In Texas, a man who didn’t kill anybody is about to be executed for murder

Washington Post ^ | August 12 2016 | Kristine Guerra

[CorporateStepsister]

Terri Been’s voice shook as she read a long text message from her niece.

“I had a nightmare about my dad last night,” Paige Rowan told her aunt in the text.

Rowan described a dream in which she watched helplessly as the execution needle pierced her father’s skin.

She woke up screaming, panicking and feeling hopeless, she told Been.

[Hieronymus]

I know you have to excerpt it, but could you at least put in the part of what he actually did?

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Plotted armed robbery, and then claims to have decided to go with an “unarmed robbery” instead with one of the people with whom he was plotting. The stick up men didn’t get the memo, however, and brought a gun and killed a clerk.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

[rockvillem]

Here's the Wikipedia summary of the crime - the MSNBC/Washington Post article doesn't have some of the details, perhaps to give a more sympathetic tone to the article:

Shortly after 6 a.m. on January 2, 1996, Wood and Daniel Earl Reneau parked outside a Texaco station in Kerrville, TX. [5] While Wood waited outside, Reneau entered the station and pointed a .22 caliber handgun at clerk Kris Keeran. When Keeran did not respond to Reneau's requests, Reneau shot the clerk, killing him almost instantly.

Hearing the gunshot, Wood entered the gas station and found the clerk on the floor behind the counter. Wood then ran to the back, where he removed the surveillance video and the murder weapon, while Reneau carried the store's safe and cash box. They both then fled from the scene. The value of cash and checks was estimated to be $11,350.

[Mr. Douglas]

I agree. It is a weird thing, psychologically. When you live in a culture where people are executed for committing murder, you feel oddly safer. You feel like the government has your back and validates your very existence by their harsh treatment of anyone who should off you.

i.e. it doesn’t reduce the value of human life. Rather, it demonstrate’s the culture’s high value it places on human life.

[Glad2bnuts]

We don’t even need prisons. Execute rapists, murderers, drug dealers, and child molesters. Every other crime is punishable by becoming the property of those harmed. If you have stolen, you work off the cost at double TO THE HARMED. The system is set up for government to make money off of crime, while the aggrieved party gets nothing but heartache.

[circlecity]

"The death penalty in our nation is NOT a deterrent for one reason"

It's always a 100% deterrent for at least one person.

[CorporateStepsister]

Or better yet, hang them a week later; frankly, I believe that in cases like Bundy and Gacy and the Son of Sam killer.

[Navy Patriot]

A group of people conspired and planned to commit an armed robbery. A member of that group committed said armed robbery and murdered an innocent clerk in the commission of that armed robbery. The condemned was a member of that group, is equally responsible, and was convicted of murder.

Too bad.

[Mr. Douglas]

To quote the cop in My Cousin Vinney, “Aidin’ and abettin’”.

[CincyRichieRich]

No death penalty; one should face God on a daily basis.

Limit the appeals to 3.

[Mr. Douglas]

This is a textbook case of “play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”

I like to drive, but this case taught me that it might not be prudent in all circumstances.

[HarleyD]

Lots of excuses in this article; Wood told Reneau not to bring a gun, Wood was only an innocent driver, Wood is mentally incompetent to understand what he was doing, Wood was convicted under a mean spirited law. The only thing missing from this article is something about the victim’s family and what they are facing since the death of store clerk.

The death penalty is not used nearly enough. I sincerely doubt that a truly innocent man is put to death these days.

[Buckeye McFrog]

The Judge asked if anyone had any questions, so I asked about “what if it is a bus full of Nuns and the bus driver robs a 7-11? The Judge dismissed me and I have never been asked to be on a jury again.

LOL!!! That is EXACTLY why I disappointed my mother and did not go to law school. If I had, today I'd be shattering the county record for contempt citations.

[umgud]

I don’t have a problem with execution, but I don’t know precisely what happens at death and execution just brings that about prematurely. I’m not against a little punishment here before death.

However, there is another huge reason to support the death penalty; Here in CA, activist judges caused our death penalty to be invalidate for a time and everybody on death row had sentences converted to life with possibility of parole, which many got and went on to kill again.

[NativeSon]

Many Conservatives are not Christian or Jewish, like myself. Although I have interest in the Bible and spent time to enjoy it, I could understand that not being the norm

[NativeSon]

He is receiving justice. Doesn’t matter HOW the crime went down or the result, he was an active participant.

[Texan5]

“For people who did the deed, execute”

Agree-where I grew up they say “maybe he needed killing” when murderer got offed...

[Lurker]

Bullcrap. It’s clearly Constitutional.

[Yaelle]

The death penalty is good. People by their heinous action have chosen to not live among us.

However, I am not seeing where this guy did anything heinous. He was an accomplice who didn’t know there was going to be a murder by the other guy. His crime doesn’t seem to need a death penalty punishment. But I’d be good with adding sexual abuse of children to death penalty crimes. Multiple stranger rapes as well.

[tumblindice]

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/docs/PE/htm/PE.19.htm

Sec. 19.02. MURDER. (a) In this section:
(1) “Adequate cause” means cause that would commonly produce a degree of anger, rage, resentment, or terror in a person of ordinary temper, sufficient to render the mind incapable of cool reflection.
(2) “Sudden passion” means passion directly caused by and arising out of provocation by the individual killed or another acting with the person killed which passion arises at the time of the offense and is not solely the result of former provocation.
(b) A person commits an offense if he:
(1) intentionally or knowingly causes the death of an individual;
(2) intends to cause serious bodily injury and commits an act clearly dangerous to human life that causes the death of an individual; or

*****
(3) commits or attempts to commit a felony, other than manslaughter, and in the course of and in furtherance of the commission or attempt, or in immediate flight from the commission or attempt, he commits or attempts to commit an act clearly dangerous to human life that causes the death of an individual.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), an offense under this section is a felony of the first degree.
(d) At the punishment stage of a trial, the defendant may raise the issue as to whether he caused the death under the immediate influence of sudden passion arising from an adequate cause. If the defendant proves the issue in the affirmative by a preponderance of the evidence, the offense is a felony of the second degree.
*****

At the sentencing, the judge must not have bought his defense.
Commit felony murder in Texas and you might get killed back.

[Chewbarkah]

Based on the article, Woods helped plan, execute, and materially support the robbery and murder. He facilitated the killing by transporting the physical killer to the store and standing by with his truck, knowing full well that his “drifter” partner was armed and intended to steal and remove a heavy safe, and that the victim had backed out of their original plan. Unless he was literally a moron (which the WaPo does not even allege), he could foresee the likely result.

Have other people deserved the Death Penalty more? Yes.
Does that mean this defendant should get a pass? No.
It is reasonable that Woods’ relatives are disturbed by the prospect of his execution. I wish he had thought of their feelings before helping murder someone.