable in myself. I used to be a real fool, and I liked to show everyone I was a fool."

As for his victims' families, Green said he has never had contact. "I've never talked to the victims' families, but I would love to - to give them a sense of closure if they need it. I never wanted to put them through that pain." Green and a corrections officer became romantically involved while he was on death row, then housed at the Ellis Unit, and had a daughter, now 5. The woman resigned rather than be fired.

The couple was married by proxy. Green stands firm that the child is his, and has seen her during visitation at the prison. "I wrote many, many letters to her over the years, and I just want her to know she is a perfect blend of me and her mother," Green said. "I was walked through the process of what will happen in court," he said. "You can only prepare yourself so much. In a sense, I am ready, but that kind of defeats the purpose of life. I accept responsibility for my actions, but to admit guilt would be admitting I deserve the death penalty."

Edward Green III

Txexecutions.org

Edward Green III, 30, was executed by lethal injection on 5 October 2004 in Huntsville, Texas for the robbery and murder of two people.

On 31 August 1992, Green, then 18, and Jimmy Daniels, 17, were at a Houston intersection when they spotted two people in a car, and decided to rob them for money for drugs. Green jumped from the car Daniels was driving and pointed a .357 revolver at the driver, Edward Haden, 72.

Green demanded that Haden get out of the car. Haden hesitated and let out a nervous laugh. Green then fired three shots through the window, striking Haden twice. The passenger, Helen O'Sullivan, 63, was struck once. Haden died at the scene. O'Sullivan reportedly crawled from the car to a nearby home, seeking help. She died at the hospital.

At 18, Green had no prior felony convictions. However, a teenage girl testified that Green raped her in October 1989, and evidence was presented that showed Green's involvement in five other car thefts from 1989 to 1992. He was released from a juvenile detention facility a few months before killing Haden and O'Sullivan.

A jury found Green guilty of capital murder in August 1993 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in October 1995. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Jimmy Lee Daniels was charged with aggravated robbery. The disposition of his case was not available for this report, but he was convicted of aggravated robbery in 1995 - presumably for a different crime - and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He is in custody as of this writing.

In 1998, while on death row, Green fathered a child with Tameika East, a correctional officer at the Ellis unit where Green was confined. Green married East by proxy in April 1999. She was forced to resign. Although having sex with an inmate is a felony, East was not charged. "I just fell in love with him," East told a reporter. "He didn't hide his feelings like most men." East continued to visit Green on death row all the way up to the last days before his execution, often bringing their daughter, Gabriela, with her.

East refused to explain how she and Green were able to have sexual relations on death row. However, in 1999, Texas death row was moved to the Terrell unit in Livingston, where the prisoners' movements are more restricted than at the Ellis unit.

In an interview on death row, Green said that he was high on "fry" - marijuana laced with PCP and embalming fluid - when he robbed and killed Haden and O'Sullivan. "At that time, I didn't have any type of value for human life, not even my own," he said.

In the days before his execution, attorneys filed a motion on Green's behalf asking for an stay based on ongoing reports of evidence mishandling at the Houston Police Department's crime lab. Those reports involved mislabeled and improperly stored evidence and sloppy DNA testing practices.

Defense attorneys said that all executions from Harris county, including Green's, should be stayed until all evidence at the Houston crime lab could be checked. Prosecutors claimed that all evidence involving Green had been accounted for, that physical evidence was not a key factor in his conviction, and that no DNA evidence was used in his case.

A judge declined the request for a stay. Meanwhile, Green told a reporter that he was unaware such an appeal was being made on his behalf. One of the lawyers working on the appeal disputed that assertion. "We would never do this without the inmate's consent," he said.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, Governor Rick Perry, and the U.S. Supreme Court also rejected the defense's attempts to halt the execution.

In the execution chamber, Green made a last statement that mixed with sorrow with ambivalence. "I never claimed to be the best person," he said. "I am not the best father, the best son, or the best friend in the world. I did the best I could with what I had. I come with no hate in my heart or bitterness ... I can only apologize for all the pain I caused you. May God forgive us on this day." He was pronounced dead at 8:21 p.m.

