Leonel Herrera, Hispanic, is scheduled to be executed on 5 May 1993. Herrera, who was severely beaten after his arrest and hospitalized, was convicted and sentenced to death in January 1982 for the murder of two policemen. The case against him at trial included evidence that the car he used was involved in both crimes, and eye-witness identification. However in February 1992 Leonel Herrera’s appeal lawyers presented new evidence, alleging that his brother, Raul Herrera Sr, who died in 1984, had committed both murders. It was also alleged that the killings were related to drug trafficking. Amnesty International, which is opposed to the death penalty in all cases, is urging the authorities to examine in a court the merits of Herrera’s innocence claim.
