No further action is requested. Many thanks to all who sent appeals.
Ramiro Gonzales is scheduled to be executed in Texas on June 26, 2024. He was sentenced to death in 2006 for a murder committed in 2001 when he was 18 years old and emerging from a childhood of abuse and neglect. He came within 48 hours of execution in 2022. The courts have since denied the claim that inaccurate and now effectively recanted trial testimony of the state’s expert witness in support of a jury determination that Ramiro Gonzales would commit acts of criminal violence if allowed to live undermined his death sentence. His prison record has been one of non-violence and self-development. We urge his execution to be stopped and his death sentence commuted.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: June 26, 2024
Take action:
- Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.
- Click here to let us know the actions you took on Urgent Action 52.24. It’s important to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade and the people we are trying to help.
contact information:
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
Clemency Section
8610 Shoal Creek Boulevard
Austin, Texas 78757
Phone 512-406-5852
FAX 512-467-0945
E-mail: bpp_clemency@tdcj.texas.gov
sample letter:
Dear Board Member,
Ramiro Felix Gonzales (TDCJ #999513) is scheduled to be executed in Texas on June 26, 2024 for the capital murder of an 18-year-old woman in January 2001. He himself was 18 years and two months old at the time of the murder and emerging from a childhood of serious neglect and abuse. A neuropsychologist testified at trial that Ramiro Gonzales “basically raised himself” and had the emotional maturity of a 13 or 14-year-old.
At the trial, the prosecution presented a psychiatrist who testified that Ramiro Gonzales posed a future danger of criminal violence, had “anti-social personality disorder”, and little or no prospect of rehabilitation. He also presented the jury with statistics of a very high rate of recidivism in cases involving sexual assault. In 2022, this psychiatrist acknowledged that these statistics were grossly inaccurate, and he effectively recanted his trial testimony. At the time of the crime, the psychiatrist concluded “Mr. Gonzales was barely 18 years old. With the passage of time and significant maturity he is now a significantly different person both mentally and emotionally”. It was now his opinion that Ramiro Gonzales “does not pose a threat of future danger to society.”
Ramiro Gonzales, who is now 41 years old, has not committed a single act of violence since he has been on death row. He has acknowledged his crimes and expressed remorse for them. He spends his time reading and studying and is a talented artist.
I urge you to stop the execution of Ramiro Gonzales and to ensure that his death sentence is commuted.
Yours sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
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