Convicted killer in Houston case executed

Dallas Morning News

AP Tuesday, October 5, 2004

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Condemned killer Edward Green III was executed Tuesday night despite his attorneys' pleas to halt the execution, citing problems at the Houston police crime lab. "I do not come here with the intention to make myself out to be a person I am not," Green said in a brief final statement. "I never claimed to be the best person. I am not the best father, the best son or the best friend in the world. "I did the best I could with what I had." Green said he had no hate in his heart or bitterness, adding to his family and the relatives of his two victims, "I can only apologize for all the pain I caused you. May God forgive us on this day."

As the lethal drugs began taking effect, Green wheezed and grimaced. He said something unintelligible and gasped. Ten minutes later at 8:21 p.m. CDT, he was pronounced dead. Green's mother sobbed uncontrollably as she watched her son die. She collapsed and had to be assisted from the room. A second witness was placed in a wheelchair briefly.

"My heart does go out to Mr. Green's family," Annette O'Sullivan, 22, whose grandmother was among Green's murder victims, said after watching him die. "My family and I know what it's like to lose a loved one. The difference here is he's had time to prepare and tell his family that he loves them and everything he wants to say to them. "We did not have that opportunity," she said, adding that she had worried the execution could be stopped. She said the week leading up to the punishment had been an "emotional roller coaster."

Green's' lawyers, two state senators from Harris County and the Houston police chief wanted executions stopped for all county cases until authorities can review some 280 recently discovered boxes of evidence that had been mislabeled and improperly stored. Attorneys said the boxes could contain something relevant to Green's double murder case, but prosecutors said all evidence involving Green had been accounted for. Much of the controversy surrounding the police lab is on reliability of DNA testing procedures. No DNA evidence was used in Green's case; his attorneys had questioned the reliability of ballistics evidence presented at his trial.

Gov. Rick Perry refused Monday to impose a blanket moratorium on Harris County executions. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, voting 6-0, refused a clemency request from Green. Hours before he could be taken to the death house, Green's lawyers asked the parole board to reconsider its vote, saying a meaningful review of the case "is simply not possible" until all of the newly found evidence is catalogued. The board refused. Perry also rejected a 30-day reprieve, which he is empowered to grant. "The main evidence leading to Green's conviction is his own confession to these brutal and senseless murders," the governor said.

A similar request had been renewed in the courts as Green was moved to a small cell not far from the Texas death chamber and asked for a final meal that included two chicken fried steaks and a half-gallon of grape juice. "The integrity of the state's criminal justice system is better served by the exercise of caution, which will result only in several months delay than the state's shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later approach," Green's attorneys said.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest criminal court, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant a stay. Green's execution was the 14th this year in Texas and the first of two on consecutive days this week.

Green, 30, known on the street as "Peanut," said he was high after smoking marijuana and embalming fluid when he and a friend confronted a car that had pulled up to a stop sign. When Green, brandishing a pistol, ordered Edward Haden, 72, out of his Lincoln, the man tried to throw the car into reverse. Haden and his passenger, Helen O'Sullivan, 63, were shot. "It really wasn't necessary," Green said of the 1992 robbery during a recent death row interview. "Ignorance – that's what landed me here. I had a real distorted perception of life."

Green, who was 18 at the time, was jailed on unrelated charges when police received a tip that led to his arrest. He was no stranger to authorities. He had been expelled from school, wound up at a juvenile camp after a rape accusation and was tied to numerous car thefts.

"It was such a senseless deal," Don Smyth, the district attorney who prosecuted the case, said this week. "Green had every opportunity. This is not somebody who just slipped through the cracks. "He had been in and out of the system as a juvenile repeatedly and as a young adult, and had massive amounts of money spent on him in terms of teachers and therapists and psychoanalysts and social worker types."

Green, who said he couldn't remember any formal schooling past the seventh grade, said he matured on death row and equated his experiences there to attending college. "If you make it a learning ground, it can be," he said. "My thinking pattern has changed."

