Texas Authorities are Set to Murder a Latino Man Based on the Assessment of Trial Psychiatrist who has Now Changed His Mind About Him Being a “Future Danger”

From [HERE] In 2006, Ramiro Gonzales (pictured as a child) confessed to the murder, kidnapping, and rape of Bridget Townsend and was sentenced to death. Texas death sentencing procedures uniquely require capital juries to predict whether a defendant is likely to commit future acts of violence. At Mr. Gonzales’ trial, psychiatrist Dr. Edward Gripon testified for the state and told the jury that Mr. Gonzales “has demonstrated a tendency to want to control, to manipulate, and to take advantage of certain other individuals,” opining that he would cause harm to others in the future. That opinion formed the basis of the jury’s sentence of death. Mr. Gonzales’ execution is now scheduled for June 26, 2024. 

But in September 2021, Dr. Gripon met with Mr. Gonzales on death row and determined his prediction about him was wrong. “Ramiro [Gonzales] doesn’t try to lie his way out… If this man’s sentence was changed to life without parole, I don’t think he’d be a problem,” Dr. Gripon told The Marshall Project. Citing his reliance on a now-debunked study and invalid statistics, Dr. Gripon wrote following this second evaluation that “it is [his] opinion, to a reasonable psychiatric probability, that [Mr. Gonzales] does not pose a threat of future danger to society. According to The Marshall Project, this is the only time Dr. Gripon has ever changed his opinion about a defendant in a death penalty case. 

Mr. Gonzales was scheduled to be executed in July 2022, but two days ahead of his execution date, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) stayed his execution and directed the trial court to review a claim that Dr. Gripon testified and presented false, debunked statistics. Despite Dr. Gripon’s changed opinion, the trial court recommended that the TCCA dismiss Mr. Gonzales’s claim because of procedural bars. [MORE]