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Thread: Duane Edward Buck - Texas

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    Duane Edward Buck - Texas


    Shennel Gardner shows a portrait of her brother Devon Green, her mother, Debra Gardner and herself. Her mother was murdered 16 years ago, and her killer, Duane Buck, has received another stay of execution.






    Summary of Offense:

    Duane Buck was convicted of the July 1995 shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend Debra Gardner and another person in Houston. An early-morning quarrel between Buck and Gardner led Buck to return to Gardner's home several hours later with two rifles. He forced his way into the home and began shooting indiscriminately.

    The first person Buck saw inside the home was his own sister, who he shot in the chest. He then shot and killed Gardner's friend, Kenneth Butler.

    Buck chased Gardner out the back door and into the middle of the street as her young daughter begged him not to shoot her mother. Buck shot Gardner and left her bleeding in the street. Witnesses saw Buck laughing as he stood over her body and heard him say, "The bitch, she deserved it."

    Buck was taken into custody at the scene. His sister survived the shooting.

    Buck was sentenced to death in Harris County in June 1997.

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    On September 25, 2009, Buck was denied a Certificate of Appealability by the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

    Opinion is here:

    http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions...0035.0.wpd.pdf

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    September 28, 2009

    HOUSTON — A former Houston mechanic condemned for gunning down his ex-girlfriend and her male friend more than 14 years ago has lost an appeal of his sentence, moving him closer to execution.

    The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a ruling late Friday, rejected arguments from 46-year-old Duane Buck that a prosecutor's reference to his black race during questioning of a witness was a violation of his constitutional rights.

    A Harris County jury in 1997 took only 17 minutes to convict Buck of the fatal shootings of Debra Gardner and Kenneth Butler, then decided he should be put to death.

    At the time of the July 1995 shootings, Buck was on parole after a conviction for delivery of cocaine.

    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6640968.html

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    September 28, 2009

    HOUSTON — A former Houston mechanic condemned for gunning down his ex-girlfriend and her male friend more than 14 years ago has lost a federal court appeal of his sentence, moving him a step closer to execution.

    The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments from Duane Buck, 46, that a prosecutor's reference to his black race during questioning of a witness was a violation of his constitutional rights.

    A Harris County jury in 1997 took only 17 minutes to convict Buck of the fatal shootings of Debra Gardner, 32, and Kenneth Butler, 33, then decided he should be put to death. A third person, Buck's stepsister, also was shot but survived.

    At the time of the July 1995 shootings, Buck was on parole after serving about a year of a 10-year prison term for delivery of cocaine.

    In his appeal, Buck contended a psychologist testifying at the punishment phase of his trial should not have been asked whether the fact he was a black man was relevant to his future dangerousness, a factor the jury must consider when deliberating a death sentence.

    Buck's trial lawyers did not object to the question.

    The New Orleans-based appeals court, in a ruling late Friday, said Buck's appeal was procedurally barred because it never was raised in state court appeals. The court, however, said even if the issue had been raised properly, it would have been rejected because the race issue first was brought up by his own trial lawyers, making it “a classic example of the defense ‘opening the door' for the prosecutor to pursue the subject.”

    “It was Buck, not the prosecution, who introduced ... an expert witness and then solicited testimony from him regarding the use of race as one of several statistical factors for predicting future dangerousness,” the appeals court wrote in its opinion.

    The court said Buck's trial lawyers also argued for a report from the psychologist to be allowed into evidence “despite language in the report suggesting the Buck's race is one factor that might argue in favor of a finding of future dangerousness.”

    Prosecutors referenced the race issue once in the cross-examination of the psychologist, then never mentioned it again, the court said.

    “Even if we were to consider Buck's petition on the merits, we would conclude that it fails to demonstrate a substantial showing of the deprivation of a constitutional right,” the three-judge appeals court panel wrote.

    Testimony showed Buck, who broke up with Gardner about a week earlier, came to her home in the middle of the night, kicked in the door, argued with her and others at the house and then left after retrieving some of his items. He showed up a few hours later armed, shot his stepsister, killed Butler and hunted down Gardner, who had fled outside. Gardner tried to stop a passing motorist but was shot as she begged for her life.

    Buck tried to drive away in his car, but it wouldn't start. He was arrested by police as he was trying to run away from the scene.

