In the News: James V. Allridge III - Texas Death Row
Actress visits death row inmate
Sarandon meets pen pal, set for execution Aug. 26 Houston Chronicle By Cindy Horswell July 15, 2004 LIVINGSTON - With a brisk walk, actress Susan Sarandon made an unannounced trip Wednesday to Texas to visit her pen pal — a convicted murderer on death row. She had corresponded with the inmate, James Vernon Allridge III, for several years after buying some of the detailed drawings of flowers and animals he creates with colored pencils. Prison officials said she had only recently been put on his visitation list, and she would not tip her hand as to why she had come to see Allridge, who is scheduled for execution Aug. 26. "I'm trying to be as low-profile as possible. It fits the strategy at this time," Sarandon said, declining to comment further. She wore tennis shoes and a loose pants outfit without a belt to avoid setting off the metal detector. "Susan is just here for a visit. It's just communication between two friends," said David Atwood, founder of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, after escorting Sarandon to the prison near Livingston. "She just told him to stay strong, that she would pray for him and was thinking of him." He said they had discussed the possibility of her doing something on Allridge's behalf but "that will be left up to his attorneys." Sarandon became more acutely aware of the death penalty when she portrayed a nun who was a spiritual adviser to a death row inmate in Dead Man Walking, for which she earned a best actress Oscar in 1996. After the movie was released, she told the Houston Chronicle, "I've always thought intellectually that (the death penalty) didn't make sense. It's expensive; it's arbitrary and capricious; it's not a deterrent." She said the role crystallized her feelings to the point that she realized: "It's not important who is to die, but who is to kill and what it means to recognize the humanity in everyone. I feel more clearly now that there is no reason to kill." Wednesday, she did not want to publicly discuss her views. Allridge, who speaks to visitors by telephone through a Plexiglas barrier, had initially agreed to be interviewed by the Chronicle after Sarandon left. He later declined on the advice of his attorney. • • • • • "It's not important who is to die, but who is to kill and what it means to recognize the humanity in everyone. I feel more clearly now that there is no reason to kill." Susan Sarandon, actress • • • • • The 41-year-old inmate has spent the past 17 years on death row — much longer than the average inmate, including his older brother, Ronald, who was executed in 1995. James Allridge was sentenced to death for fatally shooting Fort Worth convenience store clerk Brian Clendennen while robbing the store of $300 in 1985. The same year, during another robbery, his brother fatally shot a 19-year-old diner at a fast-food restaurant. He shot her because she was "penniless," news accounts at the time said. Ronald had spent 3 1/2 years in prison in the late 1970s for killing a high school student and had been accused of killing the store manager of a pizza-delivery business where he worked, authorities said. "In 1985, the two brothers had gone on a spree of robberies and killings. Each was driving the getaway cars for the other when their capital murders happened," said Mike Parrish, the Tarrant County prosecutor in James Allridge's case. James Allridge knew his victim would recognize him because they had attended a management training school together, Parrish said. "He came out of the store and thought about it, but then went back inside to rob the place and shoot him," he said. Parrish said other robbery cases, including one in which Allridge allegedly pointed a gun at a 4-year-old, were dropped after the murder conviction. About Sarandon's visit, Parrish said, "Nothing surprises me anymore. Like all those people from Europe who send (Allridge) money. It's surreal." On a Web site where Allridge sells his art, he writes about his past and does not deny killing the clerk. "I'm not making excuses," he said. "But there was a lot of pressure from my older brother ... who was a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic." He also expresses regret that anyone had to "lose their life for me to become the person I am today." He writes he has been rehabilitated and is no longer a danger to society. He, along with Atwood and Sarandon, wants his sentence commuted to life. "Susan has written to him for a number of years and sees him as a person who has changed and developed. She is impressed by his accomplishments like his art and intelligence," Atwood said. "I've never met any death row inmate that is more rehabilitated," he said. This article is: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2681826 Victim's brother blasts
Sarandon's death-row visit
Victims advocate sees a test case in
inmate's artwork
He says a law confiscating profits of 'murderabilia' should be enforced Houston Chronicle By Cindy Horswell August 2, 2004 With intricate strokes in colored pencil, he creates photograph-like drawings of flowers and animals from his 8-foot-square cell on Texas' death row. The vivid shades of the drawings directly contrast with the stark cell where James Vernon Allridge III has been confined for the last 17 years. But despite his isolation, he has a Web site that sells his art and a greeting card line in the United States and Europe — where a large print sells for $465 and a box of cards for $10. Allridge, convicted of the robbery and murder of a young convenience store clerk in Fort Worth, sees his art as a sign of rehabilitation. As such, he says his sentence should be commuted to life. But crime victim advocate Andy Kahan of Houston wants Allridge's art sales to serve a much different purpose. He wants to use the sales as the first test case of a state law against criminals profiteering from the marketing of personal artifacts, which range from artwork to hair strands. He refers to it such memorabilia as "murderabilia." The law — which calls for confiscation of any profits from items that are inflated by a criminal's notoriety — has never been enforced since its adoption three years ago. "It's time to see if this law is more than lip service," said Kahan, the director of Houston's victims assistance office since 1992. "It's obvious that Allridge is using his ill-gotten notoriety to make a buck." Kahan says peddling "murderabilia" is widespread on the Internet. But prison officials say they often are not aware of such Internet transactions because inmates have people on the outside establishing Web sites. Allridge's art sales came to prison authorities' attention only after actress Susan Sarandon, who had bought his art, made a special trip to death row two weeks ago to visit Allridge. The inmate has not revealed how much he has earned from the sales. Kahan says the influx of Hollywood types, like Sarandon, who won an Academy Award for her portrayal as a spiritual adviser to a death-row inmate in Dead Man Walking, only helps increase the celebrity status of Allridge's art. On advice of his attorney, Allridge has declined to talk to the Houston Chronicle. His attorney, Jim Marcus of Houston, said neither he nor his client was aware of the art controversy. On Allridge's Web site, he writes, "My art allows me to give back something purposeful, productive, constructive and meaningful. By giving back a small part of me with each piece of art I create, I am giving back to society." His execution is set for Aug. 26. When the family of Allridge's victim recently learned about the art sales, as well as the Hollywood patronage, they were outraged. "I don't think it's right. I'm sorry," said the victim's 64-year-old mother, Doris Clendennen, apologizing for emotionally breaking down as she talked. "My 21-year-old son, Brian, was also an artist and a writer who got up and preached in church. But he never got to fulfill his dreams." Since her son's death, she has treasured his art and even retrieved a bird drawing that he did in middle school that was hanging in a Tarrant County mayor's office. She recently refused a request from Allridge's attorney to talk to the inmate. Her son died from a gunshot to the back of the head after his store was robbed of $300 in 1985. Tarrant County prosecutor Mike Parrish said the killing was one of three that occurred while Allridge and his older brother, Ronald, were on a robbery spree in which they took turns driving the getaway car. James Allridge had recognized Clendennen from a management training school they both attended, but after thinking about it, still entered the convenience store to rob and shoot him, Parrish said. Allridge's brother, Ronald, was executed nine years ago for the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old during the crime spree . Clendennen's brother, Shane, a 34-year-old machinist, said he cannot understand why celebrities would glorify Allridge. Allridge's Web site lists others besides Sarandon who have bought his art, including activist and author Gloria Steinem and entertainer Sting, and states he has received letters of support from actor Robert Redford, businessman Ted Turner and actress Elizabeth Taylor. So far Texas is one of only a few states that has expanded the so-called "Son of Sam" law to include "murderabilila." The original version was only designed to prevent criminals from assisting in the retelling of their crimes in book, video or audio formats. It was first adopted in New York in 1977 after a publishing company offered to pay serial killer David Berkowitz to tell his story. In 1991, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the "Son of Sam" law violated free speech. Several states have since revised the statute to allow criminals to tell their story but then confiscates any money earned from it. While the issue has remained ambiguous in the courts, Kahan has been conducting lectures on the "marketing of crime" and pushed for control of "murderabilia." He has bought a collection of strange items from Web site dealers that he uses to make his point. His collection includes a brown wisp of Charles Manson's hair twisted into the shape of a swastika; fingernail clippings of serial killer Roy Norris who liked to record his victim's screams; a letter from John King, sentenced to death for the Jasper dragging-death of James Byrd; and hair strands belonging Angel Maturino Resendiz, who has admitted to killing 12 people in Texas and four other states. He has declined to purchase any criminal's artwork, such as John Wayne Gacy's clown paintings, because it costs more than other items. Angel Resendiz, the so-called "railroad killer," has a drawing of a man with wings and a halo posted for sale on an out-of-state dealer's Internet site. Kahan thinks Allridge's art sales might provide the best avenue for testing the "murderabilia" law. That is because Allridge is not going through third-party dealers who are based outside Texas. Allridge's Web site lists a Fort Worth address and asks that checks be made payable to him, Kahan notes. Allridge's Web site says he is trying to raise thousands of dollars for his fight to overturn his death sentence. Kahan's complaint about Allridge's art sales has been turned over to Mark Mullin, an attorney with the special prison prosecution unit. "We will look into it," said Mullin. "If the law is being broken, something should be done to stop it. I don't think prisoners should profit form their crimes." Money confiscated under the law is contributed to crime victims. The American Civil Liberties Union's Texas president, Greg Gladden, is convinced the law violates an inmate's right of free speech because the state cannot show it has an interest in preventing art sales: "How would this prevent future crime?" Plus he said the law is overly broad and does not specify "art." "I also don't see how in the world that you can prove the value of the art and whether it is inflated," he said. This article is: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2714038
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