Reporter’s Notebook: Reflections on a Texas execution

Texas has executed 588 people since 1982 — all by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit. This is more than any other state in the country. Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies was a witness for the most recent Texas execution. He has this reflection.

As we entered the witness room of the execution chamber, the condemned turned his head to us and smiled. Ramiro Gonzales was already strapped to the gurney. IV tubes had been inserted into his outstretched arms, and in a few minutes a lethal dose of pentobarbital would flow into his veins.

Gonzales was in the death chamber because he was a rapist and a murderer. There is no disputing the facts that in 2001 he raped, tortured and murdered Bridget Townsend.

He was found guilty and found to be beyond rehabilitation and redemption. The state of Texas demanded he be exterminated.

And I watched as it happened. As the drug flowed into Gonzales, he took six labored deep breaths. Then he snored about eight times, and he stopped breathing. He was gone.

An execution is the most extreme and brutal act that the state performs. And there are those who call for an end of the death penalty. But according to a 2022 poll, 63% of Texans say they support the death penalty. However, that number is down from 75% in 2015.

When I was in Huntsville for the execution, I was approached by a TV news crew from Norway. The European Union is staunchly opposed to the death penalty. Public opinion in Europe is overwhelmingly against capital punishment.

I got the feeling that the reporter looked down on us in Texas for continuing this barbaric practice in the name of justice. The reporter asked me if I thought capital punishment is right or wrong?

And I answered honestly, saying “I don’t know.”

I was there as a reporter to cover the event and not pass judgment. I was there to be the eyes for Texans, to make sure the controversial lethal injection drug worked properly and that the ultimate punishment was carried out.

But I added that Texas has executed innocent people and will continue to do so.

I do wish that more care and attention was given to making absolutely sure that every person put to death in Texas was actually guilty. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Texas is set to execute Robert Roberson on October 17, and there is strong evidence that he is innocent.

The East Texas man was convicted of the shaken baby syndrome (SBS) death of his two-year old daughter, Nikki. But there is new evidence that proves she died from a high fever resulting from chronic illness.

According to the Innocence Project, Roberson’s case is riddled with unscientific evidence, inaccurate and misleading medical testimony. Furthermore, police were not aware that Roberson had autism. They interpreted his non-typical response to his daughter’s grave condition as suspicious behavior.

It must be nice for the Europeans to recline in their collective decision to absolutely reject the death penalty. But this is Texas and frontier justice, as crude and imprecise as it is, is our inheritance.

But Texans can insist that no more innocents will be put to death in their name.

When it comes to capital punishment, the criminal justice system can be toughened to reject flawed evidence, inadequate defense, and politics in the courtroom. Appeals should be more open to hearing evidence of actual innocence.

Source: texasstandard.org, Texas Public Radio, David Martin Davies, July 29, 2024

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

— Oscar Wilde

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