Cases: Kenny Gay (USA)
Kenny Gay was born in Swindon. He is 50 years old and has been on death row in California since 1985. Kenny was convicted along with another man - also sentenced to death - for killing a police officer in Los Angeles in 1983.
The prosecution’s claim - which was accepted by the jury - was that Kenny and the other man had shot the police officer in turn, using the same gun. Under this scenario, both were equally guilty of murder and so both equally eligible for the death penalty. There is now, however, evidence that it wasn’t Kenny but the other man who fired all the shots.
After Kenny’s initial conviction and death sentence, the California Supreme Court recognised that there had been problems with his legal representation at trial: his lawyer suffered from a conflict of interest as he was under criminal investigation himself at the time of Kenny’s trial. The California court, therefore, vacated the original sentence of death. However, at the resentencing hearing, Kenny’s’ lawyers were prevented from presenting evidence of his innocence and he was, once again sentenced to death.
In 2006, Reprieve, together with Kenny’s San Francisco-based lawyers, demonstrated his British citizenship to the UK government. Kenny is therefore entitled to have the British government make representations on his behalf. Reprieve has also advised on international law issues relating to the case and is assisting with investigation issues.
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