Appeals and Reversals
Betty Lou Beets' current lawyers appealed her conviction and sentence twice, once to the state and once to the Federal courts, using the conflict of interest of Beets' trial lawyer and documentation of the abuse suffered by Beets as grounds for the appeals. In 1987, the Texas State Court of Criminal Appeals held that the "murder for remuneration" statute had been improperly applied, and reversed Beets' conviction and sentence. The state of Texas appealed, and the court reversed itself and reinstated the conviction and sentence. In 1991, a federal district court judge held that E. Ray Andrews' representation violated Beets’ constitutional right to adequate assistance of counsel and ordered a new trial. But the state of Texas, unwavering in its determination to execute Betty Lou Beets, appealed once again, and the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated both the conviction and the death sentence.
Betty Lou Beets did not ask for her conviction to be overturned, nor did she seek to be released. She asked only that her death sentence be commuted to life in prison without possibility of parole - the sentence she probably would have received without the "capital" charge of "murder for remuneration." The power to do this was held jointly by the Governor (and Presidential candidate), George W. Bush, and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. Her lawyers filed a petition for clemency with the Board and asked Governor Bush to grant a 30 day reprieve to give the Board time to review the petition and the evidence. The Board rejected her petition on Feb. 23, and Gov. Bush declined to grant the 30 day reprieve.
A victim's response to battering is not always sympathetic, pretty or even moral. Betty Lou Beets turned first to alcohol and drugs, and finally to murder, to escape the pain in her life. I can not and do not condone murder, but I can understand how a victim so well-schooled in hopelessness, so harshly taught to expect no help, may have come to believe that murder was her only option. You will have to make your own judgement about the morality - or lack of it - in Betty Lou Beets' actions. But the morality of her execution is a question for all of us, because we are responsible for the actions of our government. True, it is the state of Texas that carried out the execution, and it's a statistically safe bet that most of the people reading this do not live in Texas. But it was the U.S. Supreme Court that allowed states to impose the death penalty, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court that reinstated the death penalty for Betty Lou Beets, and it was the U.S. Supreme Court that refused to even hear an appeal of that decision.
To me, the responsibility is unambiguous: It is "We The People" who took the life of a 62-year-old hearing-impaired, learning-disabled, brain-damaged great-grandmother and battered woman, on Feb. 24, 2000.
Karen
Update: 06/12/00: On June 1, Gov. George W. Bush granted a thirty day stay of execution to Ricky Nolen McGinn, pending DNA testing. McGinn was convicted of the 1993 rape and ax murder of his 12-year-old stepdaughter. At issue is not whether McGinn murdered his step-daughter, the question is whether he also raped her. Under Texas law, capital punishment in murder cases requires an aggravating factor (such as rape) committed in the course of or in conjunction with the murder. His new-found "compassion" contrasts sharply with his response to Bettie Lou Beets' petition for clemency. That petition was also based on the claim that the "aggravating factor" - filing for death benefits 18 months after the disappearance of her husband - was not conclusivly proven to be a factor in the murder of her husband.
Reference Materials
En Banc Petition to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision
Petition for Clemency
Supplement to the Petition for Clemency
Affidavit of Faye Lane, daughter of Betty Lou Beets
Background & More Information
Serious Errors
According to a new study, the death penalty in the US is "persistently and
systematically fraught with serious error." The study, conducted by
Professor James S. Liebman of the Columbia Law School, is the first
comprehensive statistical study of the US death penalty system ever
undertaken. From Kevin Reid, About.com Human Rights Guide.
Bush Hits "Pause" Button in McGinn Case
6/5/00 - Time
After presiding over 131 executions - about one-fifth of all the executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 - Gov. George W. Bush for the first time issued a 30-day stay of execution. Will voters be impressed?
Amnesty International Statement
A summary of the case prepared by Amnesty International
Bettie Lou Beets Homepage
A collection of writings, photos, letters, and information from around the web on Bettie Lou Beets' case.
"Bettie Beets In The News"
A compilation of past and present newspaper articles about the Beets case.
Betty Beets: Victim or "Black Widow"?
A somewhat less sympathetic view of the case, from About.com Crime/Punishment Guide Bill Bickel.
Capital Punishment
An extensive list of sites for, against, and about capital punishment, from Crime/Punishment Guide Bill Bickel.
Death Penalty Information
Information about the death penalty and its use, from Human Rights Guide Kevin Reid
Domestic Violence Issues
Links to more information and resources on Domestic Violence from About.com Law Guide Paul Reed
FindLaw Library: Violence Against Women
An extensive library of information about violence against women and the legal system.
Prison Activist: Self Defense is Not a Crime
An eye-opening list of statistics compiled by the National Clearinghouse in Defense of Battered Women, Washington, D.C., presented by the Prison Activist Resource Center (PARC).
Violence Against Women
Links to information about domestic violence, sexual assault and self defense from your Women's Issues Guide.