Green and a corrections officer became romantically involved and had a daughter, now 5. The woman resigned rather than be fired, and she married Green by proxy.

Another Texas inmate, Peter Miniel, was set to die Wednesday for the fatal beating and stabbing of a Houston man 18 years ago. He asked that no appeals be filed.

Execution carried out after delay

Second inmate to face death chamber tonight

By Kelly Prew - The Huntsville Item

October 6, 2004

HUNTSVILLE - The execution of Edward Green III was carried out shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Huntsville "Walls" Unit after nearly a two-hour delay pending a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court. Attorneys for Green had hoped discrepancies by the Houston Crime Lab would deem a stay of execution.

In a brief final statement, Green addressed the families of his victims, Edward Perry Haden, 72, and 63-year-old Helen O'Sullivan, who he gunned down in Houston in 1992. "To the O'Sullivan and Haden families, I do not come here with the intention to make myself out to be a person I am not," Green said. "I never claimed to be the best person." To his own family and friends, Green apologized for the pain he caused. "I am not the best father, son or friend in the world. I did the best I could with what I had," he said. In the end, Green asked that "God forgive us on this day."

The lethal dose was administered at 8:11 p.m., and after a few deep breaths, and a few unintelligible words, Green was pronounced dead at 8:21 p.m. In the room where his family stood to watch the death penalty carried out, Green's mother Edith A. Hawkins sobbed and cried and collapsed and was aided out of the room, while another witness was placed in a wheelchair briefly.

Following the execution, Annette O'Sullivan, 22, whose grandmother was killed, said her heart goes out to the Green family. "My family knows what it's like to lose a loved one," she said. "The difference here is he's had time to prepare and tell his family that he loves them and everything he wants to say to them. "We did not have that opportunity," she said, adding that she had worried the execution could be stopped. She said the week leading up to the punishment had been an "emotional roller coaster" because of the problems with the crime lab. She added that she was glad Green apologized in his last statement, but said that couldn't take away the fact he killed her grandmother and Haden.

Texas Man Executed for 1992 Double Murder

Reuters News

Oct 5, 2004

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (Reuters) - A Texas man was put to death by lethal injection on Tuesday for killing an elderly Houston couple in a 1992 robbery. The execution came after a last-minute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court failed and just days after lawmakers proposed a halt in executions in the area owing to problems with the examination of evidence by the Houston Police Department.

Edward Green III, 30, was condemned for killing Edward Haden, 72, and Helen O'Sullivan, 63, who were sitting in O'Sullivan's car on Aug. 31, 1992 at a stop sign when Green ordered Haden out of the vehicle at gunpoint. When Haden didn't respond quickly enough, Green fired three shots through the car window, hitting Haden twice and O'Sullivan once.

Two Democratic state senators from Harris County asked Republican Gov. Rick Perry to impose a moratorium on executions of prisoners convicted there after Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt called for a halt until a review of hundreds of boxes of evidence found in a police warehouse this summer is completed. Perry rejected the request on Monday. A spokeswoman for the governor said procedures in place to review individual death row cases offered adequate safeguards for condemned prisoners. A Texas state court also rejected a request for a stay made by Green's attorneys seeking a review of evidence in the case. Green had confessed to the crime.

Harris County, of which Houston is the greater part, sentences more people to death than any other county in the United States. It currently has 162 inmates on Texas death row. At least one person has been freed and 40 other convictions are under scrutiny because of the police department's poor work, officials have said. A late appeal on Tuesday to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking a stay delayed Green's execution for two hours.

In a final statement while strapped to a gurney in the death chamber, Green apologized to Haden's and O'Sullivan's relatives. "I come with no hate in my heart or bitterness," he said. "To my family and to you people, I can only apologize for all the pain I caused you. May God forgive us this day."

For his final meal, Green requested two chicken fried steaks, fried chicken strips, fried shrimp, curly fries, a half-gallon of grape juice, a pint of carmel pecan fudge, ketchup and a pack of bubble gum.

