joegcampaign.org

 Joseph Giarratano, currently serving a life sentence in Virginia despite overwhelming evidence pointing to his innocence.
Joe Giarratano, from a 1989 photo. Prisons have not allowed photographs since the commutation.

Site updated 10.21.09
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Death Penalty Focus (DPF)
c/o Lance Lindsey
870 Market Street #859
San Francisco, CA 94102
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NOTE:  When sending checks, please write "Joe G. Campaign" in the Note field.  Thank you

For more information on DPF, Click HERE.
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Welcome to the JOE GIARRATANO CAMPAIGN web site. This site will allow you to keep up with developments in the Giarratano case, plus access background information on Joe, the case, and more importantly, tips and suggestions on what YOU can do to help us guarantee that Joe receives the one thing that has eluded him for nearly 30 years: JUSTICE.

ESSENTIAL FACTS ABOUT THE GIARRATANO CASE  
 DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES FOR YOU TO USE AND DISTRIBUTE
On February 20, 1991, eighteen hours before he was scheduled to be executed for the murder of a woman and the rape murder of her daughter, Joe Giarratano was given a conditional pardon by Governor Douglas Wilder.  WHY?
  • Not a single piece of physical evidence identified Giarratano as the perpetrator.
  • Bloody shoe prints from the scene were not made by Giarratano’s boots.
  • A forensic expert found the stab wounds were typical of a right-handed person. Giarratano is left-handed and has a neurological deficit on his right side.
  • Unidentified pubic hairs found on and near the rape victim's body did not match Giarratano’s.
  • A driver's license found by the police in the victims' apartment belonged to a potential male suspect the police never identified
  • Sheets and clothing from the crime scene were not introduced at trial, and if analyzed, no report was presented at trial or made available to the defense.
  • However, Giarratano confessed five times to different police officers.  All five confessions were inconsistent with the evidence and contradicted one another.  The state’s psychiatrist testified that Giarratano made up the confessions, and after weeks of interviews, testing and investigation, two world-renowned experts in false confessions concluded that Giarratano’s confessions were totally unreliable.
  • An autopsy report was changed to conform in part to the one confession put into evidence.
  • Thirty years after being put on death row, Joe Giarratano remains incarcerated in one of Virginia’s “supermax” prisons.
Amnesty International helped the Giarratano team by supplying this Billboard in early 1990.
Bart Stapert, Marie Deans and Dottie Morefield in front of billboard erected in 1990 by Amnesty International, USA on behalf of Joe Giarratano.
An Information Flier in PDF format is available HERE.
The Petition for Conditional Pardon, 1990

The Original Petition For Conditional Pardon (2mb PDF) submitted to Gov. Douglas Wilder in late 1990 is in 4 parts, presenting Joe Giarratano's life; evidence of innocence; evidence that his confessions were false; why the courts failed to intervene; and the power of the governor to grant the requested relief.

The Supplement to the Original Petition For Conditional Pardon, 1990 (600k PDF) is a supplement to the original petition which catalogs and analyzes evidence presented against Joe Giarratano at trial, new evidence and the meaning of the trial evidence in light of the new evidence and summarizes the state's response.

NOTE: Due to the size - over 1000 pages - of the appendix, which is referenced in both the petition and supplemental petition, we are currently unable to provide it in a downloadable form.
Press conference following Governor Wilder's commutation of Giarratano's sentence to life.
Unprecedented press conference is held in the death house following Governor Wilder's commutation. From left: Rick Schaeffer, Marie Deans, Joe Giarratano, Jerry Zerkin.
Summary of the Press Coverage from 1991

Kevin Appel's Summary of the Press Coverage on the Giarratano Case.  From January 1991, presented to Paul Goldmann, then Chief of Staff for Governor Wilder.  (1.2 MB PDF)
Students at the Washington & Lee School of Law created a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the case.  CLICK HERE to visit the Students for an Innocence Project Home Page, and click on "JOE GIARRATANO" to download the presentation (6.5 MB PowerPoint Document)

SUPPORT THE JOE GIARRATANO CASE!

EXAMPLES OF PAST SUPPORT
  
WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY
The Giarratano Review Action CommitteE (GRACE) officially formed in 1990 with a long and diverse list of supporters who believed in justice for Joe.  While GRACE no longer meets, its spirit lives on so long as Joe is incarcerated.
  • To read the original GRACE Committee Statement of Purpose in PDF format, CLICK HERE.
  • For the original GRACE Committee list of supporters from 1991, also in PDF format, CLICK HERE.
In 2004, Joe became eligible for parole under the original clemency as put forward by then Governor Wilder.  Several individuals, again from a diverse background interested in justice for Joe, wrote to the Virginia Parole Board offering many arguments in favor of parole for Joe.  Over time we will add these letters as they become available to us.  (These files are all PDFs between 200 and 600k in size.)
Currently the defense team for Joe is working out their strategy.  In the meantime, support can be given in many ways.

Donate to:
Death Penalty Focus
c/o Lance Lindsey
870 Market Street #859
San Francisco, CA 94102
(Mark your tax-deductible donation as "For Joe Giarratano Campaign.")

(For more information on Death Penalty Focus, Click HERE.)

Write a letter of support for Joe to:
Governor Tim Kaine
Office of the Governor
Patrick Henry Building, 3d Floor
1111 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA, 23219

Download and distribute the Information Flier on Joe's Case (PDF) from this link.

Email info@joegcampaign.org for more options.

PRESS COVERAGE OF THE GIARRATANO CASE
The Giarratano case garnered an amazing amount of press coverage, rivaling anything the Governor's office had seen previously.  For example, during the campaign for the conditional pardon, advertisements were run on television stations across Virginia, resulting in the Governor's switchboard overloading with each broadcast.  At the height of the campaign, several filing cabinets were filled with articles from all over the world about the case.  Over time, we will post examples of the press coverage here.


All information and material on this web site is under the ownership and copyright of the Joe Giarratano Campaign Team, © 2008-2009.