The Case of Cleve Foster, Another Innocent Man on Texas' Death Row

Since the recent clemency of Kenneth Foster Jr., by Governor Rick Perry from Texas, my attention has been drawn to the case of Cleve Foster, or "Sarge" as his friends call him. Here is a man who is sitting on death row in Texas, even though another man, Sheldon Ward has confessed to the crime. Not only that, there are many other inconsistencies in this case, and after reading through them it's clear to see this man was railroaded onto Texas death row.

Here we have a man who is a twenty-one year army veteran who worked as a recruiting officer prior to the time of his arrest and conviction. He was friends with Sheldon Ward, and they hung out together. They lived together, partied together and enjoyed each others company. But because your friends with someone, the deep dark things they do alone should not be judged on you. And this is what happened to Sarge.

One night Sarge and Sheldon were at a bar in Texas named "Fat Alberts" playing pool and having a few drinks. Another customer, Nyanuer Pal (Mary) for short happened to be at the bar also. One thing led to another, and both men had sex with her that night. She was later found dead, and that is when Sarge's nightmare began.

Sarge's trial was a farce. Shoddy lawyering, and misleading of jurors. Some testimony never presented, and other testimony falsely presented, typical of Texas Capital Murder cases.

Because Sarge was a frequent customer of "Whataburger," a fast food restaurant, and a Whataburger cup was found near the crime scene, this was used as evidence to say Sarge must have been there. I wonder how many people frequent Whataburger, and how many Whataburger cups are thrown away in Texas. His DNA was not on the cup, so that should have been enough proof that is was not his, but it wasn't. The jury was told that this cup was found approximately 40-60- yards away from the body, but were not informed that it was approximately 60 yards from a main highway, and could have been thrown out of a car window.

An eye witness saw only one man run out of the woods the night of the murder. He jumped in a truck and drove away. One shot, one man, Sheldon Ward. This was never presented in Sarge's case. Why was crucial evidence, that could prove a man's innocent be emmitted from his trial, when his life is at stake? The women was naked and black, and only one man chased her, one man ran to his truck and drove off alone.

One more major factor in this trial that makes absolutely no sense was when the detective told the jury that no blood was found on the scene where Mary's body was found. That "She must have been carried to another location," but yet photographs of where they found Mary show an extensive amount of blood, and blood splatter all around the body. Did this detective purposely lie and mislead the jury? Why would he do this?

One thing for sure, is Cleve Foster is sitting on death row. He has the proof to show his innocence, and because of dirty little lies and wrongdoing, he has been convicted of murder. He is fighting for his life, and for justice.

You can read more about Sarge's case on his official website, or Myspace which is maintained by his main supporter Joy Keefel, an anti death penalty opponent and prison rights activist.

Sarge's Main Website: http://www.innocentondeathrow.com

Sarge's MySpace Site: http://www.myspace.com/innocent_on_tx_death_row

Petition to Save Sarge: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/276904434