Ramiro Gonzales is scheduled for execution on July 13th for the rape and murder of an 18 year old woman in Medina County in 2001.
His attorneys say the idea of Gonzales' donating a kidney began with his correspondence with a Cantor in Maryland who mentioned a congregant at his synagogue needed a donor. Gonzales volunteered.
His attorneys have filed several appeals, including one this week to Texas Governor Greg Abbott asking for a 30 day reprieve so Gonzales can be a donor, something that can be granted without a recommendation from the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole.
Gonzales' lawyer Thea Posel says the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has a procedure for organ donation by incarcerated people. He was screened and learned he was not a match for that person. "But he does have a pretty rare blood type, and that means he's an excellent candidate for donation as well as someone who could provide this life preserving treatment for someone who's on the waitlist often longer than average if they have a rare blood type." He is type B. He cannot donate once he's been executed.
"We're really hoping that he's given the opportunity. It is really important to him from his religious perspective. It's an opportunity for atonement, and it could be a way he could make some sort of amends."
She says this is something she has never heard before in her time as an attorney. Posel says "When he's ready and willing and has already passed all the medical screening tests, I think it would be a travesty to prevent this from happening."
Future dangerousness
They have also filed a subsequent application to the Court of Criminal Appeals. Posel says his initial habeas application was poor. "His first shot, his only shot at state court, was abysmal. The document filed on his behalf was nine pages long.
These initial writs of Habeas Corpus are often hundreds of pages long with dozens of exhibits. It's really your only chance to introduce new facts into the court proceeding." This particular process is predicated on new facts so it requires investigation. She says his attorney did no investigation and was not allowed to introduce new facts into court.
The application raises the claim that the state's death sentence was secured on the basis of future dangerousness testimony by a psychiatrist who testified Gonzales had anti-personality disorder and based his opinion that Ramiro would be a future danger on now recanted testimony from an inmate. She says the doctor now admits he was wrong and does not believe Gonzales would be a future danger.
"His death sentence is unreliable not only because it was predicated on this false information, but that false information was also influenced by the fact that he was 71 days past his 18th birthday when the crime occurred, so he was just barely constitutionally eligible for the death penalty." She says there is a national consensus against imposing the death penalty on anyone under 21."
Source: audacy.com, Staff, July 1, 2022
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