Duane Buck, An Inmate Death Row, Denied New Trial Despite Racist Doctor Deeming Him Dangerous Just “Because He’s Black”

A Texas man who is currently on death row after being convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend and her friend in 1997 has been denied the chance at a new trial despite proven evidence of racial bias during his original trial.

via Houston Press

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has denied Duane Buck’s appeal for a new sentencing, meaning an execution date can be set if the Harris County District Attorney’s Office chooses to seek an execution date.

Buck was sentenced to death by lethal injection in 1997 for the murders of his ex-girlfriend, Debra Gardner, and the man who was with her, Kenneth Butler. He also shot his stepsister, Phyllis Taylor, but Taylor survived. The big question has never been on Buck’s guilt, but on why he was sentenced to death.

During his Harris County murder trial, a psychologist testified that Buck was more of a danger to society because he is African American. A few years after Buck was convicted, the psychologist, Walter Quijano, was cited by then-Texas Attorney General John Cornyn for giving racially influenced testimony to juries.

Cornyn, now a U.S. senator, identified seven cases that needed to be reviewed for sentencing and Buck’s was one of them. All of the other cases have been allowed new sentencing hearings, but Buck’s has been denied.