Anthony Graves

About Anthony

Anthony Charles Graves was born on August 29th 1965. He has been behind bars since August, 1992.

He is  accused of having taken part in the murder of six people, four of them children. Ever since he first was arrested he has maintained his innocence.

Many people are locked up in the United States. It has more prisoners than any other nation in the world. Most of them come from low-income families, like Anthony’s. A disproportionate part of the people in prison are black, like Anthony. So what is so special about him?

One reason is that his innocence is obvious. A lot of prisoners claim that they are innocent, but in most of these cases there are facts that point to their guilt, or they have a previous criminal career. But Anthony was convicted solely on the basis of one piece of testimony by another convicted killer – a statement that was given reluctantly, under threat, and later retracted on several occasions.

Another reason that Anthony’s case is important is that his freedom is within reach. In 2006, twelve years after the trial in which he was sentenced to die, the judges in a higher court decided that this trial was not fair. They wanted him to have a new trial and took him off death row. Since 2006 Anthony has been waiting, in a jail in a small town in Texas, for this new trial.

But should we care about what happens to this man, even though he is innocent? Can the case of this man, Anthony Graves, be of any importance to the big state of Texas in the big nation of the United States of America? Yes, it can and it will.

Texas is not just one of the richest and most powerful states in the U.S.A. It is also the stronghold of the capital punishment. If  justice prevails and Anthony is set free, it will be an important demonstration, not just to Texas, but to the whole nation, of the flaws in the death penalty.

Anthony Graves is a living example of how easily an innocent man can be sentenced to die. That is why it is important for everybody who is against capital punishment to know about his case, and to support his struggle for justice.

Behind this brochure are some of Anthony’s friends in France, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. We know that most things that happen in the United States also have an impact on us in Europe. If and when Anthony is set free, it will show everybody that Texas can change, and this change will benefit us all.

Anthony 2006	Anthony 1985
Anthony's Mum Doris and his son Terrell
Terrell and Terrell jr.	Kenneth and Demetria, Anthony's sister
Dietrich and her husband (Anthony's sister)	Derreck - Anthony's brother
Jessica and Alex and Anthony's grand babies