Open Letter to Former San Quentin Warden Jeanne Woodford, from Kevin Cooper

Dear Jeanne Woodford,

I am writing this to say to you that I and many others are glad that you
have had a change of heart and mindset concerning this State’s use of
the death penalty.

I have recently read news accounts of your calling for the abolition of
the death penalty within this state. I have read the May 12, 2011 L.A.
Times piece by Carol J. Williams about your overseeing four executions
at San Quentin prison and your now becoming the Executive Director of
the nonprofit, Death Penalty Focus.

In reading all of that, and more, about you, I was truly surprised at what I didn’t read. I am not the only one who asks why nothing
was written about the one death row inmate who was ‘almost’ executed by
you and your regime on February 10, 2004. The one who came within 3
hours and 42 minutes of being strapped down on that gurney, physically tortured, and then murdered just like all those others before him.

The one whose life was spared only because on February 9th, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to lift the stay of execution granted by the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals earlier that day. Who is that person, that one
who got away, that one you don’t speak about? That person is me, Kevin
Cooper.

Don’t you remember me? I remember you. I also remember what you and your crew of executioners did to me. Your silence will not let you appear to not know these things, or pretend that they never happened, or that I don’t exist. Because they did, and I do!

I suffered at your hands, and your execution regime.
I had emotional and mental anguish, psychological torture, and all that
goes with it. In fact, I still do to this day. That sick death ritual
that you put me through still haunts me. The searching of my arms
for suitable veins so that those razor sharp needles could be placed.
Having me stand butt naked on that ice cold death chamber waiting room
floor while my body was being examined from head to toe and all parts in
between just like my ancestors were while they stood on the auction
block. Knowing that I couldn’t do anything about it because if I did I
would get beat down by those guards who wanted to do so.

This, and everything else that your protocol called for was done, and done by you and your regime. Once that execution was
cancelled, you came down to that death chamber waiting room where I was
locked inside that cage. You told your crew to stand down because there
would be no execution that night. I called you over to where I was and
told you that I did not hate you for what you were going to do to me,
and in fact, I said, “I forgive you.” I guess you don’t remember that
either. You may not remember me, but I’ll never forget you.

In your newfound opposition to the death penalty, I hope that you will
speak the truth about all of your experiences, including these.

Did you know that five judges from the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals have now said about me, “The State of
California may be about to execute an innocent man.” I hope that you
will speak about what it is like to have almost done just that.

Kevin Cooper

www.savekevincooper.org