On this date, June 19, 2001, Juan
Raul Garza was the first person to be executed under the 1988 federal Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which imposes a death sentence for murders stemming from a drug
enterprise.
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Juan Raul Garza
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Juan Raul Garza
(November 18, 1957 – June 19, 2001) was an American
murderer and drug trafficker who was executed for a federal
crime.
History
In
1993, Garza was convicted of murdering three people while running a marijuana
smuggling and distribution ring based in Brownsville, Texas. He was sentenced to death
and appealed on the basis that the jury were allegedly not told that they had the power to
recommend life imprisonment instead of the death sentence. Garza's lawyers also claimed
that it was unfair that the jury were told that Garza was suspected of four
murders in Mexico
given that, although a prime suspect in these crimes, he had never been charged
with, or convicted of them.
On
July 13, 1999, federal authorities moved Garza, who had committed the crime in
Texas but was under a federal death sentence, out of the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice (TDCJ) and into Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) custody.
Garza was one of three condemned inmates moved from the Texas state male death
row on that day due to the opening of the new federal death row wing in USP
Terre Haute, Terre Haute, Indiana. Garza had TDCJ ID 999074
and BOP ID# 62728-079. All appeals failed, and on June 19, 2001, Garza was
executed at the Federal Correctional Complex,
Terre Haute by lethal injection. His execution took place just eight days
after the US Federal Government executed domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh at the same
location.
Summary:
Garza, 44, was convicted of various marijuana drug trafficking laws, money laundering, and three counts of murder in furtherance of a Continuing Criminal Enterprise. From the early 1980's until 1992, Garza built and controlled an intricate drug trafficking enterprise. Working with friends and associates from the tough neighborhood of his youth, Garza sold thousands of pounds of marijuana in Texas, Louisiana and Michigan, reaping hundreds of thousands of dollars in return. Garza occasionally suffered setbacks when loads of marijuana or cash were seized by law enforcement agencies. In addition to putting a dent in Garza's profit margin, these incidents made him suspicious that certain of his workers and associates were cooperating with the police. Being the object of Garza's mistrust was not a healthy condition - as the victims of Garza's three murder convictions would attest.
Garza, 44, was convicted of various marijuana drug trafficking laws, money laundering, and three counts of murder in furtherance of a Continuing Criminal Enterprise. From the early 1980's until 1992, Garza built and controlled an intricate drug trafficking enterprise. Working with friends and associates from the tough neighborhood of his youth, Garza sold thousands of pounds of marijuana in Texas, Louisiana and Michigan, reaping hundreds of thousands of dollars in return. Garza occasionally suffered setbacks when loads of marijuana or cash were seized by law enforcement agencies. In addition to putting a dent in Garza's profit margin, these incidents made him suspicious that certain of his workers and associates were cooperating with the police. Being the object of Garza's mistrust was not a healthy condition - as the victims of Garza's three murder convictions would attest.
Gilberto
Matos was an associate of a drug smuggler named De La Fuente suspected by Garza
of giving information to the police. Garza ordered his men to go to his shop
and kill Matos as a warning to De La Fuente. They did. Five months later, Garza
supplied Israel Flores and Jesus Flores with guns and took them to De La
Fuente's nightclub to kill him.When De La Fuente left a nightclub and got into
his car, a third accomplice shot him twice through the driver's window. After
hiding in a ditch, he called Garza, who picked him up.
The third
victim was Thomas Rumbo, also suspected by Garza as an informant. Garza went
directly to Rumbo's house, taking two of his workers with him. Rumbo
reluctantly got into Garza's pickup truck and they drove out to a rural farm
road. Garza shot Rumbo in the back of the head, then shot him four more times.
Garza was
the first person to be executed under the 1988 federal Anti-Drug Abuse Act,
which imposes a death sentence for murders stemming from a drug enterprise.
While the indictment accused him specifically of three murders, prosecutors
presented testimony that he ordered or carried out five more killings, four of
them in Mexico. Among the victims, prosecutors said, was Garza's son-in-law.
Case to the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights (IACHR)
This
case was also filed to the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights, an independent human rights body of the Organization of American States
(OAS). On December 4, 2000, the Commission adopted the merits
report 109/00, which was transmitted to the State
Department on December 5, 2000. The merits report stated that:
"the
Commission considers that the State’s conduct in introducing evidence of
unadjudicated foreign crimes during Mr. Garza’s capital sentencing hearing was
antithetical to the most basic and fundamental judicial guarantees applicable
in attributing responsibility and punishment to individuals for crimes.
