Bill Crawford - Texas Death Row

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First published in the United States of America by Plume,
a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 2008
Previously published in a Mapache edition
First published in Great Britain by Penguin Books 2008
1

Copyright Bill Crawford, 2006, 2008
All rights reserved

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

978-0-14-190355-2

T exas Death Row: Executions in the Modern Era presents the factual record preserved by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for each of the individual offenders executed by the State of Texas in the modern era. I refer to the modern era as the era of executions by the State of Texas by lethal injection, beginning on December 7, 1982. Since that date, Texas has executed more inmates by lethal injection than all other states combined.

In the present volume, I have listed the executed inmates in order of their execution by the State of Texas, beginning with Charlie Brooks and ending with James Lee Clark, the last execution to occur before this book went to press.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) provided all of the information in this book, except for some of the introductory material. Those seeking more information are encouraged to visit the TDCJ website at http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/deathrow.htm.

We wish to thank the public relations office at the TDCJ in Huntsville, Texas: Michelle Lyons, the public information officer; Byron Hays, the former public information officer; and Rebecca Blanton, administrative assistant. Ms. Lyons, Mr. Hays, and Ms. Blanton went out of their way to be open, honest, and cooperative. They are true professionals. We also wish to thank former TDCJ employees Larry Fitzgerald, former public information officer; and Tracy Espinoza, former public information associate. Without the helpful assistance of the dedicated TDCJ employees, this book would not have been possible to produce.

In the past few years the debate over the death penalty has increased in volume and vehemence. It is our hope that the information presented in this book will assist readers in framing informed opinions about the execution process.

(Source: Texas Department of Criminal Justice website http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/ drowfacts.htm)

The following crimes are capital murder in Texas: murder of a public safety officer or firefighter; murder during the commission of kidnapping, burglary, robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, or obstruction or retaliation; murder for remuneration; murder during prison escape; murder of a correctional employee; murder by a state prison inmate who is serving a life sentence for any of five offenses (murder, capital murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, or aggravated robbery); multiple murders; murder of an individual under six years of age. (Editors note: a person convicted of capital murder may be sentenced to one of two sentencesdeath or life imprisonment. A person must serve at least thirty-five calendar years of a life sentence if the offense is committed prior to September 1, 1993, or at least forty years if the offense is committed after this date.)

Death row is located in the Polunsky Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Livingston, Texas. Death row offenders are housed separately in single-person cells measuring sixty square feet, with each cell having a window. Death row offenders are also re-created individually. Offenders on death row receive a regular diet, and have access to reading, writing, and legal materials. Depending upon their custody level, some death row offenders are allowed to have a radio. The women on death row are housed at the Mountain View Unit. Offenders on death row do not have regular TDCJ ID numbers but have special death row numbers. (Editors note: Executions do not occur at death row. The death house, where all executions take place, is located in the northeast corner of the Walls Unit in Huntsville, Texas.)

• Hanging was the means of execution between 1819 and 1923.
• The State of Texas authorized the use of the electric chair in 1923, and ordered all executions to be carried out by the state in Huntsville. Prior to 1923, Texas counties were responsible for their own executions.
• The State of Texas executed the first offender, Charles Reynolds from Red River County, by electrocution on February 8, 1924. On that same date, four additional offenders, Ewell Morris, George Washington, Mack Matthews, and Melvin Johnson were executed.
• The State of Texas executed the last offender, Joseph Johnson from Harris County, by electrocution on July 30, 1964.
• The State of Texas executed brothers on six occasions:

  Frank and Lorenzo Noel electrocuted July 3, 1925

  S. A. and Forest Robins electrocuted April 6, 1926

  Oscar and Mack Brown electrocuted July 1, 1936

  Roscoe and Henderson Brown electrocuted May 6, 1938

  Curtis (July 1, 1993) and Danny (July 30, 1993) Harris (both by lethal injection) Jessie (September 16, 1994) and Jose (November 18, 1999) Gutierrez (both by lethal injection).

• A total of 361 inmates were electrocuted in the State of Texas
• When capital punishment was declared cruel and unusual punishment by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 29, 1972, there were forty-five men on death row in Texas and seven in county jails with a death sentence. All of the sentences were commuted to life sentences by the Governor of Texas, and death row was clear by March 1973.
• In 1973, revision to the Texas Penal Code once again allowed assessment of the death penalty and allowed for executions to resume effective January 1, 1974. Under the new statute, the first man John Devries was placed on death row on February 1, 1974. Devries committed suicide on July 1, 1974, by hanging himself with bed sheets.
• The State of Texas adopted lethal injection as means of execution in 1977. The states first execution by lethal injection occurred on December 7, 1982. Charlie Brooks of Tarrant County was executed for the kidnap-murder of a Fort Worth auto mechanic.