Comunit� di Sant'Egidio

L'esecuzione di Henry Earl Dunn, detenuto nel braccio della morte di Huntsville (Texas) � stata sospesa dalla Corte di Appello del 5�Circuito di New Orleans lo scorso 13 maggio, un giorno prima che venisse messa in atto. Il tribunale d'appello ha dunque accolto il ricorso degli avvocati di Henry, i quali avevano sostenuto che il suo precedente difensore d'ufficio, inesperto, poco qualificato e non idoneo in materia criminale, non gli aveva fornito un'assistenza legale adeguata. La Comunit� di Sant'Egidio, attraverso il suo sito, aveva inoltrato un appello affinch� Henry potesse avere salva la vita. 

The execution of Henry Earl Dunn, detained in the death row of Huntsville (Texas), got a reprieve from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans last May 13th, just one day before it was scheduled to carry out. Thus the Court granted the appeal from Henry's defending counsels, who claimed his former state-appointed attorney was inexperienced, unqualified and incompetent and so he did not assure Henry a fair legal assistance. The Community of Sant'Egidio had previously written an appeal on Henry's behalf through its website, so that his life was spared.

Convicted killer in gay-bashing slaying gets reprieve

 By MICHAEL GRACZYK

 HUNTSVILLE, Texas A condemned Texas inmate won a reprieve Monday from a federal appeals court a day before he was scheduled to be put to death.

 Henry Dunn Jr.�s scheduled Tuesday evening lethal injection was put off with an order from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, said Mike Viesca, a spokesman for the Texas Attorney General�s Office.

 Dunn, 27, was sentenced to death for abducting, robbing and fatally shooting 23-year-old Nicolas West near Tyler in November 1993 in what authorities said was a gay-bashing hate crime.

 He and his lawyers contended a previous state-appointed attorney was inexperienced, unqualified and incompetent and missed deadlines that made future appeals impossible.

 Donald Aldrich, now 37, also is on death row for the West killing. A third man, David Ray McMillan, received a life prison term.

 Dunn said he was at the scene of the shooting but denied he was responsible for the bate crime. Aldrich, considered the leader of the group that preyed on homosexuals in the Tyler area, told authorities he didn't like gays because a gay relative raped him as a child. Gays also were easy robbery targets, he said.

 Aldrich�s case remains on appeal. He does not have an execution date. Dunn was among seven death row inmates who tried to escape from prison Thanksgiving night 1998. Only one, Martin Gurule, cleared a pair of fences that surrounded the Ellis Unit prison northeast of Huntsville.

A week later, Gurule was found drowned nearby.  Dunn and the other five were stopped by gunfire from corrections officers. -Dunn was the first of two Texas prisoners scheduled to die this week.

 On Thursday, Ronford Styron. 32, was set to die for the beating death of his li-month-old son in October 1993. Styron, from Dayton in Liberty County, told police he did not believe the child was his own offspring and took out his anger on the infant.

Fed. Court Stays Texas Execution

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- A Texas inmate condemned for killing a man in 1993 won a reprieve from a federal appeals court Monday, a day before he was to be put to death.

 Henry Dunn Jr.'s execution was stayed by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, said Mike Viesca, a spokesman for the Texas Attorney General's Office.

 Dunn, 27, was sentenced to death for abducting, robbing and fatally shooting 23-year-old Nicolas West near Tyler in November 1993 in what authorities said was a gay-bashing hate crime.

 He and his lawyers contended a previous state-appointed attorney was inexperienced and incompetent, and missed deadlines that made future appeals impossible.