Accordingly, the Commission finds that the State is responsible for imposing
the death penalty upon Mr. Garza in a manner contrary to his right to a fair
trial under Article XVIII of the American Declaration, as well as his right to
due process of law under Article XXVI of the Declaration. (...) The Commission
also concludes that, by sentencing Mr. Garza to death in this manner, and by
scheduling his execution for December 12, 2000 and thereby exhibiting its clear
intention to implement Mr. Garza's sentence, the State had placed Mr. Garza's
life in jeopardy in an arbitrary and capricious manner, contrary to Article I
of the Declaration. In addition, to execute Mr. Garza pursuant to this sentence
would constitute a further deliberate and egregious violation of Article I of
the American Declaration.".
Based
on these conclusions, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)
recommended to: "Provide Mr. Garza with an effective remedy, which
includes commutation of sentence" and "Review its laws, procedures
and practices to ensure that persons who are accused of capital crimes are
tried and, if convicted, sentenced in accordance with the rights established in
the American Declaration, including Articles I, XVIII and XXVI of the
Declaration, and in particular by prohibiting the introduction of evidence of
unadjudicated crimes during the sentencing phase of capital trials".
By
communication dated March 6, 2001 and received by the Commission on the same
date, the United States answered that: "Finally, with respect to the
Commission's conclusions in Part IV(C)(4) that Mr. Garza's rights to due process
and a fair trial under Articles XVIII and XXVI of the American Declaration were
violated, we note that these conclusions are in conflict with jurisprudence
based on the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This jurisprudence
requires the provision of all relevant information to a capital jury before it
makes a sentencing determination. Indeed, the rationale on which the Commission
recommends invalidating Garza's death sentence was presented to the appropriate
federal courts in collateral review and rejected by them as not affording a
basis for relief".
The
IACHR analyzed this answer in its Report 52/01, published April 4, 2001, where
it said:
"The
Commission, based upon the foregoing considerations of fact and law, and in
light of the response of the State to Report 109/00, hereby ratifies its
conclusion that the State is responsible for violations of Articles I, XVIII
and XXVI of the American Declaration in condemning Juan Raul Garza to the death
penalty. The Commission also hereby ratifies its conclusion that the United
States will perpetrate a grave and irreparable violation of the fundamental
right to life under Article I of the American Declaration, should it proceed
with Mr. Garza's execution based upon the criminal proceedings under
consideration". On these basis, the IACHR reiterated the recommendations
to the US Government.
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Death penalty
supporters protest at the port of Nusakambangan ahead of the execution of Bali
Nine Kingpins Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran
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Cultural references
An
episode of American TV series The
West Wing's first season, Take This Sabbath Day, deals with the
imminent execution of drug lord and murderer Simon Cruz, likewise sentenced
under the "Drug Kingpin" Act and to be executed by injection at Terre
Haute (for killing two individuals in Michigan), who
is described as the first individual to be executed by federal authorities
since 1963 (probably alluding to the case of Victor
Feguer, who would have been the last before Garza, had not Timothy
McVeigh been executed eight days earlier). The episode aired on February 9,
2000, when Garza was on death row and the federal death penalty yet to be
re-established in practice.
See also
References
"Offenders No Longer on
Death Row Archived
2010-07-25 at the Wayback Machine.." Texas Department of Criminal
Justice. Retrieved on August 22, 2010.
Ward, Mike (July 19, 1999). "Texas
death row empties 3 cells in a single day". Austin American-Statesman.
Killers as Louis Jones 49 Juan Raul Garza 42 and Orlando Cordia Hall 28.
"Juan
Raul Garza." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on
August 22, 2010.
4. "Executions of Federal
Prisoners (since 1927) Archived
2013-02-15 at the Wayback Machine.." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on
August 22, 2010.
External links
- Juan Raul Garza. The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney. Retrieved on 2007-11-15.
- IACHR Report 52/01 Case 12.234, Juan Raul Garza, USA. Official report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States
- "Date set for First Federal Execution since 1963." Federal Bureau of Prisons. May 26, 2000.
- http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/garza720.htm
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