    He was laughing during and after his arrest, saying that Gardner “deserved what she got,” officers testified.

    Buck does not have an execution date. His lawyer, Stanley Schneider, was not available for comment on Monday, his office said.

    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/6641173.html

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    On April 19, 2010, Buck's certiorari petition was denied by the US Supreme Court.

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    An execution date for Duane Buck has been issued for September 15th, 2011. Signed by Judge Denise Collins in the 208th Criminal Court in Harris County Texas.

    Summary of events taken from the TDCJ website.

    Convicted in the July 1995 shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend Debra Gardner and another person in Houston. An early-morning quarrel between Buck and Gardner led to Buck returning to Gardner's home several hours later with two rifles. He forced his way into the home at 7327 Puerta Vallarta and began shooting indiscriminately. The first person Buck saw inside the home was his own sister, whom he shot in the chest. He then shot and killed Kenneth Butler, a friend of Gardner's. Buck chased Gardner out the back door and into the middle of the street as her young daughter begged him not to shoot her mother. Buck shot Gardner and left her bleeding in the street. Witnesses saw Buck laughing as he stood over Gardner's body and heard him say, "The bitch, she deserved it." Buck was taken into custody at the scene. His sister survived her wound.

    He was released on parole for delivery of cocaine on May 1, 1995 and committed the murders less than three months later, on July 30, 1995.

    http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/statisti...wlist/buck.jpg

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    The death watch on Texas is getting rather full lately...

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    Buck's execution date was added to the TDCJ's execution calendar today. I wasn't expecting the update on the calendar until after Kerr's execution.

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    Lawyers Seek Reprieve for Inmate Based on Race Testimony

    When Duane Edward Buck was on trial for capital murder in Houston in 1997, Dr. Walter Quijano told jurors that the fact he was black meant Buck was more likely to be violent in the future.

    The same psychologist gave similar testimony in six other death row cases. In each, the defendants were given new trials to determine their sentences.

    Buck, though, has not received a retrial and is scheduled to die Sept. 15 for the 1995 shooting deaths of Debra Gardner and Kenneth Butler. Today, Buck's lawyers asked Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to stop the scheduled execution to allow a new trial without racial references.

    “If Mr. Buck is executed, not only will Texas have violated the constitution, it will have violated its citizens’ basic moral values by permitting an execution to be carried out that is based on an individual’s race,” Kate Black, a lawyer for Buck, said in a statement.

    In 2000, then-Attorney General John Cornyn admitted the state had erred in seven death row cases — including Buck's — in which prosecutors elicited testimony from Quijano indicating that their racial or ethnic background made them more inclined to commit more violent crimes.

    In the case of Victor Hugo Saldano, an Argentinian, Cornyn filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court in which he acknowledged the state’s mistake and agreed a new sentencing trial was needed. “Despite the fact that sufficient proper evidence was submitted to the jury to justify the finding of Saldano’s future dangerousness, the infusion of race as a factor for the jury to weigh in making its determination violated his constitutional right to be sentenced without regard to the color of his skin,” Cornyn wrote.

    Saldano remains on death row after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reaffirmed his sentence. The other inmates — except one who has been executed — also remain on death row.

    Cornyn’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Buck case.

    Buck’s lawyers said that he has not received a new trial because of procedural stumbling blocks, and they asked Perry and the board to commute his sentence or grant a 120-day reprieve. “The State of Texas cannot and should not tolerate an execution on the basis of an individual’s race, particularly where this State’s highest legal officer has acknowledged the error, not only in similarly situated cases, but in thiscase,” they wrote in the petition filed today.

    Buck’s lawyers also asked current Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and the Harris County District Attorney’s office to intervene and withdraw the execution date.

    Abbott’s office did not immediately provide comment, but Roe Wilson, an assistant district attorney in Harris County, said that office would not intervene. “We are proceeding with this case as we would normally with any case,” she said.

    http://www.texastribune.org/texas-de...ace-testimony/

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    Did no-one at the trial listen to the testimony and go "well this is just not right under any definiton of the word and there's a good chance this is going to be brought up on appeal". Honestly the case is horrific and I doubt much difference was made but it is a disgusting remark which if it caused the resentencing of other inmates, should give Buck a new one too.

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