Death Penalty Opponents To Urge Governor To Grant Early Release To Terminally Ill Houston Killer

Led by Louisiana death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejan, supporters of convicted Houston triple killer Max Soffar Friday will call on Gov. Rick Perry to release the terminally ill prisoner so that he can die at home with his wife. On Friday, an Austin Catholic official representing Prejan, Soffar's appellate attorneys and other death penalty opponents will present Perry's office with a petition bearing 116,000 signatures calling for the inmate's release. Brian Stull, senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union's Capital Punishment Project, said the intent is to have Soffar's death sentence commuted to life. Having serving served 33 years in prison, he would have fulfilled a designated life term and be eligible for immediate release. The status of that petition was in doubt Thursday as Soffar's lawyers said that in October they received a paroles board letter saying no action would be taken because the killer had not been handed an execution date. Another Texas law provides for possible early release of inmates suffering terminal illness, mental or physical handicaps, or other intractable conditions ‑ more than 400 have gained early release since FY 2009 ‑ but the measure does not extend to capital killers, said Jason Clark, spokesman with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retired Harris County assistant district attorney Lyn McClellan, the lead prosecutor in Soffar's 2006 trial, said all questions in the killer's case have thoroughly been weighed in court.