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Texas
Oct. 26, 2004
Dominique Green was executed by the state on Oct. 26. Our deepest sympathies are extended to his family and loved ones, the family and loved ones of Andrew Lastrapes, and all of the dedicated activists and attorneys who worked with Mr. Green.
The state of Texas is scheduled to execute Dominique Green on Oct. 26 for the 1992 robbery and shooting death of Andrew Lastrepes of Harris County. Green, a young black man who was 18 at the time of the crime, was accompanied by three other young men who all played active roles in the robbing which resulted in murder.
Green’s case is tainted with evidence of racism. Of the four individuals who participated in the crime, the three who are black, including Green, were prosecuted. The white individual who admitted to being present at the murder and sharing in the proceeds of the crime, was not prosecuted and has served no prison time.
Perhaps the most alarming indication of racism in Green’s case involves the testimony of Dr. Walter Quijano. During the sentencing phase of the trial, Green’s court-appointed attorney chose Dr. Walter Quijano to testify in his defense and to analyze his future dangerousness. Quijano's testimony in capital murder cases came under public scrutiny in 2000 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of an Argentine national convicted of abducting and murdering a man in a suburb north of Dallas. Quijano had told a Collin County jury that Victor Saldano's Hispanic ethnicity could be considered a factor when deciding whether he was likely to commit future acts of violence since blacks and Hispanics are overrepresented in the Texas criminal justice system.
Dr. Quijano maintained Green would be a future threat to society because he never developed a moral conscience and would be a danger to society if allowed to live. Green’s race was one of the factors considered when Dr. Quijano reached this conclusion yet the jury was not aware of this prejudice. Supporters of Green maintain that since Dr. Quijano’s testimony, two psychiatrists and one psychologist have said that he would not be a danger to society if allowed to live in a structured setting.
Racism played yet another role in sentencing Green to death when the prosecution introduced the content of a letter Green wrote to a friend from prison before the trial. In the letter, Green quoted a rap song, referring to himself as a “trigga happy nigga.” Green’s trial attorney did not explain to the all white jury that this phrase was included in the letter as an ironic depiction of how Green thought the police perceived him or that the words came from a rap song.
Green endured an extremely difficult young life in the time prior to his incarceration. He was born into a poor family where both of his parents were alcoholics. His mentally ill mother abused and tortured him and his younger brother. He was thrown out of the house at age 15 where he and his brother rented a storage shed and sold drugs to support themselves.
Since his conviction, Green has changed and grown dramatically. After visiting with Green on death row, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu described Green as having undergone a dramatic transfiguration .
“He has changed. He is a beautiful person that the world cannot afford to lose.”
Mrs. Lastrapes, the widow of the crime victim, told Archbishop Tutu that she forgave Dominique and that she and her sons did not want to see him executed.
Please write Gov. Perry and the Board of Pardons and Paroles protesting the execution of Dominique Green. A penalty facilitated by a system fraught with racial and economic prejudice is abominable and unjust. Additionally, the victim’s family has proclaimed this action will not help them in their healing process as they recognize that state killing will not end the cycle of violence.
You may contact Gov. Perry and the Board via fax and email by editing the message below or submitting it as is.
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