Urgent appeal for Linda Carty

Time is running out for British grandmother Linda Carty who is on death row in Texas: we need extra funds to help us fight for her life in these last crucial months.

Please help us to help Linda Carty by making a donation to Reprieve. We need to raise £15 000 for Linda’s case.

Reprieve is providing Linda with legal and investigative assistance in a race against the clock to save her life. We are also doing everything we can to bring pressure to bear on the British Government to act now to save Linda. We expect our costs will be up to £15 000.

Currently on death row in Texas, Linda was sentenced to be killed by lethal injection following a catastrophically flawed trial. She is now in the final stages of appeal but so far judges have refused to help her.

When Reprieve became aware of her case after her conviction we travelled to St Kitts and met friends and relatives of Linda, including the former prime minster, who spoke very highly of Linda. We also carried out extensive investigation in Texas, speaking to witnesses and Linda’s relatives, to gather evidence about her life.

Linda’s story

Linda was convicted following a catastrophically flawed trial in Texas, showing how the US legal system can fail poor people facing the death penalty.

Despite the overwhelming failures of Linda’s court appointed trial lawyer, the courts have refused to consider key evidence showing that Linda's notoriously incompetent defence lawyer Jerry Guerinot:
• Failed to spot obvious flaws and inconsistencies in the prosecution case;
• Failed to interview witnesses;
• Failed to present evidence on her lack of future dangerousness; and
• Failed to inform Linda of her right to consular assistance.
Help us to get the information that was never presented at her trial into the court of public opinion, before it is too late.

Meet Linda Carty: the unluckiest woman on death row

Imagine you're a lonely black woman, far from home, accused of a death penalty crime in deepest Texas. Two career criminals have fingered you in exchange for saving their own skins. You want a decent legal team but they won’t let you hire your own, so you‘re forced to rely on under-resourced state-appointed defence attorneys. You’re on trial for your life. Things can't get any worse, right?

Wrong! British grandmother Linda Carty had the misfortune to score THE WORST LAWYER IN THE WORLD... and it may just cost her her life.

The worst lawyer in the world

Meet Jerry Guerinot, Texas’s deadliest attorney-at-law and Linda's worst nightmare.
Yes, Jerry faces little competition for the title of WORST LAWYER IN THE WORLD. Defence lawyers in the Deep South have been known to sleep through trials, turn up to court hopelessly drunk, or fail to turn up at all. And then there was the black man whose lawyer was moonlighting as the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

But Jerry Guerinot takes the crown. Don’t just take our word for it, consider the evidence at hand…

Damned statistics

Fancy a flutter? If Guerinot is your lawyer, best not to think about your odds. Of the 39 people accused of capital crimes whom Guerinot has defended, 20 have been sentenced to death. This is more than the entire death row populations of New Mexico, Wyoming, South Dakota, Maryland and Montana combined.

Match made in hell

Accused of murder, Linda Carty's life was on the line. Yet Guerinot didn’t meet her until two weeks before her trial - and even then he had heard enough in 15 short minutes.
Grilled on this, Guerinot's excuse was that Linda refused to talk to him at all until he bribed her with a chocolate bar.

Linda remembers this rather differently. She says he repeatedly refused her calls, and said he had no time to work on her case because he was preparing for his daughter’s wedding.
Who are you going to believe? Bad choice Jerry - Linda is allergic to chocolate and would only have come up with a nasty rash had he been telling the truth.

Devil in the detective work

Any amateur Miss Marple would have out-sleuthed Jerry Guerinot.
The case against Linda was a fantastical tale and holier than a Swiss cheese, yet Jerry never investigated many of its inconsistencies.

Even worse, jurors were kept in the dark about mitigating factors that could easily have saved Linda's life. Linda had an exemplary teaching career, followed by a series of highly traumatic events including spousal abuse, rape and miscarriage. Guerinot was awarded the funding to investigate all this, but never did. Was he too busy taking his suit to the cleaners?

The wedding may have gone swimmingly, but Jerry and Linda were clearly a match made in hell. The lesson? If you’re accused of a terrible crime, pray hard that Jerry Guerinot never darkens your cell door.

SAVE LINDA - How you can help

Linda’s case is now in the Federal Court of Appeal – nearing the last stage of appeals in the US. Because of the incompetence of her defence lawyer, Linda is desperately close to execution. Reprieve is assisting the US law firm Baker Botts, who are acting pro bono, to present evidence that shows that Linda’s initial trial was so flawed that its verdict should not be allowed to stand. Sadly such appeals are very rarely granted and the British need to do everything in their power to save Linda.

1. Reprieve is racing against the clock to save Linda’s life. Please help us carry out this vital work by making a donation at or send a donation to Reprieve, PO Box 52742, London, EC4P 4WS;

2. Send Linda a supportive message direct to her at Mountainview Unit, 2305 Ransom Rd, Gatesville, Texas 76528, USA. Letters must include return address.