In this edition:
Scheduled executions: Urge a 90-day reprieve for David Wood to test the DNA
Updates on innocence cases: Robert Roberson asks the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals again to grant relief; U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in DNA testing case of Ruben Gutierrez; Justices agree Richard Glossip in Oklahoma deserves a new trial
TCADP 2025 Annual Conference Recap: Thanks to everyone who joined us in Austin!
Organizational announcements: TCADP welcomes four new board members
New publication: The poems of Terence Andrus
Featured events: Community & Coffee in Dallas on March 5; TCADP Book Group meeting on March 12; webinar on March 25 marking the 20th anniversary of Roper v. Simmons
Amplify Austin 2025: Donate between March 5 and 6 to help TCADP secure matching funds!
Quote of the month
Throughout the month of March, TCADP will be commemorating the twentieth anniversary of this important Supreme Court decision and drawing attention to another group of individuals who should be exempt from the death penalty for the same reasons cited in the Roper decision: Those ages 18 to 20 at the time of the crime.
David Wood has spent more than 32 years on death row for crimes he maintains he did not commit – the murders of six women in El Paso in the summer of 1987. Texas is scheduled to execute him on March 13, 2025, after refusing his repeated requests for additional DNA testing on more than 100 items recovered from the crime scenes. In 2011, DNA testing definitively excluded Wood as the contributor of male DNA found on a bloodstain on one of the victim’s clothing.
At his 1992 trial, prosecutors described the case against Wood as “purely a circumstantial evidence case.” His conviction and death sentence were based largely on (1) jailhouse informant testimony; (2) the testimony of a victim who allegedly “got away,” herself a police informant and heroin addict who identified someone else as her attacker; (3) orange acrylic fibers found at one of the crime scenes that supposedly “matched” fibers found at a residence where Wood lived; and (4) the fact that Wood drove a pickup truck and red Harley motorcycle matching descriptions provided by various witnesses.
On February 21, 2025, Wood filed a motion for a stay of execution and a subsequent state habeas application containing new evidence of his innocence with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Wood also has filed a clemency application with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Governor Greg Abbott in which he asks for the commutation of his death sentence to a lesser penalty or, in the alternative, a 90-day reprieve so that further DNA testing may be conducted.
TAKE ACTION
We’re asking you to email the members of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles at bpp_clemency@tdcj.texas.gov to urge them to recommend a reprieve for Wood (include his TDCJ #999051 and DOB 06/20/1957 in your appeals). Share your concerns with Governor Greg Abbott.
Talking points, a sample email message to the Board, and contact information are available here: https://tcadp.org/stop-executions/. Please contact the Board by next Monday, March 10, 2025.
To date this year, five people have been executed nationwide. This includes two men in Texas – Steven Nelson and Richard Tabler. This month, five other states have scheduled executions: South Carolina; Louisiana; Arizona; Oklahoma; and Florida. It would be the first execution in Louisiana since 2010. Texas also has executions scheduled in April and May.
Robert Roberson asks the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals again to grant relief
On February 19, 2025, Robert Roberson asked the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) again to grant relief based on significant new evidence supporting his actual innocence. The “subsequent application” for habeas corpus relief includes new expert opinions and cites further scientific developments that the purported scientific basis for the “Shaken Baby” conviction is unreliable.
The filing explains that this new evidence – in addition to the wealth of evidence already submitted to the Texas CCA that it has previously refused to consider – demonstrates that no rational juror, if provided with all available information, would find Roberson guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The filing asks the Texas CCA to declare Roberson innocent, grant him a new trial, or at the very least send his case back to the district court for further fact-finding based on the new evidence, which bolsters his already overwhelming case of innocence. Read coverage from the Texas Tribune.
U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in DNA testing case of Ruben Gutierrez
Ruben Gutierrez received a stay from the Supreme Court of the United States just twenty minutes before he was scheduled to be executed on July 16, 2024. The Justices later agreed to consider his claim he should be allowed to pursue his legal right to conduct DNA testing on forensic evidence collected at the crime scene. Gutierrez maintains such testing, which he has pursued for more than a decade, will confirm his innocence of the murder of 85-year-old Escolastica Harrison in Brownsville in 1998. The Justices heard arguments in the case on February 24, 2025. Read this analysis from SCOTUSblog.
Justices agree Richard Glossip in Oklahoma deserves a new trial
On February 25, 2025, in a majority decision written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that Richard Glossip is entitled to a new trial based on prosecutors’ failure to disclose potentially exculpatory evidence to his defense counsel prior to his 2004 trial. Prosecutors failed to correct testimony from their star witness, Justin Sneed, which they knew was false at the time it was given in court. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond acknowledged these errors before the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and had urged it to grant Glossip a new trial, which the state court refused to do. Glossip, who for 27 years has maintained his innocence of arranging the murder of Barry Van Treese in 1997, has faced nine execution dates.
TCADP 2025 Annual Conference Recap
The TCADP 2025 Annual Conference: Becoming Catalysts for Change took place on February 22, 2025, in Austin, Texas with 120 supporters and guests from across the state, as well as friends from Georgia and New Mexico. It was wonderful to see familiar faces and meet those attending their first TCADP conference (at least half of the participants!). Thanks to everyone who joined us for our signature statewide event.
