"The Willing Executioner" By Craig Aaron

Despite strong evidence of his innocence and an international outcry for Texas Gov. George W. Bush to spare his life, Gary Graham was executed on June 22. So much for compassionate conservatism.

Bush, who has overseen more executions than any other governor in the country, recently has come under increased scrutiny for his state's appalling administration of the death penalty. But even in light of this dubious record, Graham's case stands out.

There was no physical evidence tying him to the 1981 murder of Bobby Lambert: no blood, no hair, no finger-prints, not a speck of DNA. The murder weapon didn't match a gun owned by Graham. Though his motive was supposedly robbery, $ 6,000 was found in Lambert's back pocket. Only 17 at the time of the murder, Graham was convicted solely on the testimony of one eyewitness who says she saw him for a split second through the windshield of her car from more than 30 feet away. She's sure he was the killer, but at least two other eyewitnesses insist that Graham wasn't the man they saw. Their testimony was never heard in court.

Why not? Like the majority of inmates who end up on Death Row, Graham couldn't afford a good lawyer. Instead, the court appointed the worst: Ronald G. Mock, who has more clients on Death Row than any other attorney in the country. (Of his 16 clients sentenced to death, Graham was the sixth to be executed.) Mock's incompetence and errors at trial erected insurmountable obstacles for Graham's appellate attorneys. Evidence that almost certainly would have led to an acquittal was ruled inadmissible.

Graham's tragic case highlights some of the most glaring flaws in our criminal justice system, but that doesn't change the fact that Bush has blood on his hands. He should not be allowed to hide behind dishonest claims that Graham received due process or that the decision on his fate belonged solely to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (all of whose members are Bush appointees). Fifteen more Texas inmates are scheduled to die by Election Day. Graham's death should haunt the governor at every stop on the presidential campaign trail -- but Al Gore has refused to challenge Bush on this issue.

Every politician knows the system is broken; they just care less about fairness than poll numbers. Yet issues of innocence, equality and fairness clearly resonate with the public. So the time is ripe to push for sensible, achievable reform measures. The Innocence Protection Act, currently stalled in Congress, would make post-conviction DNA testing available in federal cases and withhold funds from states that didn't adopt the same rules. Beyond that, the most obvious need is for minimum standards of competence and training for defense counsel in capital cases, as well as adequate resources to pay these attorneys and their investigators. Other sensible reforms include videotaping interrogations and confessions to avoid false or coerced testimony, and criminally penalizing prosecutors or law enforcement officials for intentionally destroying evidence.

Of course, the only way to truly ensure no innocent person is executed is to abolish capital punishment. But even the 87 innocent men released from Death Row since 1976 haven't been enough to bring about a national moratorium. The reality is that it might take killing an obviously innocent man to end capital punishment.

That's what happened in Rhode Island, where the last execution occurred in 1845. John Gordon, almost certainly innocent of the murder of a Yankee mill owner, was railroaded in a time of widespread anti-Irish sentiment, a victim of ethnic prejudice and a flawed legal system -- sound familiar? The state repealed capital punishment in 1852 after outcry over the circumstantial evidence that condemned him. "I forgive all my enemies, and persecutors," Gordon said at the gallows before his hanging, "I forgive them for they know not what they do."

But we know. What will be said 150 years from now about the shameful execution of Gary Graham? Will his death be remembered as the watershed moment that led to the end of capital punishment? Or will we still not have learned from our mistakes?