SAVED! Sentence commuted to LWOP
Howard Neal
Howard was born on 14.09.1953 in Mississippi as one of twelve children. He lived together with his family in a two-room wooden house without electricity and without running water. Already at an early age it was clear that Howard suffered from mental retardation. “When that happened, he was like a thrown away child. It was like he didn't have parents.” At the age of sixteen he was transferred from Ellisville to the Mississippi State Hospital for the mentally ill, where he lived until he was eighteen years old. One of the doctors who worked there back then commented later on the Hospital, that it wasn’t a good or enjoyable environment for the youth, and bad for Howard’s further prognosis. After he spent nine years of his youth in institutions for the mentally retarded, he went back home to his mother. He lived some month together with her, until she forced him to leave the house, because she was afraid she could loose the benefits. Now, in the age at 53 he has an IQ of 54. Therewith his IQ corresponds to the IQ of an eight year old child, unlike a child would be able to read and to write better than Howard ever will. First at his adulthood he succeeded to learn to read and to write a bit while he was on Death Row. People brought only violence and scornfulness on Howard, due to the fact that he’s suffering from a disability. Encounters with love or help were rarely in his life, but nevertheless he’s friendly, honest and likeable to his fellow men. An important part of Howard’s life is also his Christian Belief. This is not based on things he learned or what someone told him, but on what he believes from the bottom of his heart. He loves animals, especially elephants. Therefore he loves it to look at them in his books or to watch the birds outside. Howard is now on Death Row for 26 years and since he has little contact to his relatives or friends, he feels very lonely in there. In his pen pal ad he’s looking for people who are willing to establish a good, and first of all long-lasting pen pal friendship. In the past people wrote to him out of the wrong motivations and than stopped suddenly. This hurts Howard very much! Thus we ask you to think about, if you are a patient person who’s interested in a long-term friendship to share the ups and downs with him, before you start writing to Howard. Another possibility to make his life more bearable and more diversified is to send him book via Amazon. He loves especially books with pictures of animals, or books that show how to draw animals. Please check the rules before you send something! Everything that isn’t allowed according the prison rules will be destroyed without exception! Post rules for Mississippi: http://www.mdoc.state.ms.us/inmate_mail.htm
It is possible to dedicate single days of the Walk for Life to The 5th day of the walk, April 4th, will be dedicated to Howard Neal, Mississippi. At this day will “X” hold Howard’s name the entire day and pictures will be taken. Furthermore will his name be listed on all website that are dedicated to the Walk of life and make him immortally in one of the most powerful actions the Movement has seen for a long time.
Howard Neal was sentenced for the rape and murder of his niece Amanda Joy Neal and for the murder of his half-brother Bobby Neal. The prosecution’s version of events was as follows: In January 1981, Neal drove to the home of his half-brother, Bobby Neal, against whom he may have had a longstanding resentment. Bobby, Bobby's thirteen-year-old daughter, Amanda Joy, and her friend, Melanie Sue Polk, were together in the house. The three left with Neal in Neal's car. During the drive, while they were on a logging road, Howard began fondling Amanda Joy. Bobby told Neal to stop, and an argument ensued. Neal stopped the car, and he and Bobby got out and walked some distance away. At that point, Neal shot Bobby, killing him. Neal then returned to the car and drove to another deserted area with the two girls. He pulled a blanket from his car and proceeded to rape Amanda Joy. He then raped Melanie Sue and shot both girls. While the police was canvassing the nearby communities, was Howard in California where he was later arrested for shoplifting. During a standard background check, the California police discovered that Howard was wanted for questioning in Mississippi. Thereupon they interrogated him for a several days without a lawyer present. After two days Howard allegedly made a confession, saying that he committed the crime. This confession is the only evidence linking Howard to the crime! There are no other evidences that identify him as the perpetrator. In court the confession was performed by the police, because it was not recorded nor was it written down and signed by Howard. After 26 years Howard still says he never committed the crime and he never made this confession. The district attorney of Mississippi accused Howard of rape, murder and kidnapping, all during the same episode. In court was Howard’s trial lawyers failed to call important witnesses and to present important facts. The defensive tactic of his lawyers was based on the fact of Howard’s mentally retardation. They missed it though to call witnesses who would have testified that Howard really suffers from this disability. Furthermore they presented hardly ever facts that could have been rated as mitigating circumstances. This is important, because the Jury can give a life sentence instead of a death sentence, if the mitigating circumstances outweigh. In his affidavit, one of Neal's attorneys at trial tried to explain that they did not contact these potential witnesses due to lack of funds and experience. “We did not have the time or money to properly investigate the case. We had no money to interview witnesses or travel. . . . I did not get Howard's records or interview people who had dealt with him in Oklahoma. I did not interview any of his relatives other than his mother. . . . We did not have a complete psychological examination of Howard which would have included a thorough investigation of his past medical and psychological history and a neurological examination. Had we had the time and money we would have done the above investigations for use at both trial and sentencing.” After an outrageous process without a proper defence, the court sentenced Howard to life in prison for the murder of Bobby Neal, and sentenced him to death by lethal injection for the rape and murder of Amanda Joy Neal. Howard is now on Mississippi death row for 26 years. In 2002 the US Supreme Court barred the executions for the mentally retarded, because it violates the eight amendments. Although Howard is verifiable mentally retarded, he remains six years after the Supreme Court ruling on death row, and the district attorney is still fighting for his right to murder Howard by lethal injection. His only hope is his new lawyers and their assistants, who work voluntary on his case. Together they’re working hard to save Howard’s life and to get him off of death row. We do present Howard’s case on our website so that he’ll be never buried in oblivion. This case is representative for many other cases that never reach the public, because there’s no one who would speak for those people. It’s an appalling example for how easy it is to accuse and to sentence someone, how even courts violate the law and what’s happening to helpless, ill and indigent people in such situations. At the same time it’s a positive example what people can reach if they get together. The people who are working now on Howard’s case are working on voluntary base and they make much more than only their job. The English organisation Reprieve for example presented a play about Howard’s life to get attention for him. The Australians Tom Wright and Nicholas Harrington created the piece “This is a true Story” and performed it on March 2007 at the Bridewell Theatre in London. Tom Wright played Howard. For more information please contact his supporter:
Executions of mentally retarded humans In 2002 the US Supreme Court ruled that executions of mentally retarded humans are cruel and unusual punishment. The decision is based on the eight Amendment to the Constitution that prohibits besides excessive bail or fines, cruel and unusual punishment too. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. According the law a mentally retarded person must have an IQ between about 50 and 70 and have experienced difficulty adapting to school and social and family life since before the age of 18. Base for the ruling is the case Atkins vs. Virginia. Daryl Renard Atkins was sentenced to death by the state of Virginia, after he murdered a man for beer money. His lawyers could prove that Atkins has an IQ of only 59, wherefore he wasn’t able to live alone or to perform a job, so they referred to the eight Amendment. All in all we can say the court came to the conclusion that executions of mentally retarded people are cruel and unusual, because they can’t comprehend the procedure of a trial against them, their disability can affect their sentence adversely in court, and the capital punishment doesn’t serve the intrinsically purpose because the offender can’t estimate the consequences of his actions. Howard Neal fits the definition by law for being mentally retarded. He has a proven IQ of 54, he wasn’t able to gain a school education and lived always together with persons who cared for him because he wasn’t able to live alone. For more information please contact his supporter:
Howard is often lonesome, because he has no contact to his family and barely friends. Therefore he would be glad if someone would drop him every now and then a few lines!
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