Become a Vote Mobilizer
Vote Mobilizers are our election program leaders who will drive voter contact efforts in their area and across the country!
Join NowICYMI: Martin Sheen, Sister Helen Prejean on the Fight to Save Ivan Cantu
Advocates Seek Delay in 2/28 Execution With Evidence of Possible Wrongful Conviction
Washington, D.C. — Today, MoveOn hosted a press call featuring key advocates—including lead anti-death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean and actor Martin Sheen—who are campaigning to delay an execution of Ivan Cantu. Prejean and fellow activists will deliver remarks and a petition hosted by MoveOn with 60,000 signatures and counting to Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis and the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals that requests a delay of Cantu’s February 28 scheduled execution.
A recent investigation documented by private investigator Matt Duff on his “Cousins by Blood” podcast series unveiled significant new evidence signaling Cantu may have been wrongfully convicted of killing two people. With revelations that prosecutors may have withheld evidence and witnesses provided false testimony, jurors in Cantu’s original trial, along with advocates and a growing list of notable individuals from Kim Kardashian, to Martin Sheen, Jane Fonda, and Mandy Patinkin, want his execution delayed to allow time for an evidentiary hearing.
Said Martin Sheen, “Sister Prejean… drew me into this case with Ivan Cantu. This is clearly an issue of life and death. And I’ve often said that if you support capital punishment, you must look life square in the eye and choose death.”
Said Sister Helen Prejean: “There was not fairness at this trial. All we’re asking is [to] delay the execution of Ivan Cantu long enough to be able to have a hearing and an inquiry into the new evidence that’s been presented.”
Said MoveOn Executive Director Rahna Epting, “We and the advocates here today are racing against the clock to bring more attention to this case, given the imminent life or death stakes for Ivan who has already served more than two decades of his life in jail. Every minute counts until February 28.”
“Cousins by Blood” podcast producer and private investigator Matt Duff: “A lot of people don’t understand all the issues that can lead someone to be on death row and they literally never got their day in court and they never got a good lawyer, even though you have all these appeal processes.”
###
MoveOn is a people-powered force for progress. MoveOn mobilizes the left to enact progressive change. We are the home base for millions of members who refuse to accept the status quo and are moved to take action. For more than a generation, MoveOn has been a bulwark against the radical right, channeling our voices to end wars, protect democracy, and advance justice for all.