Linda Carty was born on the Commonwealth island of St Kitts. She’s awaiting execution in Texas: if she’s killed, she’ll be the first British woman to be executed since Ruth Ellis, over 50 years ago.
In this moving documentary, film maker Steve Humphries goes in search of the real Linda Carty: who she is, where she came from, and how she ended up in arguably the worst place in the world, Death Row.
Linda was convicted of capital murder in 2002 after it was alleged she was the mastermind behind a horrific crime. In May 2001, a criminal gang broke into the home of Linda’s neighbours and abducted a young mother and her three-day-old baby boy.
The next day the baby was found alive in one of Linda’s cars, but his mother was found dead in another – she had been suffocated.
Linda has always denied any involvement in the crime, but testimony from the gang and circumstantial evidence found at the scene led to her arrest.
At her trial, Linda was represented by one of the State’s capital defense attorneys, who’s had over 20 of his clients end up on Death Row. It’s claimed his poor defense of Linda helped lead to her conviction.
But this isn’t just a film about a miscarriage of justice; it’s a revealing account of Linda and her extraordinary life. She’s been a primary school teacher, a dedicated single mother who overcame the stigma of illegitimacy, the victim of rape and abuse, and a woman blackmailed into becoming a confidential informant for the Drugs Enforcement Administration.
With contributions from family, friends, lawyers and Linda herself, this is an intimate and emotional portrait of a woman facing death and an exploration of why society believes she should die.
Released 28 November, 2011. 47 min. Director: Steve Humphries. TV documentary.
