Hello! My name is Henry Dunn Jr., a 25 year old Texas Death Row prisoner. I have been on death row for a total of 4 years. I am seeking the public help in getting off of Texas Death Row. In September 1999, the Court of Criminal Appeals denied my state appeal, saying that it is O.K. that my lawyer on my direct appeal, the most important appeal of death row prisoners appeal process, was ineffective, failed to give argument in my appeal brief, and did not go to the courts to represent me on my appeal. The courts are also saying that it is O.K. for officials to arrest me without no arrest warrant or probable cause. They turned down my appeal saying that it is O.K. that false testimony used in my trial to convict me and accuse me of other crimes in order for my jury to give me a death sentence is O.K. Until now, I have never been imprisoned before or in trouble with the law. My record was clean, I had no criminal record, so prosecutors used false testimony in my punishment phase to mislead my jury into giving me a death sentence. I now have to file an appeal in the Federal Courts.

I was arrested December 3, 1993, at age 19, by Smith County Sheriff officers and was told I had an arrest warrant for aggravated robbery. I was taken to the Smith County Police Department where I WAS interviewed by Smith County Sheriffs and FBI agents. After the interview, I was taken to the Smith County Jail and charged with both Capitol Murder and Aggravated Robbery. I was given court appointed attorneys Melvin Thompson and LaJuanda Lacy of Smith County, Tyler, Texas.

On August 21, 1995, I entered a plea of not guilty to Capitol Murder. During the course of my trial, right after my plea of not guilty, my lawyers discovered that Smith County officers never had an arrest warrant for my arrest, nor had anyone accused me of committing any type of crime. My lawyers filed for a mistrial, but the request was denied. On August 21, 1995, I was found guilty of Capitol Murder. On August 30, 1995, prosecutors began the punishment phase of my trial. During this phase, prosecutors used false testimony from Charles Brian Davis, the states only witness who knew me before being imprisoned, to connect me to other crimes which I did not commit, in order to get me a death sentence. Mr. Davis testified on the stand that he did not have a plea bargain from prosecutors, but admitted that he was out of the Smith County Jail, without posting bond or paying any money, on 3 aggravated assault charges. My jury returned to give me a death sentence under the impression, that I had committed other crimes, although I had not been convicted of these crimes, and none of the victims identified me as one of the people who committed the crime against them.

After arriving on death row, I was given another Court appointed lawyer to represent me on my Direct Appeal. The Direct Appeal is the most important appeal of the appeal process. My court appointed lawyer was Kerry Lee, another Smith County lawyer. Mr. Lee was totally ineffective on my Direct Appeal. He did not give argument to the issues in my appeal brief and failed to brief very important issues that could get me a new trial or release me from death row. Mr. Lee failed to brief issues concerning the arrest warrant affidavit used to try and get an arrest warrant for my arrest. Mr. Lee asked for oral argument in front of the Court of Criminal Appeals, but failed to go to the courts to represent me on my behalf as the prosecution argued against my appeal brief. I had no-one there to argue on my behalf! On September 7, 1997, the Court of Criminal Appeals denied my Direct Appeal.

On November 26, 1997, I was appointed Lawyer Toby C. Wilkinson to file my State writ of Habeas Corpus. Mr. Wilkinson filed for ineffective assistance of counsel on the part of my Direct Appeal lawyer, Kerry Lee, which also allowed him to brief the points of error that Mr. Lee should have raised as issues in my Direct Appeal Brief. Mr. Wilkinson also filed that the prosecution used the perjured testimony to persuade my jury to give me a death sentence, and even used an affidavit from one of the accused who actually admitted to committing the crime, which stated that false testimony was used in the punishment phase of my trial and he agreed to testify at a hearing as to the truth of the affidavit. Included in the affidavit was the name of the people who actually committed the offense with the accused. On March 25, 1999, I was transported to Smith County to a hearing on my State Writ of Habeas Corpus. There, my trial lawyer testified as to the arrest warrant and the arrest warrant affidavit. The arrest warrant was not signed by a magistrate or judge which made the arrest warrant invalid, and not an arrest warrant at all. The arrest warrant affidavit did not name me as a suspect to any crime and the victim in the affidavit named 5 white males as his attackers, I am a black male. None of the witnesses who came to my trial and testified they were attacked, identified me as a suspect or one of the accused who attacked them. All the victims said their attackers were white males. In September 1999, the Court of Criminal Appeals denied my State Writ of Habeas Corpus, saying that it is O.K. that my Direct Appeal lawyer was ineffective and that it is O.K. that prosecutors used perjured testimony in my punishment phase of my trial to get me a death sentence.

They said it is O.K. that my lawyer did not go to the courts to argue on my behalf while the prosecution was arguing why my appeal should be denied. They are saying it is O.K. that the accused were all white males and even though I am a black male, it's O.K. for me to be accused and arrested with a affidavit that does not even accuse me of any crime. BUT THESE THINGS ARE NOT O.K.!!!

The laws of the State of Texas and the United States Constitution protects the rights of all citizens from these type of things. By the law here in the State of Texas, I should not be on death row and I should have never been arrested for any crime. The Court of Criminal Appeals ruled against what the law says in reviewing my State Writ of Habeas Corpus. The law says that if there is no probable cause or sufficient information to support an independent judgment that the accused committed a crime, the arrest warrant is invalid. It says that an arrest warrant issued pursuant to a defective affidavit or complaint is invalid and an arrest made under such an invalid warrant or capias is illegal. The law also says that effective assistance of counsel is guaranteed by the 6th Amendment to the United States Constitution and by Article 1, Section 10 of the Texas Constitution. The Court of Criminal Appeals has determined in post conviction habeas corpus reviews of Capitol Murder cases, that "where the petitioner has been condemned to death, we believe that effective assistance of counsel is a constitutional right so basic to a fair trial that [its] infraction can never be treated as harmless error”

TEXAS CRIMINAL LAWS

CCP CH14 ARREST WITHOUT WARRANT

CCP ART. 14.01. OFFENSE WITHIN VIEW
A peace officer or any other person, may, without a warrant, arrest an offender when the offense is committed in his presence or within his view, if the offense is one classed as a felony or as an offense against the public peace.
(b) A peace officer may arrest an offender without a warrant for any offense committed in his presence or within his view.

CCP ART. 14.03. AUTHORITY OF PEACE OFFICERS.
(a) Any peace officer may arrest without a warrant:
(1) persons found in suspicious places and under circumstances which
reasonably show that such persons have been guilty of some felony, Violation of Title 9, Chapter 42, Penal Code, breach of the peace, or offense under Section 49.02, Penal Code, or threaten, or are about to commit some offense against the laws;
(2) persons who the peace officer has probable cause to believe have committed an assault resulting in bodily injury to another person and the peace officer has probable cause to believe that there is danger of further bodily injury to that person;
(3) persons who the peace officer has probable cause to believe have committed the offense defined by Section 25.07, Penal Code (violation of Protective Order), if the offense is not committed in the presence of the peace officer; or
(4) persons who the peace officer has probable cause to believe have committed an assault resulting in bodily injury to a member of the person's family or household.
(b) A peace officer shall arrest, without a warrant, a person the peace officer has probable cause to believe has committed an ...offense under Section 25.07, Penal Code (violation of Protective Order), if the offense is committed in the presence of the peace officer.
(c) If reasonably necessary to verify an allegation of a violation of a protective order or of the commission of an assault against a member of the family or the household, a peace officer shall remain at the scene of the investigation to verify the allegation and to prevent the further commission of family violence.

CCP CH15 ARREST UNDER WARRANT

CCP ART. 15.01. WARRANT OF ARREST
A "warrant of arrest" is a written order from a magistrate, directed to a peace officer or some other person specially named, commanding him to take the body of the person accused of an offense, to be dealt with according to law.

CCP ART. 15.02. REQUISITES OF WARRANT
It issues in the name of "The State of Texas", and shall be sufficient, without regard to form, if it has these substantial requisites:
1. It must specify the name of the person whose arrest is ordered, if it be known, if unknown, then some reasonably definite description must be given of him.
2. It must state that the person is accused of some crime against the laws of the state, naming the offense.
3. It must be signed by the magistrate, and his office be named in the body of the warrant, or in connection with his signature.

CCP ART. 15.04. COMPLAINT
The affidavit made before the magistrate or district or county attorney is called a "complaint" if it charges the commission of an offense.

CCP ART. 15.05. REQUISITES OF COMPLAINT
The complaint shall be sufficient, without re guard to form, if it has these substantial requested:
1. It must state the name of the accused, if known, and if not known, shall give some reasonably definite description of him.
2. It must show that the accused has committed some offense against the laws of the State, either directly or that the affiant has good reason to believe, and does believe, that the accused committed such offense.
3. It must state the time and place of the commission of the offense, as definitely as can be done by the affiant.
4. It must be signed by the affiant by writing his name or affixing his mark.

CCP ART. is the abbreviation for Code of Criminal Procedure and the Article number. These are the laws copied directly from Texas Criminal Laws, a legal book on the laws in the State of Texas issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety in Austin, Texas..