Green was the 14th person executed in Texas this year and the 327th since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982, six years after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a national death penalty ban. Both totals lead the nation. Texas has 10 more executions scheduled for this year, seven of which are convicts from the Houston area. The next execution is scheduled for Wednesday night.

Lab concerns don't halt execution; Sentence carried out

By Andrew Tilghman - Houston Chronicle

Oct. 6, 2004

HUNTSVILLE -- Despite calls for a moratorium on executions and a last-minute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Edward Green III was executed Tuesday night for the 1992 murder of an elderly Houston couple. Green, 30, remained in the death chamber's waiting room for up to two hours while prison officials waited for word from the Supreme Court. The court rejected Green's appeal, and he was strapped to the gurney shortly before 8 p.m.

Gov. Rick Perry also rejected calls to stay Green's execution and refused to order a moratorium on executions of Harris County inmates until questions about evidence processing at the Houston Police Department's troubled crime lab are resolved. "There is no doubt about his guilt," Perry said in a prepared statement shortly before 6 p.m. "The main evidence leading to Green's conviction is his own confession to these brutal and senseless murders."

Inside the small, brick-walled chamber, Green glanced upward and spoke into a microphone hanging over his face, apologizing to his family and the families of the two people he shot, Edward Perry Haden, 72, and Helen O'Sullivan, 63, during a robbery in August 1992. "To the O'Sullivan and Haden families, I do not come here with the intention to make myself out to be a person I am not. I never claimed to be the best person. I'm not the best father, I'm not the best son or the best friend in the world," he said slowly. "To my family and to you people, I can only apologize for the pain I have caused you. May God forgive us on this day." Green then said, "I'm ready when you are."

Green winced and expelled one unintelligible gasp before his head fell to the side. After several minutes, a doctor entered the room and pronounced him dead at 8:21 p.m. Green's execution, the first of eight scheduled for Harris County killers during the next two months, was the 14th of a Texas inmate and second of a county man this year.

His execution highlighted the growing unease about the Houston Police Department's crime laboratory and the reliability of test and evidence processed there. In August, the lab discovered 280 boxes of mislabeled and wrongly stored evidence from 8,000 cases dating back more than a decade. In an 11th-hour appeal, Green's attorneys cited "serious deficiencies and irregularities plaguing the Houston Police Department and its crime lab," and argued Green's death sentence should be stayed until authorities review the evidence to see if any items relate to his case. Last week, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt said he thinks all executions from Houston should be halted until his department finishes sorting through the evidence boxes to make sure there was nothing related to death row cases.

Inside a witness room overlooking the death chamber, Helen O'Sullivan's granddaughter, Annette O'Sullivan, 22, stared stoically and nodded as Green appeared to die. "My family and I hope that this will help our healing process and we can move on with our lives," O'Sullivan said. "In a way, I'm glad that he did apologize, but he still did kill my grandmother."

In another witness room, Green's mother, Edith Hawkins, collapsed on the floor amid family members who consoled her. "Take him to Jesus, just take him," Hawkins cried. The four family and friends repeatedly told her, "He's in a better place." After Green lay motionless for several minutes, a doctor entered the chamber, shined a penlight in his eyes, checked his heartbeat with a stethoscope and pronounced him dead.

Outside the red-brick walls of the Huntsville prison, about 50 anti-death penalty activists held signs decrying Green's execution. One man, David Atwood, of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said he was starting a bread-and-water fast to protest the upcoming series of executions.

At the time of his arrest, Green was 18 and had spent much of his teen years in juvenile detention facilities for crimes including the rape of a 13-year-old girl. At Green's 1993 trial, prosecutors used ballistics tests from the HPD crime lab. But Green's confession, testimony from his co-defendant and an acknowledgment of his involvement in the killings during a recent interview left little doubt about his guilt.

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Edward Green - Texas - October 5, 2004

The state of Texas is scheduled to execute Edward Green III on Oct. 5 for the 1992 murders of Edward Perry Haden and Helen O’Sullivan. The murders took place in Harris County during a botched robbery when Green, a black man who was 18 at the time of the crime, shot and killed the elderly couple. They were sitting in Haden’s car while stopped at an intersection.

