ALABAMA (USA): ACTORS SUPPORT DEATH ROW INMATE WILLIAM KUENZEL

October 14, 2015: Law and Order actors Sam Waterston and Joanna Merlin, along with several religious leaders, come together to support a death row inmate whose story has captured the nation's attention.
William Kuenzel, 54, White, was sentenced in 1988 for the 1987 murder of Linda Jean Offord, a convenience store clerk. Kuenzel has always maintained his innocence, and two decades later after the murder, new evidence was found that many say would set him free.
In 2012, Kuenzel’s defense team uncovered new evidence that his roommate had a shotgun that could have been used in the killing, and that Kuenzel might not have been at the crime scene. Monday, a group spoke at a news conference in Birmingham to shed light on the case.
Actor Sam Waterston, star of the TV series Law and Order, is among the group that plans to file a friend-of-the-court brief with the Alabama Supreme Court. "This case isn't about anybody’s feelings about capital punishment. It's about getting a day in court for a man that was denied justice. It's about an injustice done, being done, continuing to be done to an innocent man and the remedy is not to forget about it but to just look at the facts," said Waterston.
Waterston previously filmed a movie in support of Kuenzel. He and Kuenzel's attorneys say crucial evidence was withheld by prosecutors during the trial and was only discovered, by accident, more than 2 decades after the conviction. "He was offered a shorter sentence if he would plead guilty and he refused,” said Law and Order SVU actress Joanna Merlin.
State courts have refused to hear the evidence because Kuenzel's previous legal team missed the deadline to file the proper appeal.
Last December, the Alabama Supreme Court set Kuenzel's execution for March 2015. In February, the court granted him a stay until further notice. In July, Kuenzel lost an appeal before the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. He remains on death row at Holman Prison in Atmore.
Prior courts concluded that "the state more than adequately proved this offense," noting that the original trial included testimony of 38 witnesses as well as 114 exhibits.
Kuenzel's attorney said evidence that could have cleared Kuenzel was suppressed until long after his sentencing. He said numerous issues including ineffective counsel and questionable witness testimony led to his conviction. People around the world – including prominent former prosecutors Robert Morgenthau, Gil Garcetti and Mike McCann – support Kuenzel’s innocence and calls for due process. (Source: WHNT news, 14/10/2015)