Obscure transferences of time don’t obviate now.
From rudimentary stages onward we apprehend the
Image of perfect conception, desperate and illusive.
The truth is, this arduous journey called life makes
Hostages of us. We are ever tossed by temperamental winds
Of spring, our resolve dissipates through stains of sorrow.
It’s night! Before the eye of dawn arrives, I rewind
The gopher-wood hands of time and embrace dreams of
Relief from the ugliness of human frailty.
In spite of insight, when you’re the hue of coal
The shadowy gallows function in real time
Under the influence of evolving standards of decency.
If there is an I in we, why then
Do you not see what I see, through a
Veil of distance my solitary passage?
And yes, even in mortification as a
Dusty raptor seeking deliverance on the
Wing of the universe, I will soar forever.
.
First published in On Wings of Hope
Published by permission of the author
See Darrell B. Grayson’s latest chapbook, Holman’s House, at The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature
**********************************************************
Darrell Grayson’s execution is set for July 26th. ACT NOW!
THIS IS AN EXECUTION ALERT!!!
Facts:
Darrell Grayson, as a young, poor, African-American, was convicted by an all-white jury.
Darrell Grayson’s trial attorney had no experience in capital cases. He practiced divorece law.
Darrell Grayson confessed to the crime. (Not all persons who confess are guilty of the crime. See “Psychology and Confessions” by Dale Wisely. Read Darrell Grayson’s statement concerning what happened.)
DNA evidence is available which has never been tested. Darrell Grayson, facing execution, has been denied the right to have DNA testing.
Darrell Grayson’s case has been supported by the Innocence Project, yet his execution date is set for July 26th at Holman Prison in Alabama.
Alabama refuses to make its lethal injection protocol public. After botched executions, eleven other states have reviewed their own protocols.
Athough Darrell Grayson may not be guilty, evidence to determine this has been collected, and he may suffer the painful death of a botched execution, his execution date is set for July 26th at Holman Prison in Alabama.
Darrel B. Grayson is the chairman of Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty.
*****
Please write the Governor of Alabama and ask for a stay of execution.
There are facts at this site to help you compose an informed letter.
(I will post my letter on this site in a few days. Letter writers may use any part or all of it to help them compose their own letters.)
Contact the governor:
The Honorable Governor Bob Riley
State Capitol N 104
11 S. Union Street #600
Montgomery, AL 36130 2751
Phone: 334-242-7100
fax: 334-242-0937
email the governor through this link
*****
Purchase a copy of Darrell B. Grayson’s chapbook, Against Time, from Mercy Seat Press. Proceeds go to Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty.
*****
Please pray for Darrell Grayson, the Governor of Alabama, all members of Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty, other prisoners on Death Row, families of crime victims, the executioners, Darrell’s friends, and, “if there is an I in we,” all the rest of humanity.
*****
Darrell Grayson’s execution is set for July 26th.
This is a matter of life and death.
20 comments
July 6, 2007 at 2:59 am
Jana Allard
I have been wondering if your previous appeal had been successful. Our justice system is so inconsistent that we should all be fearful of it.
July 6, 2007 at 8:43 am
helenl
I don’t know, Jana. All I know is I must write again, and I hope others will do so.
July 6, 2007 at 1:11 pm
earthpal
Will do Helen, although I’m not an American so they may not take notice.
July 13, 2007 at 12:19 pm
My Plea For Darrell Grayson’s Life « Windows Toward the World
[...] Darrell Grayson’s execution is set for July 26. Please write to Governor Riley now. Permission is granted to copy and use any part of this letter. For other information concerning Grayson, see earlier post. [...]
July 16, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Sherry Chandler » Death Penalty
[...] the impending execution of poet Darrel Grayson in Alabama [...]
July 16, 2007 at 3:05 pm
helenl
Thank you, Sherry.
July 20, 2007 at 12:05 pm
Reposting My Plea for Darrell Grayson « Windows Toward the World
[...] Darrell Grayson’s execution is set for July 26. Please write to Governor Riley now. Permission is granted to copy and use any part of this letter. For other information concerning Grayson, see earlier post. [...]
July 21, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Lee Binion
this crap has gone on long enough…if you had followed the trial from the beginning as i have being the daughter of the murder victim, you would see clearly from all the transcripts that this man murdered my grandmother with an accomplice while he was very drunk. this is an excuse, not a reason and it is an utter outrage that the judicial system of Alabama has taken this long for this murderer to be put to death as deemed by jury of his peers. I shutter to think how you sleep at night thinking of this murderer instead of the victim here…it is not darrell grayson, but my grandmother, who did not have 27 more years to live, writing poetry, etc…the taxpayers of alabama are the victims also for having to house, cloth and feed this animal who savagely beat and raped my 86 year old grandmother to death for 27 years…it is my goal to make this process much shorter like most other states that don’t have 5 appeallent (sp) courts after they kill and are convicted
the kicker is that this animal has not even ventured to show any type of remorse for even being involved in this crime and that tell us, the family, the whole story. ill wait and see if this is put on your site.
