The Killing of a Grandmother

She will merrily sing "Amazing Grace" and other classics if she’s asked to; the woman carries a tune very well. She’s cheerful, mostly. She says it's family that keeps her going; they mean everything – there’s an elderly mother – sisters – a daughter who’s all grown up - some grandchildren.

Her dreams are modest these days... she just wants to touch that family again; be held by them. It's something her captors of the past 10 years have denied her. If all goes according to plan and there’s no reason why it shouldn't, this is the year her captors are going to kill her.

Naturally her family are desperate to save her, and they’re not the only one's. There’s Bianca Jagger, the actor Colin Firth and other celebrities. But the most vocal of supporters is the British lawyer and Director of  Reprieve, Clive Stafford Smith. It's his efforts that have ensured even the British Government itself are on the case. All of them working tirelessly as time runs out. The demonstrations (one in Trafalgar Square) - the pleas – the partition signing - the media coverage; the frantic need to “raise awareness” of the dire situation this 53 year old British grandmother is in. The United States Government insists it’s a situation she put herself in, and so they’ve rejected all appeals to spare her life; they will execute her by lethal injection in Texas, any day soon.

So did Linda Carty really devise a plan to invade a neighbour’s home, cut out the soon-to-be-born baby from her stomach and claim it as her own? She says, no way, it wasn’t her; she's been framed. Who was it, then, that was with the gang of men that did enter the home of Carty’s neighbour, Joana Rodriguez, beat up the people inside, bind and gag Joana Rodriguez, throw her in the boot of their car and drive off into the night? The men say, it was Linda Carty. She planned the whole thing and controlled it throughout. And they say it was Carty who later put a bag over Joana Rodriguez’s head, and suffocated her. Corroborating evidence are the two cars used in the crime (one belonged to Carty and the other rented by her) - the baby (unhurt) found in one of the cars (Joana Rodriguez had already given birth to it four days previously) - mobile phone records linking Carty to the gang - witness testimonies of Carty’s almost obsession to have a baby - her frequent lying that she was pregnant when she wasn't, and more. Linda Carty has an explanation for all of it, and none of it has anything to do with murder. So what’s the truth?

Linda Carty protests her innocence from behind bulletproof glass

As far as Clive Stafford Smith is concerned, Linda Carty is an innocent woman sitting on death row; he believes it with a passion. Oh come on, Clive, you believe every death row inmate is innocent, and that just weakens your credibility! And those Guantanamo Bay detainees have never hurt a fly - never plotted to harm anyone - were never part of any extreme terrorists organisations - every single one of them has been wrongly accused, illegally detained and must be freed at once, right? Which, with your help, Clive, over 60 of them have been.

60 Guantanamo detainees let out and counting, thanks to this fella!

It is one thing to be concerned for people's human rights and cast an eye on the practices of the world's justice systems and militaries - it's something we should all be concerned with, making a noise when clear abuses occur - but you, Sir, have taken this to a whole different dimension. You have, quite literally, built a career on it, books and all. And I know that I, for one, am just completely turned off whenever I hear you on the radio or see you on television or read another newspaper interview in which you bang on about how you "know" that a particular convicted murderer is "innocent" - how you're appalled that a DNA convicted rapist "didn't have a good lawyer" - how Saddam Hussein's trial was a farce - how the British and American Governments are "colluding in torture" at Guantanamo. I wonder what the American Government actually makes of you? Standing outside a prison in Mississippi and announcing to the media "it's a sick world" after a convicted murderer has just been executed (as you did in 1987) certainly showed what you think of them. And today, it's Linda Carty - but rather than work quietly behind the scenes on her behalf - meetings - telephone calls - reviewing the finer points of her case etc, no, it's the typical Clive Stafford Smith all-out assault on the United States justice system, announcing to any camera that is switched on... they've gone and got it wrong again - "she's innocent" - her lawyer was ineffectual - the evidence is flimsy - she's a lovely lady - the air conditioning wasn't working during her trial. Clive, they might just execute her to spite you! Have you ever thought about that? I don't have your law degrees, Clive, nor do I profess to have anything approaching your education, but when it comes to common sense...!


