Death's Waiting Room at St Martin-in-the-Fields

Reprieve has placed a life-size replica of the death row cell of Linda Carty, who is now facing imminent execution in Texas, in the courtyard of St-Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square.

This extraordinary exhibition runs from 12th August to 5th September during daylight hours.

A film of Linda Carty speaking about her imminent execution will play on a loop, and visitors will be encouraged to spend 15 minutes in the cell to write and post a letter in the cell post-box asking Texas for Linda’s life to be spared.

The exterior of the cell will be covered with a timeline of Linda’s life, an abbreviated description of her case and statistics about the death penalty in general. The interior of the cell is designed to replicate Linda’s real cell as closely as possible. It therefore contains family photos, cricket memorabilia (she is a huge fan of the West Indies cricket team and of Sir Viv Richards in particular) and books that Linda has been reading recently. It also contains a television, on which will be playing a looped film consisting of clips of Linda singing and speaking interspersed with clips of lawyers and government officials talking about her case.

A representative of Reprieve at the cell site throughout the day, from 9am until it gets dark and the courtyard is closed (between 8 and 9pm). This person will be available to answer questions about Linda’s case or about Reprieve’s work and the death penalty in general. He or she will be equipped with information leaflets that people can take away with them, a sign-up sheet for our mailing-list and template clemency letters. Once visitors to the cell have signed the letters, they will be able to post them through the bars of the cell into a letterbox inside.

Reprieve is grateful to the staff at St Martin-in-the-Fields for their generosity in hosting the Death’s Waiting Room. We hope that the initiative will open people’s eyes to the reality of the death penalty and to the injustice of Linda Carty’s case.

About Linda Carty

British grandmother and former primary school teacher Linda Carty was born on the Caribbean island and independent British Commonwealth realm of St Kitts. She was sentenced to die by lethal injection for allegedly ordering the 2001 murder of Joana Rodriguez.

The crime took place on 16 May 2001, when three men broke into the apartment of Rodriguez demanding drugs and cash. The perpetrators saved their own lives by testifying against Linda. Linda has always protested her innocence, and believes that she was framed because of her work as a confidential informant for the Drugs Enforcement Agency.

There were multiple serious failings in Linda’s trial. Firstly, the US failed to notify the British government of Linda’s arrest and trial as it was obliged to do under the Vienna Convention on the Right to Consular Assistance. As a result Linda was forced to rely on a court-appointed public defender, Jerry Guerinot, whose incompetence has already landed 20 of his clients on death row, more than any other defence attorney in the US.

Mr Guerinot’s handling of Linda’s case was a scandal. He spent just fifteen minutes with her before the trial and subsequently fabricated a story about how she had refused to see him until he bribed her with chocolate – Linda is fatally allergic to chocolate. Mr Guerinot also failed to spot obvious flaw and inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case, investigate important mitigating evidence or interview key witnesses in St Kitts, despite obtaining court funds to do so.

Linda would certainly not be on death row today – and she would probably have been acquitted altogether – if she had had a decent lawyer at trial.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Listings Information:

Venue: The courtyard of St-Martin-in-the-Fields
Address: St-Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London
Date: Thursday 12th August to Tuesday 5th September
Entrance free

Reprieve

Reprieve is a legal action charity founded by Clive Stafford Smith in 1999. Reprieve uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantánamo Bay. We investigate, litigate and educate. Working on the frontline, we provide legal support to prisoners unable to pay for it themselves, promoting the rule of law around the world, and securing each person’s right to a fair trial. In doing so, we save lives.

Reprieve’s current casework involves:

• Representing prisoners in the US prison at Guantanamo Bay.
• Working on behalf of prisoners facing the death penalty.
• Conducting ongoing investigations into the rendition and the secret detention of ‘ghost prisoners’ in the so-called ‘war on terror’.