July 23, 2007 at 11:39 pm
Ashley Baine
I am just so saddened to read everyone’s comments on this page. Darryl Grayson was an evil man. I almost got to be with my great grandmother on my birthday while visiting her for Christmas in Montevallo. We were to see her on Christmas Eve. Darryl took care of that. I was born on Christmas day in 1970 and had a special loving bond with the woman that all of the great grand kids referred to as “Greatest:. She was so sweet and giving and I can still cry at 36 whenever I see his hateful face. He did this act. He beat her, he suffocated her, he raped her (twice). He admitted to it. He walked home dropping playing cards that he had stolen from her house to lead the detectives right to his home. They found him in the bushes with her wedding ring in his wallet. He confessed to everything more than once. He did it. He did it. He did it. He still hasn’t found guilt or remorse. Please let him go. He worked really hard to deserve an execution. Please let him have it.
July 24, 2007 at 8:59 am
helenl
Hi Ashey, I am sorry your grandmother was brutally murdered, but it saddens me even more that after 27 years you still want vengence against a man who may be innocent. You have heard only what you want to hear. I hope Darrell is granted a stay of execution and that DNA testing is done so we can all know the truth.
This blog supports the struggle against racism, poverty, and violence through nonviolent means.
Please don’t write again. And I hope you find peace, which will come from forgiving not from venegence.
July 24, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Deb
Darrell Grayson was convicted in the 1980 beating and suffocation death of an 86-year-old widow. Grayson and Victor Kennedy were convicted of killing Annie Laura Orr at her home in Montevallo, Alabama on Christmas Eve in 1980. Her granddaughter visited her during the day of December 23rd, 1980, and found her appearing to be in good health, ambulatory, and in possession of her mental faculties. During the evening hours of December 23rd, 1980, Darrell Grayson, co-defendant Victor Kennedy, and two other individuals met at Kennedy’s residence, also in Montevallo, and a short distance from that of Mrs. Orr. They drank wine and played cards. Sometime shortly after midnight, and after the other individuals had gone, Kennedy and Grayson left Kennedy’s house on foot, walking in the direction of Mrs. Orr’s house. They were armed with a .38 Caliber handgun, which belonged to Kennedy. They decided to burglarize Mrs. Orr’s residence in order to get some money. They had previously discussed such a burglary, that Mrs. Orr was elderly, and where she kept her money. They entered the Orr house during the very early morning hours of December 24th, 1980, through a rear basement door. They then proceeded through the dirt basement, up several steps, and into the main living portion of the house near Mrs. Orr’s bedroom. The pair used a flashlight to illuminate their way. Once inside the living portion of the house they entered Mrs. Orr’s bedroom where she was apparently sleeping. Annie, who was only 5′ 3″ and weighed 117 pounds was attacked as she slept. They subdued and beat her, striking her in the head with a blunt instrument and breaking several of her ribs. Grayson then placed a pillowcase over her head and wrapped two relatively long lengths of masking tape very tightly around her head so that when they were finished her head appeared to be that of a mummy. Then they proceeded to look for money and other valuables. When apparently they could not find a significant amount of cash, the pair began threatening Mrs. Orr by beating her further, threatening to drown her, and firing two shots from Kennedy’s pistol, into her bedroom block and wall. During their assault, the pair raped Annie Orr repeatedly. Darrell Grayson said he didn’t want to rape Mrs. Orr but that he did so twice. She lived through the assault of being raped, beaten, threatened, unable to see or adequately breathe, and begging her assailants not to hurt her but to take her money and leave, for a considerable period of time. She then died. On the morning of December 24, 1980, Mrs. Orr’s son discovered her dead body in her home in Montevallo, Alabama, and called law enforcement officers. The officers discovered a trail of playing cards leading from Mrs. Orr’s home to the home of Victor Kennedy, a known burglar. Knowing that Kennedy and Grayson had been seen together the previous night, officers began looking for Grayson on the afternoon of December 24, 1980, and discovered him “squatting in the bushes” in a wooded area near his home. Following his arrest, Grayson confessed. Officers also discovered Mrs. Orr’s wedding rings in Grayson’s wallet and obtained physical evidence from Grayson that linked Grayson to the crime. Grayson was taken into custody. When interviewed by police, Grayson told the officers that he had performed yard work for Mrs. Orr in the past, was familiar with her house, and had entered her home with Kennedy in the early morning of December 24, awakening Mrs. Orr. Grayson admitted that they had repeatedly raped Mrs. Orr while searching her house for valuables. Grayson and Kennedy took the money and valuables they found, left Mrs. Orr on her bed, and left the house. Within thirty minutes of this interview, Grayson again waived his Miranda rights and confessed to the officers again. This time, the officers tape-recorded the confession. Grayson again admitted that he had worked for Mrs. Orr in the past and knew the house, but claimed that the burglary and rape were Kennedy’s ideas. Grayson also claimed that he and Kennedy had consumed several gallons of wine the evening of the crime. Two days later, Grayson again waived