Louisiana: Local attorney to receive national honor

A.M. "Marty" Stroud

The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project will honor a local attorney with its annual Champion of Justice Award this week.

When it came to selecting this year's recipient of the award, Shawn Armbrust, executive director of the organization, found the perfect honoree in Shreveport attorney A.M. "Marty" Stroud III, who has become an outspoken advocate against injustices within the legal system. He will be recognized for his achievements at a Tuesday luncheon at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, D.C.

"We try each year to bring unusual voices to the event," said Armbrust, who has been with the innocence project for the past 11 years.

Armbrust said she looks for honorees who talk about important matters within the legal system, and this year she thought it would be a good idea to honor a prosecutor.

"It's really important to give credit to prosecutors who have done the right thing," Armbrust said. "Marty really stood out and - to some degree - Marty's done things that were a lot harder than others."

Stroud, who works for the Shreveport firm Barham Warner Stroud Carmouche, was the lead prosecutor in the 1984 first-degree murder trial of Glenn Ford. Ford was sentenced to death for the November 1983 death of Isadore Rozeman, a Shreveport jeweler. In March 2014, Ford was released from prison when the state admitted new evidence that proved Ford was not the killer.

Taking full responsibility, Stroud issued a public apology for his role in sending Ford to death row. He has since become an outspoken opponent of the death penalty and proponent of dialogue on the injustices that exist in the state's criminal justice system.

"I never thought the letter would go as far as it did - I was just concerned about the Glenn Ford case," said Stroud, who believes the situation has opened up other questions about the criminal justice system, which he is glad to see happen. Stroud believes there are many more problems in the criminal justice system in Louisiana. He said the more people are educated, the better the system can become. With more voices speaking up and more group discussions taking place, he believes things are moving in the right direction.

"The compass is turning. I think we are starting to move in the right direction, slowly but surely," Stroud said.

The attorney said he was humbled when he heard he was being offered the prestigious recognition from the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project.

Glenn Ford, minutes after he was released from prison.

"It was surely a shock when I got the call and I hope my comments next week will be of benefit to the group," said Stroud, who will also serve as the keynote speaker during the annual fundraising luncheon.

After receiving the award, Stroud hopes to continue helping affect changes in the system that he believes are stacked against defendants - especially the poor.

"We should have less people locked up. A lot of reform needs to be taken. It's going to take the citizens of the community to get involved," said Stroud, who believes issues surrounding officer-involved shootings and the high rates of incarceration in the state of Louisiana are issues ripe for conversation in the community.

Stroud wants to advocate against the look of hopelessness in the eyes of people who are incarcerated and don't believe they ever have the chance for reprieve or redemption.

Armbrust said Stroud stands out in a time when people are less likely to admit fault and take full responsibility for their errors.

In the annals of criminal justice and innocence projects.the outcome of the Glenn Ford case will likely prove to be Stroud's most revered legacy.

"He did more than just say he was wrong - he apologized, explained what he did wrong, and explains to people how to avoid it," Armbrust said. "It takes real guts and we need to see more of that in our system."

Source: Shreveport Times, July 10, 2016

⚑ | Report an error, an omission, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.

Opposed to Capital Punishment? Please help us keep this blog up and running!

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." - Oscar Wilde

Oklahoma executes James Pavatt

Pavatt claimed innocence in the slaying of an Oklahoma City advertising executive for insurance money. His co-defendant and former lover Brenda Andrew is also on death row. James Pavatt made no final statement before being executed Thursday for killing his lover’s estranged husband nearly 25 years ago. Pavatt merely shook his head when asked by Oklahoma Department of Corrections Chief of Operations Jason Sparks if he had any last words. Pavatt appeared to share a quick word with Michael Scott, his spiritual advisor, after microphones inside the death chamber had been cut off.

Oklahoma Death Row inmate James Pavatt scheduled to be executed Thursday

James Pavatt is scheduled to be executed on Thursday for the 2001 killing of an Oklahoma City man. OKLAHOMA CITY—Oklahoma Death Row inmate James Pavatt is set to be executed for the 2001 murder of advertising executive Rob Andrew. His execution is scheduled for Nov. 12, 2026. In 2004, Pavatt and his lover/co-conspirator, Brenda Andrew, were sentenced to death for planning the killing of her estranged husband in an attempt to claim his $800,000 life insurance policy. Brenda is the only woman on Oklahoma’s death row.

