(Baton Rouge, La.) – Families of victims of capital murder cases joined together yesterday to support Louisiana district attorneys in opposing the clemency hearings of 56 death row inmates. The applications for clemency were filed in mass earlier in the summer seeking expedited hearings that normally takes years to complete.
District Attorney Billy Joe Harrington, president of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, and other district attorneys from throughout the state filed motions in the 19th Judicial District Court to halt clemency hearings before the La. Board of Pardons.
“We shouldn’t be here today,” said Harrington at a press conference with over 30 family members of murder victims in attendance.
“This is not about us (district attorneys), it’s about the people standing behind me; it’s about those who could not be here, the victims, and their families.
“The 56 killers, who filed for clemency basically all at once, are leapfrogging over 440 pending standard clemency cases, and that’s not right and not the proper process for clemency hearings. The intent of unprecedented filings, which are not in accordance with pardon board policy requiring the inmates to have an execution date before applying for clemency, appears to seek a commutation of sentence from the governor before leaving office in January.
“Some of these cases are scheduled for hearing during the holidays. Can you imagine these families having to open up their wounds again during the holiday period, having to go back through this?,” said District Attorney Harrington.
Family members of murder victims voiced their opposition to the clemency hearings and told of their lifelong pain resulting from the murder of their loved ones.
Don Blackston traveled from Georgia to attend the press conference to share his story.
“Thirty-eight years ago we became victims of a violent and heinous act of crime by an individual who is now filing for clemency. This individual was judged twice by two separate juries with the same outcome, the death penalty.
“This has crippled my family in more ways than I can mention. Particularly my sister who is a survivor of the rape. For the last 38 years we continually have to support her and build up her confidence every time there is a mentioning of this case,” said Blackston.
Blackston’s brother, Rhon Blackston, was murdered by Tracy Lee during a home invasion in Natchitoches in 1985. Lee was convicted and sentenced to death.
Evelyn Salone, of St. Mary Parish, attended the event and spoke of the tragedy of the murder of her husband and her surviving the attempted murder the same incident in 2001.
“Our sanctuary, our home, became the death spot for my husband and where I should’ve died. I didn’t die only because of the grace of God! That’s the only reason. And I have raised four children on my own without a father. The pain and the wounds never heals as a family member of these tragedies.
“Every year, it seems like something new has been dug up by the killers to file something new. Every time we have an appeal and a hearing, we go through the process and I have to fight for justice for my husband and myself,” said Salone.
District Attorney Harrington said the motions filed in court to halt the clemency hearings will be considered soon, given that first group of hearings at the Board of Pardons is scheduled for next month.