During the day, we heard from three journalists who cover death penalty cases, as well as from capital defense attorneys, faith leaders, and advocates. We honored two people who were instrumental in stopping the execution of Robert Roberson last October, as well as individuals and organizations who have made meaningful contributions towards furthering the cause of abolition. And we heard from State Representative John Bucy, who gave an impassioned keynote address, concluding that “Ending the death penalty is not only the right thing to do, it is the only thing to do.”
View photos and a short video recapping the day courtesy of Red Owl Studios.
TCADP welcomed four new members of the Board of Directors, who joined us on February 23, 2025:
Hany Abdel-Motaleb is a Sales Engineer in Dallas who began his pursuit for the abolition of the death penalty when he learned about the case of Rodney Reed. Hany is a member of the TCADP Lobby Corps.
Dr. Samuel Echevarría-Cruz serves as a Professor of Sociology at Austin Community College (ACC) and has been a member of the TCADP Lobby Corps since 2020. Samuel is originally from Brownsville, Texas and received his Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and PhD degrees in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin.
Ali Nichols graduated from St. Edward’s University in Austin with a degree in Social Work and served on the TCADP 2025 Annual Conference planning committee. She coordinates Words That Sustain Me, a monthly book club she started with Charles Don Flores.
Brittany Washington is a licensed social worker and mental health therapist with a Master of Clinical Social Work degree from Baylor University and a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Texas Christian University, where she specialized in community-based practice. With over 10 years of experience serving the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Brittany has worked in non-profit and healthcare settings.
TCADP extends its gratitude to outgoing Board Vice President Amanda Hernandez and Board Members Virginia Greenway and Bob Michael for their six years of service on the Board and steadfast commitment to ending the death penalty.
Terence Andrus was an artist and a poet who sought to rise above the trauma he experienced as a child and teenager and the deprivations of Texas’s death row. Tragically, Terence took his own life on January 21, 2023, after struggling with mental illness. His attorney Gretchen Sween and friend Jim Kuhn recently published The Black Rose: Collected Poems by Terence Andrus in his memory. Proceeds from sales of the book will be donated to TCADP in Terence’s name.
Community & Coffee in Dallas
Join your fellow TCADP supporters in DFW on Wednesday, March 5, 2025,from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM, at Union Coffee (3705 Cedar Springs Rd, Dallas, TX 75219). Deputy Director Tiara Cooper will hold space for anyone interested in discussing recent death penalty developments and connecting with our efforts and upcoming events. To RSVP, email TCooper@tcadp.org.
TCADP Book Group
The TCADP Book Group meets every six to eight weeks on Zoom and reads a mix of fiction, non-fiction, and memoirs. Our next selection is The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha. We will discuss the novel on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at 7:00 PM CT. Register here. (Note: If you have signed up for previous book group meetings, you do not need to register again.)
TCADP webinar: Marking 20 Years of Roper v. Simmons and Redrawing the Line
Roper v. Simmons was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Justices ruled the death penalty for individuals under age 18 at the time of the crime is unconstitutional. The 5-4 decision, issued on March 1, 2005, was based on the idea that executing juveniles violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The decision spared the lives of 72 people nationwide, including 29 people in Texas who had been sentenced to death for crimes that occurred when they were 17 years old.
Yet many of the same reasons cited in the Roper decision, including lack of maturity or impulse control and what we know about brain development, apply to another group of individuals who should be exempt from the death penalty: Those ages 18 to 20 at the time of the crime.
TCADP is dedicating the month of March to commemorating this important ruling and calling for the Texas Legislature to pass House Bill 2055 by State Representative Joe Moody, which would render individuals under the age of 21 at the time of the crime ineligible for the death penalty.
Join us on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, from 6:30 to 7:30 PM CT for a webinar featuring attorneys, professors, and friends of individuals who were sentenced to death for crimes that occurred when they were 18, 19, or 20 years old. Confirmed speakers include:
– Dr. William Bush, Professor of History at Texas A&M University-San Antonio, whose research interests include an ongoing historical study of youthful capital offenders.
– Richard Burr, a capital defense attorney who represented Billy Joe Wardlow. Billy was executed on July 8, 2020, for a crime that he committed when he was 18 years old. He spent 25 years on death row.
– Lana Zegart, who was introduced to Billy Joe Wardlow through her father and corresponded with him for 12 years.
– Ryan Rising of West Coast Credible Messengers and Dr. Bidhan Roy of Words Uncaged, who work with Obie Weathers on a variety of youth mentorship programs. Obie has been on death row in Texas since 2001. He was 18 when he was charged with capital murder in San Antonio.
TCADP seeks your support during Amplify Austin, a 24-hour online fundraising festival taking place from 6 PM CT Wednesday, March 5 to 6 PM CT Thursday, March 6, 2025. Your gift advances our efforts to prevent new death sentences, stop executions, and educate Texans about the irreversible flaws of the death penalty. This year, we are eligible for a matching gift as an organization serving in the Human Rights, Civil Rights, and Advocacy cause category.