Robbery murderer executed in Texas
A misunderstanding in the jury, a clueless psychiatrist: the execution of convicted robbery murderer Brent Brewer could not be stopped by legal errors. The 53-year-old is the seventh person to be executed in Texas this year.
After more than 30 years on death row, a convicted murderer has been executed in the US state of Texas. The death sentence against 53-year-old Brent Brewer was carried out with a lethal injection on Thursday (local time) in prison in the Texan city of Huntsville, according to the authorities. Brewer had killed a 66-year-old man in a robbery-murder in 1990 when he was 19 years old. The loot amounted to only 140 dollars. The victim had been driving Brewer and his then-girlfriend to a Salvation Army facility when he was stabbed to death. Brewer was sentenced to death in 1991 and his girlfriend received a life sentence.
The death sentence was reviewed in a new trial in 2009 and confirmed by the jury. However, a psychiatrist who had never spoken to Brewer personally testified. The expert stated that the defendant had "no conscience" and would commit violent acts again in the future. Although it was later ruled in another case that the psychiatrist made his assessments without a scientific basis, an application to stay Brewer's execution on this basis failed in court.
In the renewed verdict in 2009, a juror had also voted in favor of the death penalty due to a misunderstanding. She actually wanted to impose a life sentence. However, because she mistakenly assumed that at least ten other jurors would also have to vote in favor of a prison sentence, she ultimately agreed to the death penalty. In Texas, jurors must vote unanimously in favor of the death penalty. However, there is criticism that the jury instructions are misleading. Brewer's lawyers failed in their attempt to prevent the execution with a petition for clemency because of this misunderstanding.
In a video released by his lawyers, Brewer expressed remorse and apologized to his victim's family. "I'm sorry for what I did," he says in it. "The 53-year-old man you see now is not the 19-year-old I was in April 1990. I don't even know this boy."
"If you're 19 or 20 years old and you're confused, or doing drugs and drinking, or hanging out with the wrong people, you don't have a real value system," Brewer continues. "I think you would call that a moral compass." With Brewer's execution, seven people have already been executed in Texas this year. According to a new poll by the Gallup polling institute, 53 percent of US citizens support the death penalty for convicted murderers. This is the lowest figure since 1972.
Despite the international debate on the death penalty, Brent Brewer's execution for his role in a robbery-murder case in Texas was upheld by a jury, despite a misunderstanding from one juror and questionable testimony from a psychiatrist. Recently, the number of executions in Texas has reached eight, with Brewer being the latest victim, sparking ongoing discussions about the application of the death penalty for murder and manslaughter cases.
Source: www.ntv.de
