Supporters to Protest Brutal Mistreatment / Howard Guidry Perserveres After Legal Setback : Houston Indymedia

July 17--“Before I even got to the courtroom
today, I was strip-searched twice in a matter of
minutes, attacked by a four-man swat team who forced
me onto the floor of my cell with knees in my
back and on my neck and threatened to Taser me,” an
angry Howard Guidry told Workers World today.

“Because I was shackled with my legs twisted and
handcuffed with my arms twisted behind my back,
they had to dress me,” he continued. “Then they
told me to put on my shoes, but I couldn’t move my
feet as the shackles were too tight. I was told I
didn’t need shoes. I went to court barefooted,
without my glasses, without my legal papers and
wearing no underwear or undershirt--only the neon
yellow shirt and pants.

“I couldn’t even see my supporters in the
courtroom.”

Today was supposed to be a new beginning for
Guidry in court. But after the degrading and brutal
treatment, there was a legal setback in court.
Both of the pretrial motions his defense attorneys
filed were denied.

To make matters worse, his lead attorney--Alvin
Nunnery, who had been on the case for more than 10
years--had to withdraw as his lawyer in order to
be able testify about a conversation he had with
a witness.

Death-penalty abolitionist Njeri Shakur announced
today: “We are planning a demonstration outside
the county jail to protest the racist treatment of
Guidry. It is an outrage that this innocent
brother was mistreated by the sick people running the
jail. Then they take him to court barefooted and
virtually blind. The Ken Lays and Jeff Skillings
don’t go to court without shoes and underwear.
Neither should our sisters and brothers.”

Racist injustice

Guidry was arrested in 1995 when he was 18 years
old. He reports that cops lied to him, telling
him they were going to put him on the fast track
for an execution if he didn’t confess to a murder
he knew nothing about.

After assaulting him with the white supremacist
“n” word, explaining how lethal injections worked
and berating Guidry for hours--all the while
denying him his right to contact his attorney--the
teenager was finally tricked into signing a
confession. The police told him that his lawyer had told
him to sign it.

Guidry was convicted of capital murder based on
that coerced confession.

In 2003, a federal district judge threw out the
confession and hearsay testimony that was used to
convict Guidry. The judge ordered the Houston
trial court to release Guidry or retry him within
180 days.

The state appealed the ruling, but the Fifth
Circuit upheld the order to release or retry Guidry.
And in March this year, after the Supreme Court
refused to review the case--essentially allowing
the original federal district judge’s decision to
stand--the Houston trial court had 180 days to
release or retry the prisoner, and Guidry was moved
off of death row.

Howard Guidry thought that finally his decade of
racist injustice was coming to an end. Then he
appeared in court today.

“Going into court I had little faith that justice
would be served. I was cautiously optimistic, but
knew our motions could be denied, even though
there were no legal grounds for doing so,” Guidry
explained.

“I was already in a foul mood going into the
courtroom after the degrading treatment this morning,
so it wasn’t such a shock when the judge denied
both motions. Beyond that the only disappointing
point for me was having lost my attorney, Alvin.
He’s been involved for ten years. I got lucky when
he was originally appointed for me,” Guidry said.

“This battle is a small setback, but the war is
just beginning. I appreciate all the support from
the Houston community and know we will prevail,”
Guidry concluded.

‘My struggle is far from over’

On the eve of his court appearance, July 16, an
“Evening of Solidarity with Howard Guidry” brought
out a crowd of activists and supporters to hear
Guidry’s death row poetry, meet his friends and
get to know the person who had been railroaded to
death row as a very young man.

Gathered on benches and chairs in the backyard
oasis of The Pyramid Shop in the Third Ward of
Houston, a multi-national crowd of activists listened
to Njeri Shakur speak of Howard Guidry, her
friend and comrade.

“Howard was so courageous on death row that he
inspired many young men to study revolutionary
politics and stand up for their rights,” Shakur
stressed. “He helped form the group Panthers United
for Revolutionary Education. He and Kamau Wilkerson
took a guard hostage in 2000 to call attention to
the horrific conditions in their new super-max
prison that were driving the men to lose their
minds. They did this not to hurt anyone, but because
of their love for their fellow prisoners.”

Liz Lyon, a young college student from New Jersey
who came to Houston to work against the death
penalty for the summer, has gotten to know Guidry
through many visits to the county jail. She gave a
rundown of Howard’s legal situation, and her poem
about her new friendship with Guidry touched
everyone.

Abolitionist Regina Schmahl read Howard’s own
words of greetings to the crowd: “The struggle for
my freedom is far from over. The stakes are high
for the state of Texas. My release would be a
glaring representation of a system long broke and
irreparable. Too many people have already been
executed for crimes they did not commit. Other
innocent people are sitting on death row awaiting
execution right now.

“We are fathers and brothers and sons, mothers
and sisters and daughters. Many are waiting,
following cases like mine and praying for a victory. If
I win, a moratorium for everyone gains a little
more momentum. We are literally in a constant race
with death,” Guidry wrote to his supporters.

Texas has two executions scheduled this week,
including Mauriceo Brown. “We must not stop our
work,” Angie Agapetus explained. She said Mauriceo
Brown’s mother, “is devastated. The judge denied
DNA testing. I have space in my car for two more
people to go to Huntsville Wednesday to protest his
execution,” she said about her friend.

Brother Kenya Shabazz, from The Pyramid Shop,
played revolutionary music and drums and provided
background for the highlight of the
evening--Guidry’s poetry read by two popular Houston poets,
Sister Sandria, aka The Water Poet, and Brother Zin.

People in the audience left for home with their
spirits visibly lifted by the warmth and
camaraderie of the evening and vowed to continue the
struggle to free Guidry.

“By the time they finished with their dramatic
interpretation and rendition, everyone present felt
as if they knew a little of Howard’s soul,” said
Lucha Rodríguez.

“I didn’t know a lot about Howard when I got here
tonight, but now I am ready to stand up for him,”
agreed Tony Evans.

“The same oppressors that brought citizens from
Africa and sold them and lynched them are the same
oppressors executing poor people today. Howard’s
poetry is beautiful. We need to get it published
and distributed out here. People need to read it
and see who is inside the walls,” Lenwood
Johnson, longtime activist, concluded.

Solidarity messages can be sent to: Howard Guidry
SPN # 01446317, Harris County Jail, 701 N. San
Jacinto St., Houston, TX 77002 or email to
Howardguidryjusticecomm@yahoo.com.

For more information see:
http://www.geocities.com/howardguidryjusticecomm