The Texas Department of Criminal Justice needs structural transformation, as do the courts and the law. Here’s some of the evidence.
TAKEAWAYS FROM ROBERSON HEARING:
Robert Roberson was convicted of murder more than 20 years ago and was sentenced to death. He was scheduled to be executed in late November despite new evidence. The Parole Board declined changing his sentence to life in prison. A group of bi-partisan lawmakers decided to intervene and invited Roberson to testify at a hearing. A court agreed and his execution was postponed. Here are my comments on that hearing:
Robert Roberson’s principles almost got him killed! Since he knew he did nothing wrong, he refused to accept a plea deal offered by the DA. The details of that offer are unknown, but here is the likely scenario. The DA offers 20 years for “injury to a child” or some lesser offense if he pleads guilty. If he claims innocence and asserts his 6th amendment right to a jury trial, he then faces the “trial penalty”……the certainty of a much harsher sentence. The prosecution outmatched his legal defense, loads of evidence was never considered, and he was found guilty and got the death penalty. When two such radically different options are available for the same crime, the message is clear……it is not about justice or public safety…….it’s politics.
Countless experts agreed that he was convicted on the basis of what we now know is “junk science”. Eighty Texas lawmakers agreed that the case needed to be revisited, including 30 Republicans. His application for clemency, to change his sentence to life in prison (death penalty on the installment plan), was rejected 6-0 by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. Governor Abbott condemned the lawmakers for usurping his authority. He declined to use the power he still had to order a 30-day stay to consider new evidence. House committee lawmakers did an end-run that resulted in the court issuing a stay.
Mercy was nowhere to be seen by government bureaucrats who appear to believe that the government is always right. Abbott’s action was consistent with his record. In all his years as governor, he has commuted only one sentence from death to life without parole. That same parole board, responding to his request, recommended release for a guy convicted of an actual murder, and he now walks our streets thanks to Abbott’s quick approval. Politics, anyone?
Another big takeaway is “ineffective assistance of counsel”. If he had been able to afford a team of lawyers like Ken Paxton, the outcome would have been much different. That is consistent with the notion that “those without the capital get the punishment”. It is no coincidence that the vast majority of prisoners come from less economically advantaged environments. When 95% of criminal cases are resolved via plea deals, the possibilities of justice are extremely limited. That is despite the requirement outlined in “the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure: Title 1, Chapter 1.
It shall be the primary duty of all prosecuting attorneys, including any special prosecutors, not to convict, but to see that justice is done”.