Briton faces execution tonight after court rejects DNA appeal
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Your support makes all the difference.A court in Texas has turned down an 11th-hour appeal by a British man due to die by lethal injection in America tonight.
Jackie Elliott, 42, who was born in Suffolk to American parents, was sentenced to death 16 years ago for the rape and murder of a 19-year-old mother in Austin, Texas.
Last night a court refused to hear fresh evidence which Elliott's lawyers believe will prove his innocence. Judge Chuck Campbell said the DNA evidence did not specifically relate to Elliott but came from other suspects in the case.
Elliott's legal team said last night that they would try to take the case to the Texas Criminal Appeal Court.
In a separate attempt to stay the execution, the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole is expected to decide on a plea for clemency today.
Elliott has always protested his innocence and says he was convicted only because of the testimony of police informers covering their own guilt.
In the past few days, his legal team has unearthed 40 police reports, allegedly suppressed by the prosecution, that identify other key suspects.
His lawyers believe DNA testing could settle the issue. They said it was "unprecedented" for a state execution to take place before the courts had heard all the evidence.
John Gummer, Elliott's former MP, said the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, and the British embassy in America were assisting efforts to delay the execution. He said that since becoming involved in the case he was more and more convinced of Elliott's innocence.
"The latest evidence, uncovered in the past two or three days, is there is a further witness who points the finger at the very person who accused him [Elliott] and who otherwise would have been in the dock, and on whose evidence the whole case stood."
Mr Gummer added: "We have seen the original police documents, which show that the police did not believe him to be guilty, but the person who in the end testified against him and thereby saved himself from execution."
The Texas Board of Pardons and Parole has the power to recommend to the Texas Governor, Rick Perry, a stay of execution or outright clemency. The board could also urge Mr Perry to grant a limited stay to allow the new evidence to be put before a court.
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