US

Perry silent as controversial execution proceeds

J. Arthur Bloom Deputy Editor
Font Size:

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied clemency on Wednesday for Duane Edward Buck, a black man convicted of murdering two Houston residents in 1995.

Phyllis Taylor, the shooting’s lone survivor, had petitioned the board to stay Buck’s execution. “This execution would only add to my pain, and it wouldn’t give me closure,” she said, according to the Texas Tribune. “I would ask that Duane Buck’s life be spared. I feel that he deserves a fair trial.”

During the 1997 murder trial psychologist Dr. Walter Quijano said that because Buck was black, he was more likely to act violently in the future. The same doctor testified at six other cases, and the defendants in each case were given retrials after then-Attorney General John Cornyn admitted the state had erred in relying on race-based testimony.

Buck’s attorney has petitioned the only two individuals capable of taking action: the District Attorney, who could withdraw the execution date, and Governor Rick Perry, who could grant a 30-day reprieve. The District Attorney’s office does not intend to withdraw the execution date, the Tribune reports.   Buck’s execution is set for Thursday, and would make him the 235th person executed during Governor Perry’s administration.

At a Republican presidential debate in Simi Valley, Calif. on September 7th, NBC anchor Brian Williams asked Perry if he lost sleep at night worrying about signing a death warrant for an innocent convict.

“No, sir,” Perry replied. “I’ve never struggled with that at all … In the state of Texas, if you come into our state and you kill one of our children, you kill a police officer, you’re involved with another crime and you kill one of our citizens, you will face the ultimate justice in the state of Texas, and that is, you will be executed.”

Buck was convicted of shooting three people in 1995 after an early morning dispute. He killed Debra Gardner and Kenneth Butler after returning to Gardner’s home with two rifles and opening fire. Texas officials testified that Buck shot Gardner in front of her daughter, despite the girl’s plea for her mother’s life.

Update: An 11th-hour Supreme Court decision halted Duane Edward Buck’s execution, for now, agreeing to review his lawyer’s claims that race-based testimony played a role in his sentencing. Full story here.

Watch:

Tags : rick perry
J. Arthur Bloom

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel