Gary Tyler

Gary Tyler
Born July 1958 (age 56–57)
Ethnicity African American
Citizenship  United States
Criminal charge
 First degree murder
Criminal penalty
 Death, commuted to life sentence without parole in 1977
Criminal status Imprisoned at Louisiana State Penitentiary
Website
freegarytyler.com

Gary Tyler (born July 1958) has been a prisoner in Louisiana since 1975, when he was convicted at age 17 of the 1974 shooting death of a 13-year-old white boy. Originally sentenced to death, Tyler was the youngest prisoner on death row.

The Fifth Circuit US Court of Appeals ruled the trial was "fundamentally unfair". Tyler's cause has been taken up by human rights organizations, as well as many other supporters, including a range of sports figures and organizations in 2007.

Events

In 1974 formerly all-white Destrehan High School had been full of tensions as it reluctantly integrated, 20 years after the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education. Because of fights, officials closed the school early during the day of the events.

Black students were sent home on their regular bus. Tyler was 16 and on the bus. As they were leaving Destrehan High School, the bus was attacked by an angry mob of 100-200 whites, mostly students. The whites were angry about integration and tensions at the school.[1] Timothy Weber, a 13-year-old boy standing outside the bus near his mother, was shot and fatally wounded. He later died. Police searched the bus, but no gun was ever found.

Tyler was arrested and charged with the murder of 13-year-old Weber. His mother Juanita Tyler has said that he was beaten by the police in an attempt to make him confess. Other witnesses later told of being intimidated by the police.

The racially charged atmosphere was heightened with the arrival in Destrehan of David Duke, who was emerging as a leader in the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi politics in the United States. He brought what he called security teams to protect white residents.

Conviction

Tyler was tried as an adult and convicted at trial in 1975 by an all-white jury in a Louisiana state court. Observers thought the case was marked by several flaws and alleged lack of experience of his lawyer. As Bob Herbert wrote in 2007 in The New York Times, the lawyer "had never handled a murder case, much less a death penalty case. He kept his meetings with his client to a minimum and would later complain about the money he was paid."[2]

At the trial, the police produced a gun they claimed to have found on the bus. But, in the decades following the conviction, the gun disappeared from the evidence room.

Under Louisiana law, since it was a capital case, after conviction Tyler was sentenced to death by electrocution. He became the youngest inmate on death row when he entered prison.

In 1977, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana's death penalty was unconstitutional. Tyler's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment without parole. He is serving his sentence at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola.

Controversy

Tyler's case was appealed. In 1980 and 1981 the US Appeals Court, Fifth Circuit, ruled the trial was "fundamentally unfair" and flawed by the judge making an improper charge to the jury. The second time, after an appeal by the state, the Appeals Court reversed its earlier ruling and called for a retrial, based on what it said was attorney error, but changed its recommendation on a technical issue.

In 1989 the Louisiana Board of Appeals recommended a pardon, but Governor Charles "Buddy" Roemer, a Democrat, was running against David Duke for election, and refused to consider it in a racially charged election. He feared such a decision would not be favored by voters.[3]

Human-rights organisations have argued that the legal process and procedures were flawed by the racially charged atmosphere and police intimidation.[4] Due to the racial and political issues of the time, in 1994 Amnesty International described Tyler as a "political prisoner". [1]

In 2007 Bob Herbert of The New York Times wrote three columns about the case and the injustice against Tyler. His work helped raise the visibility of Tyler's plight, and Amnesty International, a coalition of sports figures, and other groups made a renewed effort to gain a pardon by Gov. Kathleen Blanco before she left office. She failed to consider the case. Tyler by then had served 32 years in prison.

Tyler's supporters have claimed that there was a miscarriage of justice in his case. Some of the issues include:

Popular culture

Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Joe Allen, "Free Gary Tyler", Counterpunch, 26/27 Aug 2006, accessed 16 Jul 2008
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Bob Herbert, "Gary Tyler's Lost Decades", reprinted by permission of New York Times, 5 Feb 2007, accessed 16 Jul 2008
  3. ↑ Dave Zirin, "Gary Tyler's Quest for Justice", The Nation, 21 Mar 2007, accessed 16 Jul 2008
  4. ↑ Joe Allen: Free Gary Tyler
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Democracy Now! | The Case of Gary Tyler: Despite Witness Recantations and No Physical Evidence, Louisiana Prisoner Remains Jailed After 32 Years
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Bob Herbert, "A Death in Destrehan", reprinted by permission of New York Times, 1 Feb 2007, accessed 16 Jul 2008

External links