Georgia killed Wallace Fugate at 9:46 p.m. tonight. Generations to come will ask in disbelief why we, the people of Georgia, wanted this 53-year old man’s blood on our hands.

Mr. Fugate, till the end, spoke of all the wonderful years he shared with his ex-wife, Pattie; how they met, started a new life together, and built a family with their precious son, Mark. While we wish her family peace and solace, there is no escaping the fact that for the past 11 years, 3 months, and 12 days, Mr. Fugate had steadfastly maintained that the shooting was accidental.

There is, and can be, no finality. The tough questions must be asked and answered so that we never again extinguish the life of an innocent person. There must be a historical accounting of the grave injustice perpetrated here: the unconscionably poor lawyering by the court-appointed lawyers, the callous and deliberate indifference of the courts, and the disgraceful manner in which the Board of Pardons and Paroles conducted its clemency review.

Sanjay Chhablani
Justice Project Fellow
Southern Center for Human Rights
83 Poplar Street, NW
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-2122
(404) 688-1202
Fax: (404) 688-9440
E-mail: rights@schr.org
http://www.schr.org




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