his Miranda rights and gave another recorded statement to police. This time, Grayson explained that he and Kennedy had been planning for a couple of weeks to rob Mrs. Orr to get money for Christmas. They selected Mrs. Orr as a target because Grayson had worked for her and knew where she kept money. Grayson also stated that Mrs. Orr had begged them to take her money and not hurt her. Grayson taped a pillowcase over Mrs. Orr’s face to prevent her from recognizing him, and after that, he could not understand what she was saying. Grayson stated that both he and Kennedy raped Mrs. Orr repeatedly and unsuccessfully searched for money and other valuables. Grayson admitted that at one point he had taken Mrs. Orr to the bathroom and then returned her to the bedroom, where he raped her again, but he could not remember why he took her to the bathroom or what happened there. Grayson explained that Kennedy urged him to leave the house while he was raping Mrs. Orr, and Grayson left Mrs. Orr on her bed with the pillowcase taped over her head and face as he left the house. Grayson was tried for capital murder during a burglary. At trial, the officers described the crime scene, the physical evidence, including the playing cards that led to Kennedy’s house, and the circumstances leading to Grayson’s arrest. The officers also recounted their discovery of Mrs. Orr’s wedding rings in Grayson’s wallet and the bloody shirt belonging to Grayson in the woods near his home. The transcripts of Grayson’s confessions were admitted into evidence. The State additionally presented expert testimony about the crime scene. For example, the State’s trace evidence expert testified about the comparison of hairs recovered from the crime scene and hairs taken from Grayson and Kennedy. The expert explained that several hairs recovered at the crime scene had “negroid” characteristics consistent with Grayson’s and Kennedy’s hair and inconsistent with the victim’s, but that the hairs were too small to allow an individual comparison of them with Grayson’s and Kennedy’s samples. The expert also testified that a hair recovered from Grayson’s sock following his arrest was consistent with the victim’s head hair and inconsistent with Grayson’s, but the expert could not opine as to whether the hair was the victim’s. The State’s fingerprint expert testified that the latent fingerprints lifted from Mrs. Orr’s home and on evidence were insufficient to allow analysis. The State’s ballistics expert testified that the two bullets found in the wall between Mrs. Orr’s bedroom and bathroom and on the floor in her bedroom were of the .38 caliber size and were fired from the same weapon, likely a Smith and Wesson revolver. The expert further testified that the hole in a shattered clock in Mrs. Orr’s home also was consistent with a .38 bullet. However, on cross-examination, the ballistics expert testified that the police had not given him a gun that matched up with the bullets. The State’s serology expert testified that bloodstains found on a pillowcase and a bed spread in Mrs. Orr’s bedroom could not be typed; nor could urine and semen stains found on a bed sheet recovered from Mrs. Orr’s bathroom. The expert also testified that the bloodstains on Grayson’s shirt recovered from the woods near his house were type O and could have come from either Mrs. Orr or Kennedy, both of whom were type O, but could not have come from Grayson, who is type B. The serology expert testified that a large blood and semen stain on Mrs. Orr’s nightgown was type B, which was consistent with Grayson’s blood. Grayson provided garbled testimony in his own behalf, mainly to the effect that he was too drunk to remember anything. A jury took only two hours to find him guilty of murder and burglary. Kennedy was executed in Alabama’s electric chair at Holman Prison in Atmore on Aug. 6, 1999. The trial judge said, “The court cannot think of a case it has seen, heard, or even read, that would equal the cruelty shown in this case by the defendant to Mrs. Orr.” An 11th Circuit Court of Appeals judge said, “Grayson confessed several times, testified at trial about the murder and his role in it, and does not contend that he was denied a fair trial. The non-biological evidence against him was and is overwhelming. For example, Grayson admitted that he and Kennedy planned the robbery a week before; the victim’s wedding rings were found in Grayson’s wallet; Grayson’s bloody shirt was found in the woods near his house; and Grayson was discovered hiding in the woods after his mother told him of Mrs. Orr’s death.”
July 24, 2007 at 1:24 pm
helenl
And DNA testing will deny or confirm all of this, Deb. Please e-mail the governor of Alabama and ask him to stay the execution, so that DNA testing can reveal the truth.
July 24, 2007 at 9:16 pm
lee binion
this comment has been removed
July 24, 2007 at 9:20 pm
lee binion
this comment has been removed
July 24, 2007 at 9:26 pm
helenl
Lee, I mean it. This is the time to speak for Darrell or be silent. Continuing to comment, when I have asked you to stop, is just rude.
July 24, 2007 at 10:10 pm
amy
this comment has been removed
July 24, 2007 at 11:36 pm
Ashley Baine
this comment has been removed
July 24, 2007 at 11:47 pm
Ashley Baine
this comment has been removed
July 24, 2007 at 11:57 pm
helenl
Please no pro-execution comments; we are busy trying to help save a life. If you have a positon other than pro-life, please find another blog on which to post. You have a right to your opinion, but please write about it elsewhere. This includes relatives of the murder victim. We have thought this through. Thank you.
July 25, 2007 at 12:01 am
Ashley Baine
this comment has been removed
Please get your own blog, if you wish to post about this.
Helen