Days After Setting an Execution Date, a Texas Prosecutor Reverses Course

DALLAS — When a choose in South Texas signed an order this previous week setting an execution date of Oct. 5 for John Henry Ramirez, it appeared like the tip of the street.

Mr. Ramirez was convicted in 2008 for the homicide of a comfort retailer employee, against the law he has acknowledged committing. He was sentenced to loss of life and appealed his case to the Supreme Courtroom — to not cease his execution, however to organize for it. He requested to have his Baptist pastor pray out loud and lay fingers on him within the execution chamber, a request that introduced his case nationwide notoriety. Final month, the court docket dominated in his favor, clearing the trail for his execution to proceed so long as the state of Texas complied together with his request.

However in a shock flip of occasions on Thursday, District Lawyer Mark Gonzalez of Nueces County filed a movement withdrawing the loss of life warrant for Mr. Ramirez, citing his “agency perception that the loss of life penalty is unethical and shouldn’t be imposed on Mr. Ramirez or every other particular person.” His personal workplace had requested the execution date simply days earlier, however Mr. Gonzalez, a Democrat, wrote in his movement that an worker in his workplace had finished so with out consulting him.

In a broadcast from his workplace on Fb Reside on Thursday afternoon, Mr. Gonzalez, whose district consists of Corpus Christi, defined his choice.

“For some time now, I’ve mentioned that I don’t consider within the loss of life penalty,” he mentioned. “My workplace just isn’t going to hunt the loss of life penalty anymore.” He mentioned he could be a hypocrite if he superior Mr. Ramirez’s execution at the same time as he instructs his workplace to not pursue the loss of life penalty in new circumstances. Mr. Gonzalez and his workplace didn’t reply to requests for remark.

The movement by Mr. Gonzalez doesn’t deal with the deserves of Mr. Ramirez’s conviction or his non secular liberty case. Whether or not it’s accepted is on the discretion of Decide Bobby Galvan, who set Mr. Ramirez’s execution date and presided over his authentic jury sentencing.

Mr. Gonzalez’s time period ends in 2024, and any district legal professional who succeeds him in workplace would have the choice of reinstating the loss of life warrant.

Mr. Ramirez was convicted of repeatedly stabbing Pablo Castro in a 2004 theft that prosecutors mentioned netted him $1.25. He evaded legislation enforcement for 3 years, throughout which he fled to Mexico and began a household. His guilt just isn’t in query; Mr. Ramirez has referred to as his crime a “heinous homicide.”

Reached on Friday afternoon, one among Mr. Castro’s sons, Fernando, referred to as the district legal professional’s transfer “outrageous.” He was 11 when his father was murdered and strongly helps the execution. “I’d like to speak to this man head to head and provides him a chunk of my thoughts,” he mentioned of Mr. Gonzalez.

Mr. Castro, who lives in Florida, described the expense, stress and emotional upheaval of touring to Texas a number of instances in recent times as execution dates had been set after which rescinded.

Mr. Ramirez’s lawyer, Seth Kretzer, mentioned that he was happy by the choice and that it got here out of the blue. Provided that Mr. Gonzalez’s workplace had issued three earlier loss of life warrants on Mr. Ramirez earlier than the one this previous week, Mr. Kretzer mentioned he was mystified by what had modified.

“As soon as an workplace has decided to do one plan of action, normally they don’t undo it helter-skelter,” he mentioned.

District attorneys broadly have the authority to determine whether or not to pursue the loss of life penalty in states that enable it. In some circumstances, prosecutors have tried to revoke loss of life sentences, although that normally entails doubts in regards to the guilt of the convicted particular person, allegations of misconduct within the case or issues about psychological well being.

Mr. Gonzalez, who has described himself as a “Mexican biker lawyer coated in tattoos,” is a part of a wave of progressive prosecutors who characterize a shift away from an aggressively punitive method to justice.

Mr. Gonzalez was elected in 2016, defeating a fellow Democrat in a long-shot major. His views on the loss of life penalty had been muddled in the course of the race, and several other years into his tenure, he was nonetheless publicly conflicted on the difficulty, irritating some advocates when he deferred to a jury on the query of whether or not to hunt the loss of life penalty in one other high-profile homicide case.

However his opinions about capital punishment have been evolving. Early final 12 months, he was one among nearly 100 elected native prosecutors, attorneys basic and different prison justice leaders who signed a letter to the Biden administration urging it to finish the loss of life penalty in the US. The U.S. legal professional basic, Merrick B. Garland, imposed a moratorium on federal executions final summer time.

In his Fb Reside broadcast, Mr. Gonzalez defined his shifting method.

“I’ve to cope with my very own development and my very own rationale and considering and logic,” he mentioned, apologizing to anybody upset by the choice. “I did this as a result of I believed this might be the suitable factor to do.”

He inspired viewers to analysis the professionals and cons of the loss of life penalty, arguing that it has a disproportionate affect on folks “of coloration, low financial standing and even low mind.”

In jail, Mr. Ramirez acquired to know Dana Moore, the pastor of Second Baptist Church in Corpus Christi. Mr. Ramirez grew to become a member of the church, and Mr. Moore visits him frequently to hope and discuss. In August, Mr. Ramirez filed a federal lawsuit in opposition to jail officers for denying his request to have Mr. Moore pray out loud and lay a hand on him within the execution chamber.

The Supreme Courtroom dominated 8 to 1 in his favor, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. writing for almost all that whereas a state might restrict the actions of non secular advisers within the execution chamber, it ought not ban them.

Mr. Moore mentioned he heard in regards to the reversal on Thursday. He was confused, since he had been with Mr. Ramirez “toes from the loss of life chamber” final fall they usually had heard nothing from Mr. Gonzalez’s workplace on the time. Mr. Ramirez acquired a last-minute reprieve from the Supreme Courtroom at the moment so the court docket might hear his non secular freedom case.

On Friday, the pastor mentioned he was relieved for Mr. Ramirez, however he was additionally eager about Mr. Castro’s household. “No matter occurs, I pray they discover peace,” he mentioned.