URGENT UPDATE Duane Buck, sentenced to death because he’s Black, may be one step closer to execution. On November 20, 2013, a Texas court denied Mr. Buck’s appeal for a new sentencing hearing. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office could seek an execution date at any time. At Mr. Buck’s 1997 capital sentencing hearing in Harris County, Texas, the trial prosecutor elicited testimony from a psychologist that Mr. Buck posed a future danger because he is black. The prosecutor relied on this testimony in arguing in favor of a death sentence. The jury then found Mr. Buck would be a future danger and sentenced him to death. New research shows that at the time of Mr. Buck’s trial, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office was over three times more likely to seek the death penalty against African American defendants than against similarly-situated white defendants in cases like Mr. Buck’s and Harris County juries were more than twice as likely to impose death sentences on African American defendants in cases like Mr. Buck’s. naacpldf.org/update/divided-court-denies-case-where-race-impacted-death-sentence
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 19:15:18 +0000
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