Petition Drop at the Court of Criminal Appeals Tomorrow!!!!

Come join Nydesha Foster, Lawrence Foster, Kenneth Foster, Sr., and Lloyd Foster as they deliver petition signatures to the Court of Criminal Appeals demanding a new trial for Kenneth!!!!

MEDIA ALERT/PHOTO OPPORTUNITY Contact: Bryan McCann

July 19, 2007 (309)-310-5223

On Death Row for Driving a Car: Family of Kenneth Foster, Jr.

to Deliver Petitions to Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

WHAT: Family members of Kenneth Foster, Jr. will deliver several hundred petition signatures to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals asking them to grant him a new trial. Foster has received an execution date of August 30, and his criminal attorney, Keith Hampton, has filed a final write of habeas corpus detailing new testimony that claims Foster had no role in the 1996 shooting death of Michael LaHood, Jr. Sentenced to death in 1997, Foster was driving the car carrying Mauriceo Brown the night he killed LaHood. Texas’ Law of Parties makes it possible for the state to charge men like Foster as if they committed crimes they were present during.

WHO: Members of Foster’s family will include Nydesha Foster (his 10 year-old daughter), Lawrence Foster (his grandfather), Kenneth Foster, Sr. (his father), and Lloyd Foster (his uncle). Nydesha Foster will deliver brief remarks and all will answer questions before the petition delivery takes place.

WHEN: Friday, July 20, 2007 at 3:00 pm.

WHERE: The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals at the Supreme Court Building, 201 West 14^th, Room 106, Austin, Texas 78701.

WHY: Kenneth Foster, Jr. has been on Texas’ death row since 1997 for the shooting death of Michael LaHood, Jr. Foster did not shoot the gun that ended LaHood’s life, but was driving the car carrying the actual triggerman, Mauriceo Brown. Foster was convicted and sentenced to death under the Law of Parties, which allows the state to seek convictions for those present at the scene of a crime as if they committed it. Since Foster’s original trial, the other men in the car that night have testified that Foster had no idea LaHood would be shot. Since Foster received his August 30 execution date, a coalition of family, friends, and other supporters have organized to save his life. This petition delivery supports Foster’s final writ of habeas corpus, which his attorney Keith Hampton submitted last month.

The Save Kenneth Foster Coalition was established on May 30, 2007 to organize a campaign to halt the execution of Kenneth Foster, Jr. It meets weekly in Austin, Texas. Online: http://www.savekenneth.blogspot.com. More information on the Kenneth Foster case is available at http://www.savekenneth.com.