Of course, Linda Carty's family believe her to be innocent, and that's understandable. Watch Carty in any of the television interviews she has given over the years and you might just be of the opinion that she's innocent, too. Before I read anything to do with the case I watched a documentary in which she was featured (and so was Clive - shock - horror!) By the end of it I had convinced myself that they have got the wrong person. Something should be done before they inject her with lethal poisons. Such an articulate and sweet-natured lady could never entertain the thought of kidnapping a woman, cutting a baby out of her stomach then suffocating her, much less actually do it. And her explanations of the evidence against her seems plausible. Then, I paused, and reminded myself of the benefit of meaningful research – a throwback from the radio shows that I didn't always put into practice (due to laziness) but never doubted the importance of – and so I began looking into the case of Linda Carty.

Joana Rodriquez

Well, there's no smoking gun (not that it would matter to Clive even if there were!) Unlike a trial where all the evidence is presented, and where witnesses can be observed for the tell-tale signs of lying, including the accused, online research is limited, naturally. No conclusive proof of her guilt or innocence can come from online research. In a case without strong DNA evidence we literally need to have been there on that night to know unequivocally whether Linda Carty was, or not. If you uncover the right materiel, and enough of it, then the best that's going to come of it is that you are going to form an opinion -  mine is that she is guilty. I also think she's a manipulator. I also believe she could have achieved a great deal in her life had she not have made the choices she did, especially the choice to kill, obviously. These, are not things I "know", because I don't possess telepathic powers like Clive - they are my opinions, based on the many hours of research I have put in on the Linda Carty case. I don't feel that I need to meet her or correspond with her before I am "qualified" enough to form an opinion of her innocence or guilt. In fact, I would rather do neither, because to my mind it would cloud judgement. It would be a struggle to not like this woman, to not feel pity for her, to not believe her explanations of the evidence that convicted her. I think this might just be Clive's trouble... he becomes too emotionally involved with these people. They become his friends and impartiality goes flying out the window!

Should she die for what she did? The family of Joana Rodriguez probably believe so. The United States Government certainly believes she should, and they intend to ensure that she does, and soon. As for me, it tears at my heart to think of her family - her daughter - grand kids - her mother and sisters - all to become victims very soon; a family of broken hearts. What did they do? Their pain will be immeasurable, and for the rest of their lives. It's the deal breaker for me regarding capital punishment - the innocent families of the executed. Personally, I have no issue with someone being lethally injected for committing acts of violent and premeditated murder, none at all, but those poor, innocent families that are left behind. As if they haven't suffered enough already by having a convicted killer in the family, we can only surmise at the unimaginable pain they experience when their family member is put to death. Focus solely on the crimes of these vicious and callous murderers and for many of us it is really quite easy to support the death penalty. If we stop for a moment, though, and consider the families of these killers in a way that they themselves never did when they committed their murderous acts, we might just be satisfied with life in prison without parole. At least, that's my view. So what's yours?

Carty's daughter Jovelle and her children

If you want to write to Linda Carty directly this is her address: 
Linda Carty, # 999406, Mountainview Unit, 2305 Ransom Rd, Gatesville, Texas 76528, USA. (she asks that you include your return address so that she can write back to you - she particularly likes books being sent to her)


If you want to join the fight to save Linda Carty’s life you can go directly to the Reprieve website, here… http://www.reprieve.org.uk/events/savelindacarty/


The Sun newspaper features a plea by Carty to the British Government (6th of April 2012)
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4241948/British-gran-Linda-Carty-begs-UK-Government-Save-me-from-death-row.html


Texas Department of Criminal Justice – Offender Information on Linda Carty is here… http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/dr_info/cartylinda.html


A lengthy Court of Appeals document containing the full facts about the crimes and the courts’ reasons for denying Linda Carty’s appeals, is here… https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3ADwgkrsk2ILUQzNktkUldSdkdMWEdnYnc3T09UUQ


And the comments box below is open should you wish to leave your view on either Linda Carty's case, the death penalty or anything I have written here.