A Texas state district judge on Tuesday rejected a prosecutor鈥檚 request to cancel the scheduled October execution of John Ramirez, whose death between the Texas prison system and the U.S. Supreme Court over religious rights of condemned prisoners.
Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez , saying one of his employees wrongfully asked a court to set the date in April, after the nation鈥檚 high court directed the state prison system to let the prisoner鈥檚 pastor touch and pray over him at his execution. Gonzalez said he is ethically opposed to the death penalty and did not want an execution warrant for Ramirez issued.
Along with Ramirez鈥檚 defense attorney, he sought to withdraw the new execution date two days after it was requested.
But in a Zoom hearing Tuesday, state District Judge Bobby Galvan said Gonzalez is 鈥渢he captain of the ship,鈥� and what his staff does is on him.
鈥淚鈥檝e really thought about this a lot,鈥� Galvan said. 鈥淚 respect y鈥檃ll鈥檚 opinion on this, but I鈥檓 not going to withdraw the warrant.鈥�
Gonzalez argued that, as the county鈥檚 elected prosecutor, he has the authority to request the cancellation.
鈥淭he main issues in this motion, your honor, are that the only legitimate voice for the state of Texas would be my office,鈥� he said.
After the ruling, Ramirez鈥檚 attorney, Seth Kretzer, said it was unprecedented for a judge to deny a motion to withdraw a death warrant that has the support of the prosecution and the defense.
Gonzalez has been district attorney since 2016, and his office previously requested execution dates for Ramirez three times 鈥� in 2017, 2020 and 2021. The prosecutor鈥檚 office asked to halt the 2020 date because of the pandemic, and the other two were stopped by appeals courts. Gonzalez did not immediately return calls Tuesday.
Ramirez, 37, was sentenced to death in Corpus Christi for the robbery and murder of store clerk Pablo Castro in 2004. Court records state Ramirez stabbed Castro 29 times during a robbery spree to get drug money with two women. Castro had $1.25 on him.
A previous execution date for Ramirez was the prison system's refusal to allow a pastor to touch and pray over him as he was executed. Ultimately, the nation鈥檚 high court decided in an 8-1 ruling in March that Texas likely violated Ramirez鈥檚 religious liberties when it denied his request.
After Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials said after they would abide by the ruling, the path was clear for Nueces County officials to set a new execution date for Ramirez.
An assistant district attorney filed the paperwork in April, and Galvan set a new date for Oct. 5. But two days later, Gonzalez moved to withdraw the date. He said his employee never checked with him before moving forward with an execution, and it was his 鈥渇irm belief that the death penalty is unethical and should not be imposed on Mr. Ramirez or any other person鈥� while he was in office.
Execution dates have been scheduled and withdrawn based on local prosecutors鈥� requests in the past, for things like . In Ramirez鈥檚 case, however, the Texas Attorney General鈥檚 Office and the victim鈥檚 family also weighed in.
In a letter to the Nueces County state district court, the chief of the attorney general鈥檚 criminal division argued that the district court can鈥檛 withdraw a pending execution date because of a prosecutor鈥檚 鈥渟hifting ethical position.鈥� Several of Castro鈥檚 children also submitted a brief to Galvan, asking to allow the execution to proceed because 鈥渢hey have endured delay after delay in seeing justice finally served.鈥�
鈥淚 want my father to finally have his justice as well as the peace to finally move on with my life and let this nightmare be over,鈥� Fernando Castro, who was 11 at the time his father was killed, was quoted as saying in one brief.
Kretzer said he and Gonzalez will appeal Galvan鈥檚 ruling to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, as the judge seemingly encouraged to get clarification on his role in the process of setting execution dates.