Judge allows Tennessee death row inmates to include botched executions in lawsuit

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Two failed executions in Tennessee are now at the center of a growing legal battle over the state’s lethal injection protocol after a judge ruled in favor of death row inmates Friday. A Davidson County judge ruled death row inmates can expand their lawsuit to include new allegations stemming from the botched executions of Tony Carruthers and Christa Pike. The original lawsuit, filed in March 2025, argues Tennessee’s death penalty protocol violates the constitutional rights of death row inmates with complex medical conditions. More than one year later, the state then failed to execute two inmates: Tony Carruthers and Christa Pike.

Two men set to be executed in Texas and Oklahoma today

The U.S. was preparing to carry out two executions on Thursday, one in Oklahoma and one in Texas. In Texas, the condemned man is John Allen Rubio, 46, who is set to be put to death at the state prison in Huntsville. He was convicted of beheading three young children he was raising in a 2003 killing that rattled a community along the U.S.-Mexico border. The other man facing execution is James Pavatt, 73, who is set to die by lethal injection at Oklahoma's state penitentiary in McAlester.

Texas executes John Rubio

Texas man who killed 3 children is put to death, hours after an Oklahoma execution James Pavatt was put to death in Oklahoma for Rob Andrew’s killing. In Texas, John Allen Rubio was executed for the deaths of Julissa Quesada, John E. Rubio, and Mary Jane Rubio. A Texas man convicted of fatally stabbing and beheading 3 young children in a squalid, windowless apartment in 2003 was executed Thursday evening, hours after Oklahoma put another man to death.

Why Many Americans Think Christa Pike Should Undergo a Second Execution Attempt

On October 20, Reuters released the results of a survey showing that 33% of the American public want Tennessee to try again to put Christa Pike to death. Another 26% are undecided. That means 59% of the public would support or be open to such a possibility. I want to suggest a reason why. Second execution attempts are rare in this country and, as a result, the public knows little if anything about them. That may help explain why so many would give Tennessee another chance to kill Christa Pike.

Iran executes three more January protesters accused of spying for Israel, US

In a statement, the judiciary said that “the death sentences of Hassan Deoband, Hamid Kazemi, and Reza Zangana were carried out on charges of ‘participating in operational action for the infamous Zionist regime and the United States and hostile groups.’” ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iran on Sunday executed three more protesters over their involvement in the nationwide demonstrations in January, the judiciary announced, accusing them of spying for the United States and Israel and destroying infrastructure.

Alabama executes Michael Shannon Taylor

Alabama executes man convicted of 1991 double murder The state of Alabama carried out the execution of 54-year-old Michael Shannon Taylor Thursday night for the 1991 murders of an elderly Etowah County couple, 35 years and 1 day after the crime. Taylor, convicted in 1993 on 3 counts of capital murder, was sentenced to death unanimously by a jury for killing 83-year-old Ivan Ernest Moore and 79-year-old Lucille Moore inside their Gadsden home during a robbery. Taylor was 19 at the time.

Iran | 10 executed in Ahvaz, Isfahan, Karaj

Four prisoners, including an Afghan national, were executed at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. All four had been sentenced to death under Iran’s qisas (retributive justice) laws on murder charges. According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, one of the executed prisoners was identified as Gol Agha Eskandari, an Afghan national. Eskandari had been convicted of murder following a dispute between neighbors in the Khorasan Square area of Tehran in July 2024 and subsequently sentenced to death.

Florida executes Jesse Guardado

Man convicted of 2004 killing is put to death in Florida’s 19th execution this year, tying a record Florida carried out a record-tying 19th execution of the year in an unusual instance of 3 states administering the death penalty on the same day. Jesse Guardado was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. following a 3-drug injection at a state prison in Starke. He had pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing 75-year-old Jackie Malone inside her Walton County home in 2004 before stealing her jewelry box, $80, and other valuables to buy drugs. The woman had helped him get a job and housing.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog