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CNN Live At Daybreak

Garza Set to Be Executed This Morning

Aired June 19, 2001 - 07:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Another one of our top stories this morning, neither charges of racial bias nor allegations of international implications could save drug trafficker Juan Raul Garza from execution in the next hour.

The man who argued his case, John Howley, joins us this morning from New York. Good morning, Mr. Howley.

JOHN HOWLEY, GARZA ATTORNEY: Good morning.

LIN: Have you spoken to your client yet this morning?

HOWLEY: I have not spoken to him this morning. One of my colleagues is out in Terre Haute with him today.

LIN: All right. Do you have an idea at this point what his mindset is as he faces his execution?

HOWLEY: I only know from the past couple of days that his main concern is the impact this will have on his children.

LIN: On his children, do you know if his children are going to be there today?

HOWLEY: They are in Terre Haute. I don't know if they're going to actually witness the killing of their father.

LIN: Do you still believe that race played a part in his sentencing?

HOWLEY: There's no question that race plays a big part in every death sentence we impose in this country. Ninety percent of the people on federal death row are black or Hispanic; 50 percent of white defendants facing the death penalty are offered plea bargains but only 25 to 28 percent of black or Hispanic defendants are offered plea bargains.

And if you look at our most notorious criminals, you look at people like John Gotti, you look at people like Jeffrey Dahmer, you look at people like the DuPont who killed the wrestler in his home; they never faced the death penalty. The fact is we only give out the death penalty in this country to poor, to minorities, and to the mentally retarded. LIN: Mr. Howley, as you know, President Clinton delayed Juan Raul Garza's execution for six months so that the federal government could investigate these allegations. And Attorney General John Ashcroft, just yesterday, said that there's no evidence of racial bias in this case. And he point out that the prosecutor in Mr. Garza's case was Hispanic as well as most of the victims.

HOWLEY: Yes, there's no question that there were Hispanic people involved as victims and in the trial here. But that doesn't change the fact that we don't go after white defendants, we only go after black, Hispanic or poor defendants. We only go after those who are at the margins of society.

Mr. Ashcroft is trying desperately to argue something to get away from the fact that 90 percent of people on federal death row are black or Hispanic. He cannot explain how that happened.

LIN: At this point, though, you think that there are implications beyond today's implications beyond today's execution. What are they?

HOWLEY: There are definitely implications beyond today's execution. As an initial matter, we are out of step with the rest of the world when it comes to the death penalty. The European Union has effectively abolished the death penalty. You cannot join the European Union today if you have the death penalty.

We are one of only two countries in the world that execute the mentally retarded, the other one being Kazakhstan. No other civilized country executes the mentally retarded. And my fear is that for all my life, the United States has been a beacon for human rights in the world, but when we are an outlier on an issue as important as the death penalty, it becomes very hard for us to lecture other countries about human rights.

LIN: John Howley, your client is scheduled to be executed in less than an hour this morning. Thank you very much for joining us...

HOWLEY: Thank you.

LIN: ... this morning from New York.

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