Green’s attorneys argued many key issues in his trial were overlooked. First, during the course of deliberation, the jury sent a note to the Judgeasking for clarification on the testimony of Ramon Campos, one of Green’s therapists who testified. The jury asked whether Campos stated that Green suffered from “emotional problems” during childhood. The Judge replied stating Campos had not used the term “emotional problems.” However, the jury was not informed that other emotional words such as “grief, hatred, and anger” were used. Campos testified that Green had an extremely traumatic childhood including coping with his mother’s cocaine and alcohol addictions.

At age nine, Green’s father was murdered and hung from a tree in what was apparently a drug-related crime. Green’s mother also testified that he witnessed his father’s physical abuse of her. According to Campos, Green had one of the worst cases of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that he had ever encountered.

Additionally, Green’s trial attorneys failed to interview Capos as well as counselors who knew Green before the crime was committed. These counselors would have testified that green was prematurely released and that Green was “scared to leave Giddings and that he was afraid he would simply commit another crime.”

Attorneys representing Green also argue that he should have received an automatic life sentence when the jury sent a note stating they were deadlocked. According to the “12-10 rule” this action should have resulted in an automatic life sentence. However, an appellate court stated that because the trial lawyer did not present a claim to this effect, this claim could not be considered during appeals.

In addition, Green’s trial jury was not informed that an alternative to the death sentence would have been a 35- year minimum incarceration meaning Green would have been almost 55 years old before his first chance of parole. Without this knowledge, the death penalty may have been arbitrarily imposed violating the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that since the record did not show that Green presented a claim in this regard to the trial court, the claim was procedurally defaulted.

A final factor which may have contributed to Green’s death sentence is the fact that the victims of the crime were the parents of an attorney, who was a legal prosecutor in Harris County at the time of the crime. The chance of heightened emotions within the legal community, including judges and prosecutors, might have affected the fairness of the trial.

In light of the many facts surrounding the case, please urge the Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend that the Governor commute Edward Green III ‘s death sentence. Also, please write Governor Perry asking him to intervene and prevent Mr. Green’s execution.

Prison Activist Resorce Center

(Edward Green Homepage)

Edward Green III - Death Row Texas

On October 5, 2004 the State of Texas is scheduled to execute Edward Green III for the August 31, 1992 murder of Edward Perry Haden and Helen O’Sullivan, who died from the same bullet in the course of a botched robbery. Edward had turned 18 only months before his arrest for this offence and has been on death row for over ten years.

BACKGROUND

There were many issues in Green’s case that should have been raised in the Trial Courts but were overlooked. The following is a synopsis of some of these issues:

· When the jury was deliberating on the mitigating evidence, they sent a note to the Trial Court saying that they were deadlocked. This should have resulted in an automatic life sentence according to the “12-10” rule of Article 37.071, V.A.C.C.P.; however, the jury was not advised that a single holdout juror would result in a life sentence. Since the Trial Court records do not reflect that Green’s Defense presented a claim in this regard, the Appellate Court overruled any appeal on these grounds.

· Further, while the jury was deciding on the sentencing, they showed confusion on the definition of “sufficient mitigating evidence” and in turn asked the Trial Court for clarification on expert evidence from Ramon Campos, one of Green’s therapists. The jury asked whether Campos had indicated that Green had experienced “emotional problems” as a child and the Trial Court responded that the therapist did not use the term “…'emotional problems'!” (emphasis added by Court using exclamation mark). As the law provides that upon application to the Court, the jury is entitled to have read to them parts of the witness’ testimony, but when the jury requested same, the Court did not allow the testimony of the therapist to be read. The words “emotional problems” were not used; however, “anger”, “hatred”, and “grief” were some of the words used – all of which are clearly emotions. Campos testified that Green’s troubled childhood – including his father’s murder at age nine, and neglect by his mother because of her alcoholism and cocaine addiction – caused Green’s anti-social behavior problems (more on this below). He also testified that Green was working through them and had made significant progress and behavioral change – that is, “classic mitigation”.

