A Texas state lawmaker has launched laws to eradicate the demise penalty within the state amid a high-profile demise row case at the moment unfolding.
Democrat state Rep. John Bucy III filed the invoice for the upcoming legislative session.
“I think I’ve been opposed to the death penalty my whole life as I’ve thought about its use, and should it exist in our society,” Bucy mentioned, based on Fox 7.
“Financially, if you just want to look at it economically, we spend more money to execute than to keep someone in prison, so it’s really a lose-lose situation with a high risk stake if we get it wrong,” he continued.
Photograph reveals the gurney within the execution chamber on the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma. (AP Photograph/Sue Ogrocki, File)
This comes after the Texas Supreme Courtroom cleared the way in which final week for the state to schedule a brand new execution date for inmate Robert Roberson, whose preliminary execution was delayed final month.
Roberson is at the moment on demise row over his conviction wherein prosecutors say he killed his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, by shaking her to demise, often called shaken child syndrome. However his legal professionals say Nikki truly died from different well being points similar to pneumonia and that new proof proves his innocence. His legal professionals additionally mentioned medical doctors had did not rule out these different medical explanations for the kid’s signs.
Roberson was scheduled to be put to demise on Oct. 17 earlier than the state Supreme Courtroom issued a keep to delay his execution shortly earlier than it was set to happen.
If he’s put to demise, he could be the primary individual within the U.S. to be executed in a case primarily based on shaken child syndrome.
Greater than 80 Texas state lawmakers, in addition to the detective who helped the prosecution, medical specialists, parental rights teams, human rights teams, bestselling novelist John Grisham and different advocates have known as for the state to grant Roberson clemency over the assumption that he’s harmless. A bunch of state lawmakers have additionally visited Roberson in jail to encourage him.
“I feel like I’ve gotten more engaged with this Robert Roberson case and wanted to make sure that we’re continuing this conversation about the lack of humanity tied to the death penalty,” Bucy mentioned.
Texas lawmakers meet with Robert Roberson at a jail in Livingston, Texas, Sept. 27, 2024. (Prison Justice Reform Caucus by way of AP)
Texas has executed almost 600 folks since 1982, based on Texas Coalition to Abolish The Loss of life Penalty govt director Kristin Houle Cuellar.
“Which is far more than any other state in the nation,” Houle Cuellar informed Fox 7. “We have quite a reputation when it comes to the use of the death penalty in Texas.”
Houle Cuellar mentioned that there have been fewer demise sentences within the state within the final decade, which she partially attributes to the introduction in 2005 of life with out parole.
“Prosecutors have used that discretion in opting not to seek the death penalty,” Houle Cuellar mentioned. “Even in about 30 percent of the cases that they’ve taken to trial where they’ve sought the death penalty, jurors have rejected it.”
Houle Cuellar mentioned that Harris, Dallas, Tarrant and Bexar counties lead the state in demise sentences and greater than half of all Texas counties have by no means issued a demise sentence.
Since 2007, a number of Texas lawmakers have unsuccessfully sought to abolish the demise penalty. However Bucy says there’s now sufficient momentum concerning the difficulty to reintroduce laws to eradicate the observe.
TEXAS JUDGE GRANTS INJUNCTION AHEAD OF MAN’S EXECUTION IN ‘SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME’ CASE
The execution mattress sits empty on Loss of life Row on April 25, 1997 at Texas Loss of life Row in Huntsville, Texas. (Getty Photographs)
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“While it’s an uphill battle to end the death penalty in Texas, we’ve seen the number of executions go down,” he mentioned. “I think sentiment is changing, and I also think as we see these specific cases come to life, and we start learning the specific stories, people are going to get more and more concerned about the possibility of getting it wrong.”
State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt and state Rep. Joe Moody, each Democrats, have filed related payments to abolish the demise penalty, which is able to have to be voted on by fellow lawmakers when the legislative session begins early subsequent yr.
In one other Texas demise row case, a choose discovered final month that Melissa Lucio was harmless within the 2007 demise of her two-year-old daughter, Mariah. Senior State District Choose Arturo Nelson advisable that Lucio’s conviction and demise sentence be overturned. The choose additionally discovered that prosecutors suppressed proof and testimony, together with statements from Lucio’s different youngsters, that might assist the declare that she was not abusive and that Mariah’s demise was unintended from falling down the steps.
