Teddy Washington is in prison and awaiting execution. He's been on death row for over a decade.
Before I start to explain why we believe that Teddy needs the support and encouragement that you can give him, I should make a statement. First and foremost, in no way do I question the fact that Teddy knew, or was to a certain degree, influenced by some very unpleasant and indefensible people. By his own admission, in the many letters that I have received from him, Teddy states that some of his acquaintences were bad news and - had he taken his life in a different direction - he would not have mixed with them. From the facts laid down in the trial records it's easy to see that Robinson was a powerful and manipulative figure - he certainly had a level of control with respect to Susan Hill, the serial abuse of that particular relationship bearing this out, and we can easily appreciate therefore the amount of influence he had over his friends.
So, the wrong crowd, without a doubt.
Secondly, a review of the facts needs to be made, which on an initial reading appear to be fairly damning. Threats, illegal entry, guns, etc. It doesn't look (or read) like a good position to plead clemency for a man's life. Yet the whole of the sum of these bits of evidence surely does not amount to enough to take a man's life?
Take it apart, take it piece by piece and look at it anew ... To start with, we are assailed by this horrific depiction of an abusive man and his prey, a young woman, who tries many times to escape him. Robinson needed to control Susan, he needed to possess her, he chased her back and forth across the United States to prove this, and he enlisted the help of others to emphasise his need. It is his obsession that put all three men in jail and leaves Teddy on Death Row. It is his obsession that is at the core of the matter and it is his obsession that shaped the tragic death of Sterleen Hill. This frightening scenario puts us into a state of anger; we don't want to hear of such things, we don't want to believe that people like Robinson can go 'round harrassing innocent young women. Any friend of this man is going to have a hard time convincing us he's anything but a villain.
Next, on the day of the murder, Robinson and Mathers are seen putting guns into the back of Robinson's car and then driving off in the direction of Teddy's house. In one neat little statement all three defendants are incriminated, involved, yet what is there to imply in this observation that Teddy knew about the guns at this time? Or maybe even until much much later in the proceedings? Sure, Andre heard the men discussing a trip to Yuma, but there is no declaration of an intention to harm anybody made here. Yet by this time in the story, Teddy, Robinson and Mathers are all inextricably linked, and if you mention one of them they're all included.
At the Hills' home, men arrive at nearly midnight and take their captives into the bedroom in a mad rush of activity. It's dark and confusing, and at no point does anyone assertively identify Teddy, and (all things duly considered, as no-one can really imagine the dreadful feelings going through a person's mind in this situation) in the moments leading up to and including the fateful shots, certainly no identification is made. In fact, Ralph Hill loses consciousness at this point.
So, out of all this, what evidence really is there to warrant a death sentence on Theodore Washington? The Arizona Supreme Court, in one of the very many appeals that followed the original trial, stated that there "was no way the victim could have identified anyone", an assertion backed up by statements from Mr Hill and LeSean, neither of whom could subsequently state categorically who had attacked them. Including the sightings of the red bandana (which forensic analysis shows contained not Washington's hair, but Mathers'), it has been accepted by the Court that no real physical evidence exists placing Teddy at the scene. Even if you drop further down the chain of evidence and attempt to include Teddy on matters of complicity, things become even less convincing than against Mathers. And yet Mathers was subsequently acquitted.
The Court recognised that it was difficult to find a basis to hold Teddy responsible for the crime "which does not apply, at least equally or in a greater manner, to James Mathers". And yet Mathers was subsequently acquitted.
Indeed, the trial judge stated in a petition regarding Washington that "no greater evidence seems to place [Teddy] at the scene", or that it is hard to find "any evidence linking Washington to the crime". And yet Mathers was subsequently acquitted.
It is the lack of evidence angle that nags away and worries you about all this. Teddy has now changed lawyers, because he believes that so many obvious points should have been made on his behalf at the original trial. We can only hope that someone will listen. Although, perhaps not to Judge H. Stewart Bradshaw.
There is no contention that this was a dreadful and appalling crime. What crime isn't? The Hills should never have been put in this situation and the one thing that strikes you as you read about it is the sheer needlessness of it all.
Yet, where does putting a man's life at risk come in the scheme of things? I stated above that Teddy was at fault for knowing some terrible people (one in particular). I don't question that. What I do question is the perception of his involvement in all this. Nothing exists to tell us he fired the lethal shot, nothing determines even his presence in that room or that house. Where does the "beyond all reasonable doubt" part of a conviction - when the sentence is death - have to come in?