· In the State of Texas, there is not a sentence of life without parole. However, the jury in Green’s case was not informed that the alternative to the death sentence would be a 35-year minimum incarceration, meaning Green would have been almost 55 years old before his first chance of parole. Without the knowledge of this alternative lengthy sentence, the death penalty may be arbitrarily imposed in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and Article 1, Sections 10, 13, and 19 of the Texas Constitution. However, as stated in the Opinion of Judge McCormick delivered October 4, 1995 in the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, “[t]he record does not reflect appellant presented these claims to the trial court; therefore, as a matter of state law, he presents nothing for review” and the claim was overruled.

· Neither Green’s counselor who gave expert testimony at the Trial, nor two other counselors who had treated Green for his mental illnesses were interviewed by Defense Counsel prior to trial. Had this important step been taken, Defense could have properly addressed issues of mitigation brought up by the jury. For example, Ramon Campos, counselor at Giddings State school, indicated that Green suffered from severe post traumatic stress disorder, and was in fact one of the “worst cases he had ever seen”. Green’s PTSD was likely caused from seeing his father hanged with his genitalia mutilated. Further, his mother was unavailable for emotional support because of her drug and alcohol addictions. Campos describes Green as having tremendous fear and paranoia and that children growing up in environments like Green’s “simply never develop the personalities with which to cope with frustration” and that Green’s aggression spawned from his mental or emotional illness. Campos and two other of Green’s counselors at the Giddings State School could testify that Green shouldn’t have been released from the school and intensive counseling to live with his aunt who was already experiencing severe parenting problems of her own. Most notably, when Green was dismissed from the school, an exit interviewer found him crying. When asked why he was crying, Green answered that “he was scared to leave Giddings and that he was afraid he would simply commit another crime”. Knowing that, the State released him anyway, and didn’t offer any further help. Further, it was stated in the Application for Writ of Habeas Corpus filed in this case that this evidence that was known to the State was “never disclosed to defense counsel”.

· Initially, Green was charged on the hearsay evidence of a jail-house snitch, Charles Aaron Lyles, who was incarcerated for murder and was desperate to make a deal to lessen his own sentence. Lyles served as informant on five cases at that time in exchange for a dismissal of charges against himself.

RECOMMENDED ACTION

Taking these points into account, the following is a suggested action to take:

Please send appeals as quickly as possible.

· expressing sympathy for the families and friends of Edward Perry Haden and Helen O’Sullivan, and explaining that you are in no way seeking to excuse the manner of their death or to minimize the suffering caused;

· noting that even though the jury deadlocked, an automatic life sentence was not applied, apparently because defense counsel neglected to raise the issue at trial;

· noting that the Trial Court neglected to explain various vital definitions to the jury even when the jury requested same, and that had the jury been properly advised, their deadlock might have resulted in the automatic life sentence;

· noting that with proper defense preparation the mitigating evidence of Mr. Green’s mental illness would likely have reached the standard of “sufficient mitigating evidence” required for the sentence of death to be overruled;

· urging the Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend that the Governor commute Edward Green III’s death sentence;

· urging Governor Perry to accept such a recommendation, or in the alternative event that the Board votes against clemency, to use his power of reprieve to stop the execution and request that the Board reconsider.

Canadian Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

(Edward Green Homepage)

Hello,
My name is Edward Green III and I'm a 26 year old male of African descent. I stand about 5'8 and weigh a firm 150 pounds. I have short wavy hair and a set of dark brown eyes to assent a smoother shade of brown, in my skin complexion. However, my best physical attribute is, my million dollar smile. I believe that you can learn so much about a person, through their smile. I know that this little description doesn't describe me like a picture would, so you should find a picture of me as well. I know that looks don't matter, but from time to time, during the course of getting to know a pen-friend, we like to put a face and an imaginary voice with the letters that we may be receiving - know what I'm saying? Not really a big deal, but one of the few ways of escaping the mental torture of being incarcerated.

