Gary Tyler

Gary Tyler (born July 1958) has been a prisoner in Louisiana since 1975, when he was convicted at age 17 of the 1974 shooting death of a 13-year-old white boy. Tyler was originally sentenced to death because of the charge and was the youngest prisoner on death row. The Fifth Circuit US Court of Appeals ruled the trial was "fundamentally unfair". Tyler's cause has been taken up by human rights organizations, as well as many other supporters, including a range of sports figures and organizations in 2007.

Events

In 1974 formerly all-white Destrehan High School had been full of tensions as it reluctantly integrated, 20 years after the ruling of "Brown v. Board of Education". Because of fights, officials closed the school early the day of the events.

Black students were sent home on their regular bus. Tyler was 16 and on the bus. As they were leaving Destrehan High School, the bus was attacked by an angry mob of 100-200 whites, mostly students. The whites were angry about integration and tensions at the school. [http://www.counterpunch.org/allen08262006.html Joe Allen, "Free Gary Tyler"] , "Counterpunch", 26/27 Aug 2006, accessed 16 Jul 2008] Timothy Weber, a 13-year-old boy standing outside the bus near his mother, was shot and mortally wounded. He later died. Police searched the bus and found a gun inserted in a seat.

Tyler was arrested and charged with the murder of 13 year-old Timothy Weber. His mother Juanita Tyler said that he was beaten by the police in an attempt to make him confess. Other witnesses later told of being intimidated by the police.

The racially charged atmosphere was added to by the arrival in Destrehan of a young David Duke, who was emerging as a leader in the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi politics in the United States. He brought what he called security teams to protect white residents.

Conviction

Tyler was tried as an adult and convicted at trial in 1975 by a Louisiana court. The case was marked by several flaws and alleged lack of experience of his lawyer. The police produced a gun they claimed had been found on the bus, and it later disappeared from the evidence room in the decades following the conviction.

Since it was a capital case, Tyler was sentenced to death by electrocution. He became the youngest inmate on death row.

In 1977, Louisiana's death penalty was ruled unconstitutional and Tyler was resentenced to life in prison.

He is serving his sentence at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana.

Controversy

Tyler's case was appealed. In 1980 and 1981 the US Appeals Court, Fifth Circuit, ruled the trial was "fundamentally unfair" and flawed by an improper charge to the jury. The second time, after an appeal by the state, it reversed its earlier ruling to call for a retrial, based on what it said was attorney error.

In 1989 when the Louisiana Board of Appeals first ruled in favor of a pardon, the governor was running against David Duke for election, and refused to consider it. He feared such a decisions would work against him with too many voters. [ [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070402/zirin Dave Zirin, "Gary Tyler's Quest for Justice"] , "The Nation", 21 Mar 2007, accessed 16 Jul 2008]

Human-rights organisations have argued that the legal process and procedures were flawed by the racially charged atmosphere and police intimidation. [ [http://www.counterpunch.org/allen08262006.html Joe Allen: Free Gary Tyler ] ] Because of the racial and political issues, in 1994 Amnesty International described Tyler as a "political prisoner".

In 2007 Amnesty International and other groups made a renewed effort to gain a pardon by Gov. Blanco before she left office, but she failed to consider the case.

Tyler's supporters make claims in his defence that there was a miscarriage of justice. Some of the issues in the case include:

* The bus driver has insisted that he believes the shot was fired from outside of the bus. [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/01/1429239 Democracy Now! | The Case of Gary Tyler: Despite Witness Recantations and No Physical Evidence, Louisiana Prisoner Remains Jailed After 32 Years ] ]
* The bus driver observed the search of the bus, and has insisted no gun was found on it.
* The gun which the police claim was used in the murder (and turned up as evidence at the trial), was a Colt .45 government-issue, identified as having been stolen from the firing range used by the officers of the sheriff's department. The gun later disappeared from the evidence room. [http://www.freegarytyler.com/writings/a-death-in-destrehan.html Bob Herbert, "A Death in Destrehan"] , reprinted by permission of "New York Times", 1 Feb 2007, accessed 16 Jul 2008]
* The Louisiana jury in the trial of Tyler was all white.
* The 1981 US Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, ruled that the trial was "fundamentally unfair", flawed by an improper charge to the jury. [http://www.freegarytyler.com/writings/gary-tylers-lost-decades.html Bob Herbert, "Gary Tyler's Lost Decades"] , reprinted by permission of "New York Times", 5 Feb 2007, accessed 16 Jul 2008]
* Four major witnesses against Tyler have recanted their testimony since the trial. Some claimed they were terrorized and pressured by police.
* Based on Tyler's positive work in prison, the Louisiana Board of Pardons three times gave rulings that would have allowed Tyler to be freed. Governors failed to act on his case or rejected pardons, once during an election campaign against David Duke.
* Governor Kathleen Blanco failed to act on the latest appeal for a pardon for Tyler before leaving office in 2007.

Bob Herbert, an op-ed columnist for the New York Times, reexamined the case in three columns in February 2007, in which he concluded there was fundamental injustice.

Popular culture

* Gil Scott-Heron sang about Tyler in the song "Angola, Louisiana," on the 1978 album "Secrets".
* UB40 (a British reggae band) included the song "Tyler" on their 1980 debut album, "Signing Off". The song namechecks the subject only as "Tyler". Ali Campbell said in an interview in August 2007 that the next UB40 album would be named "Gary Tyler".

* The British band Chumbawamba included the song "Waiting For The Bus" on their 2008 album "The Boy Bands Have Won". The song tells the story from the imagined view of Tyler.

Citations

External links

* [http://www.themilitant.com/2007/7111/711157.html "Gary Tyler, framed up in 1974 desegregation fight, still in jail"] , "The Militant" 2007.
* [http://www.freegarytyler.com/index.html Free Gary Tyler website]
* [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/01/1429239 "The Case of Gary Tyler: Despite Witness Recantations and No Physical Evidence, Louisiana Prisoner Remains Jailed After 32 Years"] , Democracy Now