Pablo Melendez is a Puerto Rican man. In 1994, when he was just 18, Pablo was accused of committing murder during a robbery. The eyewitness, who survived the assault, gave a description of the killer that looked nothing like Pablo.

The description given police ten days later: a mustached, bearded young man with heavy black eyebrows, a ponytail, and a tattoo on his right shoulder. Pablo's probation photo, taken five days before the murder, showed a hairless face, light eyebrows, and no ponytail. No tattoo was described on his right shoulder then or when he was arrested and charged with the death of Michael Sanders nine months later. At that time, Pablo was addicted to drugs. He smuggled drugs with a gang of boys like himself. Some of them were also suspected of committing the crime, but they testified against Pablo to escape conviction, managing to make him out to be the sole perpetrator. Pablo's lawyers were not able to overturn his conviction, despite the witness' description.

Pablo has always proclaimed his innocence. The mother of the victim, Gracie Jett, is also convinced Pablo is innocent. Regardless, his execution has been set for March 16, 2005. Update: Pablo has been granted a stay and, as of now, will not be executed on March 16.

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty has more information on Pablo's case. The late Susan Lee Solar also prepared a summary of Pablo's case for a book which she planned to write.

THE APPEAL TO SAVE PABLO

The Community of Sant'Egidio invites everybody to join in its appeal to spare Pablo from execution by appealing to Texas officials. Please edit and print the following statements and mail or fax them to the following addresses/numbers:

Appeal to Governor Perry
Appeal to the Board of Pardons
(Word documents - right click and Save As)

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