I have several hobbies, such as: Reading and writing poetry - Reading all types of educational books(especially history) - I like meeting new people - I like to workout - play basketball - dominoes - a little chess and listening to the radio. However, my greatest pass-time of all is simply being myself. I've found that being yourself is the greatest joy that one could possibly achieve. While so many people are caught up on being someone other than themselves and are miserable...Me, myself I'm very content with who I am and I just love sharing my "real" self with someone that can accept me for that - FEEL ME !

I love to make people smile...I love to see people smile and feel good about themselves and I love to listen to people. Sometimes, thats all we need, just someone to listen to us. But at the same time, I can be a great advisor, as well. Basically, everybody is human and everybody deserves to be happy about one thing or another. Nobody should have to suffer loneliness or pain by themselves. Like the old African proverb goes; "A shared sorrow is a half sorrow !"

I also love music. I liek rap, R&B, Oldies, Alternatives and some Rock & Roll. My favorite artists' are 2 Pac - Dr. Dre - Snoop Dogg - DJ Screw - Master P- Too Short - Jodeci - Boys II Men - Sade - Luther Vandross - Alanis Morrissette - Kid Rock - Stone Temple Pilots and many more ...

To tell you a little more about myself, I've been here on Death Row going on 8 years and if the truth must be told, I'm scared to die - HERE !!! I have no insecurities in my manhood, so it doesn't make me feel less than a man to say that I'm scared to die at the hands of these 'demonic' individuals that call themselves "EXECUTIONERS !" Since being here at a young age, I've learned so much about people and about life. And in learning so much, I'd just like to share my world with someone thats willing to share themselves with me & make me a part of their world, as I will make them a part of my world.

What I'm looking for in a pen friend is someone who's very understanding - somwone that enjoys life and someone who's very secure, ambitious, and knows what they want out of life. Someone who isn't afraid to open their heart and feel the roller coaster of emotions that my heart has to offer. Someone who isn't judgemental and someone who isn't looking forward to look down on me, only to make yourself feel better. Me, I'm an open and honest person that believes that the truth compensates for all else that fails. If you're still reading this, don't be a stranger, drop me a line or two. You have nothing to lose, but everything to gain. I'm not that different from you and I'd love to just talk about different things that make the world go around. In closing, thank you for even reading this, even if you don't write me, thanks for considering it ! Also you'll find a piece of poetry that I wrote, as well as another Webpage that holds information about about my cap. conviction. Click here for more.

POETRY BY EDWARD GREEN III

WHO AM I ?........

Sometimes I try too hard
thinking that competing with self will reward
my heart with the foundation of knowledge
that only the depths of my soul can acknowledge.
This is why my determination decision
seems to appear more and more like a mission
allowing my growth and development to be something scholastic
while the balance of my life is man made, afraid and drastic,
There is no one but myself to blame
because throughout all the pleasures, I've searched for the pain.
that can bring me gravely closer to only knowing myself
while others wish to know nothing about me...but the means for my death.

Edward Green III (#999073)
12002 FM 35 South
Polunsky Unit 12AC/32
Livingston, TX 77351 USA

Green v. State, 912 S.W.2d 189 (Tex.Cr.App. 1995) (Direct Appeal).

Defendant was convicted in the 174th District Court, Harris County, George Godwin, J., of capital murder and sentenced to death. He appealed. The Court of Criminal Appeals, McCormick, P.J., held that: (1) defendant was not egregiously harmed when trial court, responding to a jury question as to whether therapist had testified that defendant had "emotional problems," wrote that the counselor had never used that term; (2) defendant waived any error in the trial court's response by failing to present the claim to the trial court; (3) defendant's motion claiming that Texas death penalty scheme did not properly narrow class of persons eligible for that punishment was too general to preserve that claim on appeal; (4) deletion of the "deliberateness" special issue from capital punishment proceedings did not render death penalty scheme unconstitutional; (5) death penalty scheme allows for consideration of offense-specific criteria in a meaningful manner; (6) trial court's charge to jury not to be influenced by mere sympathy when answering special issues violated neither State nor Federal Constitution; (7) instructions on mitigation issue at sentencing did not violate State or Federal Constitution on basis of shifting burden of proof to defendant or omitting a burden of proof; (8) instructions on mitigation issue at sentencing is not unconstitutional on basis of not requiring jury consideration of mitigation evidence when answering that issue.

