"Duane Buck, whose death sentence in a 1995 double slaying was appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court after
allegations of racist testimony from an expert witness, had his
sentence reduced to life in prison Tuesday after reaching a plea
agreement with Harris County prosecutors. Buck, 54, was convicted and sentenced to death after
killing his ex-girlfriend and her friend in Houston. Last week, the
Harris County District Attorney’s Office added two new charges of
attempted murder. Under the agreement, Buck pleaded guilty to those new
charges and was sentenced to two additional terms of 60 years in prison
in exchange for the Harris County District Attorney's Office's agreement
to drop its pursuit of the death penalty for the 1995 killings. All
three sentences will run concurrently. In appealing Buck's initial sentence, his attorneys argued
that his sentencing hearing was prejudiced because an expert witness had
claimed Buck was more likely to be a future danger because he is black.
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed, handing the case back to Harris County
for a retrial. “After reviewing the evidence and the law, I have concluded
that, twenty-two years after his conviction, a Harris County jury would
likely not return another death penalty conviction in a case that has
forever been tainted by the indelible specter of race,” Harris County
District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement. “Accordingly, in
consideration for Buck pleading guilty to two additional counts of
attempted murder we have chosen not to pursue the death penalty.”
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/10/03/high-profile-death-row-case-comes-end-guilty-plea/See related post of this Blog. (June 22, 2017) at the link below: "Dwayne Buck: Texas: Who Is Dangerous, and Who Dies? Dr. James Grigson? (AKA Dr. Death) Dr. Walter Quijano? Other experts who routinely found that a defendant posed a risk of future dangerousness? Errol Morris notes that "an appalling and racialized standard of “future dangerousness” has found its way into American courts. (Morris focuses on Duane Buck and Cristina Swarns, his hard-hitting attorney who has fought this 'life and death' madness in the courts..."I first became involved with all this while making my film “The Thin Blue Line.” I had read about Dr. James Grigson, an expert witness regularly called by the state of Texas. Some referred to him as “Dr. Death” because he would routinely find that the defendant posed a risk of future dangerousness, and thus should be executed. I met with Dr. Grigson in 1985, and on his recommendation I started interviewing Texas death row inmates. Among those Dr. Grigson had testified posed a risk of future dangerousness was Randall Dale Adams, a convicted cop killer — or at least, so it seemed. My film was finished, and Mr. Adams was exonerated. I had thought — stupidly, it turned out — that Dr. Grigson had been put out of business. Not so. The “dangerousness” provision of the Texas law remained very much in place. But I forgot about it. I had done my fair share of good — got an innocent man out of prison. Then, not long ago, I read about the case of Buck v. Davis, decided by the Supreme Court on Feb. 22. Duane Buck had been convicted of capital murder in 1997. He killed his ex-girlfriend and one of her friends. The details of the crime are appalling, but no less appalling is that Dr. Walter Quijano discussed Mr. Buck’s race as a factor in determining his future dangerousness. African-Americans, Dr. Quijano argued, are more likely to commit acts of violence. Though Dr. Quijano opined that Mr. Buck was not a risk of future dangerousness, his testimony about race remained an element for the jury to consider. Dr. Quijano has given similar testimony in other death penalty cases since 1991."
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2017/06/dwayne-buck-texas-who-is-dangerous-and.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/c
