COMMENTARY | The guilt of Duane Edward Buck is not in question in the case of the deaths of two Houston residents in 1995. But the sentence to be imposed, death by legal injection, is coming under fire, in part because of testimony during the sentencing hearing and partly because Gov. Rick Perry is the current front GOP frontrunner in the race for the presidency.
During the sentencing hearing, Walter Quijano stated Buck was more likely to reoffend than others because he is black. According to the Daily Caller, the same doctor testified at six other cases, and the defendants in each case were given retrials after then-Attorney General John Cornyn admitted the state had erred in relying on race-based testimony. So far, Buck's plea for a retrial has been ignored and Buck is slated to be the 235th person executed during Perry's tenure.
It's a tough sell to say the Texas execution law is racially biased. Forty-one percent of those killed by the state are black, in contrast to 12 percent representation in the population. Forty-two percent killed are white in contrast with a 45 percent representation in the population. Sixteen percent of Hispanics on death row in the state are executed; Hispanics make up 37 percent of the overall population.
So the case has to be looked at on its own merit. No matter his race, when a psychologist testifies in Texas that a criminal is more likely to reoffend on the basis that he's black, there can be no doubt the case of that particular criminal is tainted by racism, and the sentencing process should be nullified and revisited by a fresh jury and untainted testimony.
Further complicating the case is the stance of a third victim, who lived through Buck's attack. "This execution would only add to my pain, and it wouldn't give me closure," said Phyllis Taylor, according to the Texas Tribune. "I would ask that Duane Buck's life be spared. I feel that he deserves a fair trial."
Perry recently said he doesn't lose sleep over people killed by the death penalty in the state. But perhaps it's time for the tough-talking governor to stop being candidate Perry for the sake of doing his job as governor. When in doubt of impropriety, clemency is always in order.
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