Affirmed. Clinton, J., concurred in the result. Baird, J., filed a concurring opinion in which Overstreet, J., joined. Overstreet, J., filed a concurring opinion in which Baird, J., joined.

McCORMICK, Presiding Judge.

The offense is capital murder, and the sentence is death. Appellant raises sixteen points of error. We affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence shows that on August 31, 1992, the 18-year old appellant shot and killed two people when he attempted to rob them as they sat in their car at an intersection. Appellant later bragged about committing the offense and laughed at "the way the old man was shaking in the car after [appellant] shot him." Appellant later confessed to the police that he committed the offense.

At punishment, the State presented various witnesses who portrayed appellant as an *191 "antisocial, dangerous criminal." For example, when he was fifteen, appellant sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl. Appellant was incarcerated in the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) for this offense. Appellant engaged in violent behavior at TYC. TYC employees testified appellant hated women. Appellant was eventually paroled out of TYC.

Appellant's parole officers testified appellant was a "bad parolee." Appellant committed several offenses, including this offense, while he was on parole. Appellant expressed no remorse to the police when he confessed to this offense. Appellant attacked another prisoner with a shank while appellant was in the county jail awaiting trial for this offense. Appellant also engaged in other violent behavior in the county jail. The State presented other evidence to support an inference that appellant's upbringing did not lack in "advantages or opportunities," and he had the "tools to live a decent life."

Appellant presented the testimony of Campos who was a program therapist at a TYC sex offender treatment program. Campos was appellant's therapist in this program. Campos testified his initial assessment of appellant was that he appeared depressed and was shy, withdrawn, and very angry. Campos testified the origin of appellant's anger was, among other things, his being unable "to have a complete relationship with individuals, the lack of nurturing by the parents."

Campos attributed most of appellant's antisocial behavior to a "troubled childhood." Appellant's father was killed when appellant was eight or nine years old. Appellant's father was found hanging from a tree. Appellant's mother testified the killing was drug-related. Appellant's mother also testified appellant did not have much contact with his father since appellant's parents' divorce in 1979. Appellant's mother testified appellant's father physically abused her but not appellant. Appellant's mother was an alcoholic and a cocaine addict who spent much of her time away from the household. Appellant's primary caregivers were his aunt and grandmother.

Campos testified appellant began to show some progress from the TYC therapy sessions when appellant "started dealing with the death of his father." Campos testified that near the end of his treatment, appellant was still angry but he also had become "receptive to exploring his grief cycle" and was more receptive to seeing how a "normal family" functioned. Campos testified appellant was even beginning to show some signs of developing "victim empathy."

On cross-examination, Campos testified appellant failed his first exit interview from TYC. Campos testified appellant was disrespectful toward the staff and made derogatory comments about women during this interview.

"Q. Mr. Campos, in the exit interview that [appellant's counsel] was talking to you about, you had indicated that he--that [appellant], in his first exit interview, became angry, cursed, he was disrespectful to the staff and he made some derogatory statements towards women; is that correct?

"A. That's correct.

"Q. Did he make any specific statements about victims or--regarding his victim empathy?

"A. He stated, 'I really don't care about my victim. All women are bitches.' " Campos testified any progress appellant made in the TYC program was a "function of the intense work that [he and appellant] did together."

"Q. I mean, it took a lot to get him to make any inroads into his problems, didn't it?

"A. Yes, it did, sir."

Campos also testified appellant is intelligent and is an "excellent manipulator." Campos testified appellant was referred to another doctor for follow-up sex offender treatment upon his release from TYC. However, appellant eventually stopped attending these treatment sessions. Campos also testified appellant considered himself a "victim." Campos agreed with the prosecutor this was a mechanism for shifting blame and not accepting responsibility for one's actions. Campos testified a person who perceives himself as a "victim" thinks people are out to get him and he is a "poor little child."

* * * *

The trial court's judgment is affirmed.