LDF Files Brief Amicus Curiae on Billy G. Hughes Capital Case

    Ks \ JOHN RICCARDO 

& 
Chairman 

SS 
National Corporate Committee 

~) C 
WILLIAM T. COLEMAN, JR 

y 
Chairman of the Board 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND. INC* JULIUS L. CHAMBERS 

g06 15th Street, NW. HEADQUARTERS —_12 Geary Street en ee 
Washington, D.C.20006 49 Columbus Circle San Francisco, CA94108 JACK GREENBERG 

(202) 638-3278 New York, NY.10019 (418) 788-8736 Director-Counsel 

(212) 586-8397 

From: NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. 

Ten Columbus Circle 

New York, New York 10019 

(212) 586-8397 

Contact: Jack Greenberg 

Joel Berger 

To: National News Editors, Supreme Court Reporters, 

Legal Editors 

Supreme Court Bar Members Urged to Provide 

Free Counsel for Death Row Inmates 

New York, N.Y., May 4 - The NAACP Legal Defense and 

Educational Fund (LDF) and the American Civil Liberties 

Union (ACLU) have filed a brief amicus curiae in the 

Supreme Court of the United States, urging it to appoint 

a member of its bar to represent Texas death row inmate 

Billy G. Hughes. 

Of the thirty-two states with capital punishment statutes, 

most provide counsel for indigent criminal defendants at the 

state trial and appeal level only. Hughes' court-appointed 

counsel ceased to represent him after the Texas Court of Appeals 

affirmed his conviction and death sentence for the April 4, 1976, 

murder of a Texas Highway Patrolman. While Hughes is entitled 

to petition the court for a writ of certiorari he cannot afford 

to retain counsel. 

-more- 

Contributions are deductible for U.S. income tax purposes 

ae AACE LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. (LDF) 1s not a part ofthe National Association forse Me TED 

Colored People although it was founded by that organization and shar its commitment to equal rights LDFhashad for 20 yearsasep 

arate Bu id of Directors, program, staff, office and budget 



Page 2. 

That Hughes' basis for such a petition is substantial, is 

attested to by the fact that two judges of the Texas Court of 

Criminal Appeals dissented from the decision against him. 

The brief does not ask for “across-the-board" appointment 

of counsel in all death cases. Rather, it recommends that 

counsel be appointed: (1) to determine if there are 

sufficient grounds to prepare a petition for review and (2) 

to prepare the petition if it is warranted. The amicus brief 

points out that the Court has the obligation in a death 

penalty case to see that a defendant has every possible 

opportunity to prepare the best case for his defense. Of the 

approximately 470 death row inmates, many find themselves in 

the same circumstances as Hughes. 

Jack Greenberg, Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense 

Fund, which has handled the principal capital punishment cases in 

the Supreme Court in recent years, observed that the problem will 

become more widespread as more persons are sentenced to death. 

The brief stated that fifteen years ago in Douglas v. 

California the Supreme Court held that: 

"There is lacking that equality demanded by 
the Fourteenth Amendment where the rich man, 
who appeals as of right, enjoys the benefit of 
counsel's examination into the record, 
research of the law and marshalling of arguments 
in his behalf, while the indigent.... is forced 
to shift for himself. The indigent, where the 
record is unclear or the errors are hidden, has 
only the right to a meaningless ritual, while 
the rich man has meaningful appeals." 

HHEETE