Recently, a report was released on the circumstances of the death of John F. Kennedy, Jr., his wife and her sister. The writer truly admired and respected John Jr. and expressed his feeling that young Mr. Kennedy would eventually have been a significant player in the long overdue reform of American politics. Although at the time of his death, a political career was not on his immediate agenda, there is no question that he would have been a political force to be reckoned with at some time in the near future.
The death of John Jr. has been labelled as the American Tragedy of our Time. I beg to differ. The death of John Jr. and other members of his family was a sudden, unfortunate and terrible sad accident, and definitely a great loss. But it was not the real American Tragedy.
The true American Tragedy of our times is embodied and illustrated by the execution of Gary Graham, which took place on June 22, 2000. For all that I do believe that the death penalty is called for under certain extreme circumstances, I also emphatically that this particular execution was nothing short of a state sanctioned murder.
The execution which took Garry Graham’s life was, paradoxically, not really about him, just as the riots in Los Angeles in 1992 were not really about the Rodney King incident. This execution was a graphic and grisly miscarriage of the failed system we call “American Justice”. When the people and the justice system condemn any individual to be executed or incarcerated under the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, it is expected that beyond reasonable doubt, and with all relevant evidence presented, there is no question whatsoever about the guilt of that person.
Garry Graham was convicted of murder and executed on the basis of the questionable testimony of a single eyewitness. This was a Travesty, inasmuch as two other witnesses were not permitted to testify and their evidence was suppressed. It has been proven over and over again in studies and in actual criminal cases that a single eyewitness identification cannot be solely and completely relied upon without some other corroborating evidence to support the identification. Just in the past decade the country has seen case after case in which honest eyewitnesses were, although testifying in good faith, incorrect in their identification of suspects.
Has the United States of America now come to the point of not really caring one way or another about who is guilty and who is innocent? Have we become so barbaric that executing a United States Citizen can be compared to biting into an omelette, and finding a piece of eggshell, which we just casually leave on the side of the plate? This execution was a pathetic example of what we have become, because it shows that it has become easier to execute or convict and imprison a citizen of the United States, than it is for a citizen to obtain a bank loan. A bank requires that a borrower have collateral or a credible co-signer, references, and employment and income information before any funds will be loaned by the bank. In other words, the bank demands positive prove that it will get its money back with interest. The present American “Justice System” does not require that same positive prove that a defendant id guilty of a crime. The real requirement is that the prosecutor puts on a better show than the defence attorney. This is a terrifying development, especially for poor and minority defendants, whose court appointed defence counsel is often disinterested and unskilled.
This execution also shows that it would behove every American citizen to beware, and to keep track of every minute of his daily activities, the activities of his loved ones, and have alibi witnesses to all twenty -four hours of a day.
This execution illustrates that if any American has an enemy or a jealous partner, or should unfortunately bear a physical resemblance to a criminal suspect, someone can go to any police department or district attorney with erroneous information and make an unsubstantiated accusation.
That means that YOU can be identified as a suspect by an “eyewitness”, or it may be said that YOU stated to him or her that YOU committed the unsolved crime. After that, when you are brought to trial, shackled as an infamous miscreant for the judge and jury to see, YOU, although your legal fees, if you can pay them, may impoverish you and your family forever, had certainly better hope that your defence attorney puts on a better show than the prosecutor, because that will actually determine whether you will be convicted of the crime, and not your actual innocence or guilt. And after your trial, even if you are acquitted, where do you go to redeem your reputation and your dignity?
Remember this if you remember anything, that every United States citizen is at risk for this kind of “American Justice”, until YOU stand up to force things to change.
Until that happens, always be prepared for the unexpected… 

Jesse M. Dombrique 96164-012
US Penitentiary
Post Office Box 1034
Coleman, FL 33521
USA

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