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President Joe Biden on Monday announced commuting the sentences of seven Texas inmates scheduled for the death penalty. Hours later, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that he had pardoned four people for low-level crimes.
Biden’s actions will affect 37 of the 40 inmates on federal death row, the Associated Press reported. At least five Texans scheduled for federal execution stabbed fellow inmates to death.
“I have dedicated my career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system,” Biden said in a statement. “These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has placed on federal executions in cases other than mass murders motivated by terrorism or hatred.”
Most of the seven people whose sentences were commuted stabbed other inmates to death.
Shannon Wayne Agofsky, who is serving a life sentence, bludgeoned another inmate to death in Beaumont. Christopher Kramer and Ricky Allen Fackrell killed a fellow inmate in a stabbing in Beaumont. Joseph Embron stabbed another inmate to death in Beaumont. Mark Isaac Snarr and Edgar Garcia stabbed another inmate and injured two correctional officers in Beaumont. Julian Omar Robinson killed two men in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
In a separate statement issued at the same time as Biden’s remarks, Abbott said he pardoned people for crimes including two thefts, selling alcohol to a minor, driving under the influence and interfering with an emergency call. He said he would like to use the power of pardon to grant amnesty. Second chance.
This is the highest number of pardons Abbott has granted, and he can only issue pardons on the recommendation of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. The seven-member board of directors is appointed by Abbott.
Mr. Abbott granted pardons for three minor offenses in 2023, two in 2022, and eight in 2021.
The pardoned persons are:
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Jorge Aguilar-Zanatta received probation in 2003 for interfering with emergency calls. Rachel Orsak Lynch, who served a three-day jail sentence in 1999 for check theft and paid a fine in 2004 for providing alcohol to a minor. Timothy John Moldenhauer received probation in 1993 for drunk driving and open container charges. Debbie Lenamorris was sentenced to pay a fine for theft in 1985.
Earlier this year, Abbott pardoned Daniel Perry, who was convicted of murder in the death of a man who was participating in 2020 protests against police brutality against people of color. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
“Having served as a trial court judge, Texas Supreme Court justice, and Attorney General, I am deeply committed to the legal system and to supporting Texans looking for a fresh start,” Abbott said in a press release regarding the four pardons. I have the utmost respect.” . “These four Texans have shown that they can improve their lives and contribute to their communities, and these are qualities that deserve generosity.”
Mr. Abbott, however, did not mention the Robert Roberson death row case, a case that bifurcated the state’s executive and legislative powers.
The 58-year-old East Texas man convicted of murdering his chronically ill 2-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis in 2003 was scheduled to be executed in October, but he was arrested in a shockingly defiant manner. As a result, the death penalty was carried out in a Texas court. The House Criminal Justice Committee intervened when it issued a subpoena for Roberson to testify, forcing a postponement of the execution.
Efforts by a nine-member committee led by Chairman Joe Moody (D-El Paso, including Jeff Leach, R-Plano, and Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian) to get a new trial for Mr. Roberson, based on the junk science method. New trials can be held for cases that depend on extinguished scientific evidence. In Roberson’s case, he was convicted based on a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome, which was later proven incorrect.
Mr. Abbott vehemently opposed the committee’s attempt to avoid Mr. Roberson’s execution, calling the lawmakers “outside common sense.” The governor is the only Texas state official with the authority to commute the death penalty upon the recommendation of the state parole board.
The federal government has executed 16 people since reinstating the federal death penalty in 1988, according to data from the Death Penalty Information Center reported by the Dallas Morning News. More than 500 people were executed in Texas during the same period.
