The disastrous case of Linda Carty - British grandmother

Linda Anita Carty (born 5 October 1958) is a British woman on death row in Texas. She was convicted and sentenced to death in February 2002 for the abduction and murder of 25-year-old Joana Rodriguez, apparently in order to steal her four-day-old son.[2] Carty claims she is innocent and has appealed against her conviction. Her appeals have been unsuccessful and the appeal procedure has been exhaused.[3] Barring the granting of clemency, she stands to become the first black British woman to be executed in more than a century.[4]
Early life
Originally from St. Kitts, Carty holds British citizenship as the island was still a British colony at the time of her birth. She emigrated to United States along with most of her family in 1982.[5]
The crime
According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice:

On 16 May 2001, Carty and three co-defendants [Gerald Anderson, Chris Robinson, and Carlos Williams] invaded the home of a 25 year old female. The victim and her three day old baby were kidnapped and two other victims were beaten, duct taped, and left in the residence. The 25 year old female was hog-tied with duct tape, a bag was taped over her head, and she was placed in the trunk of a car. This victim died from suffocation.[1]
Conviction and appeals
Carty was convicted of murder on February 19, 2002. She was sentenced to death by lethal injection on February 21, 2002.[2][6]

The imposition of a death sentence in Texas results in an automatic direct appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. This appeal was rejected on April 7, 2004. Carty then appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. This appeal was rejected on September 19, 2009. On 26 February 2010, Carty appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, in which the British government filed an amicus curiae brief as a friend of the Court.[4][7][8] However, on May 3, 2010 the Court refused to hear the appeal.[9] The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has the option to recommend clemency to the Governor of Texas. However, such recommendations are rare.[10]
Defense claims
Carty, her lawyers and her supporters contend that she has been unjustly sentenced to death for a murder that she did not commit. Reprieve claims that her defence attorney did not investigate mitigating evidence.[7] They assert that no forensic evidence exists that places her at the scene of the crime[11], although Carty's fingerprints were found in the car containing the victim's body.[2] Carty has claimed that she was framed by three men for her work as an informant with the Drug Enforcement Administration.[11][12] Anderson, Robinson, and Williams, the other co-defendants in the kidnapping and murder, were given prison terms but none received the death penalty after testifying against Carty.[11] Baker Botts, the law firm handling Carty's appeal have argued that her trial attorney, Jerry Guerinot, handled her defense in an incompetent manner.[5] Michael Goldberg of Baker Botts accuses Guerinot of failing to call any witnesses who might have persuaded the jury that she did not deserve execution.[5][4] In addition, they assert that Guerinot met with Carty for only one fifteen-minute interview. Carty also claims that on one occasion she was interviewed without counsel being present[11]
Additional information
Carty's case received media attention in September 2009 when her image was placed on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square by her British supporters.[12][13] However, there has been little media coverage in the U.S.

Carty is presently being held at the Mountain View Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; the unit contains the state's female death row.[14]
Write a letter  to Linda at: Linda Carty, # 999406, Mountainview Unit, 2305 Ransom Rd, Gatesville, Texas 76528, USA. Letters must include a return address. If you would like to send Linda a book, you order the book(s) from Amazon and have them sent to the above address.
HELP US HELP LINDA  at our Save Linda Carty page, on Facebook or by contributing to our urgent appeal for Linda Carty.

Reprieve
PO Box 52742
London EC4P 4WS
Tel: 020 7353 4640
Fax: 020 7353 4641
Email: info@reprieve.org.uk
Website: www.reprieve.org.uk