# Duane Buck

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{{Short description|African American defendant in Supreme Court case}}
{{infobox criminal
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1963|7|5}}
| status            = [Incarcerated](/source/Incarceration) at [O. B. Ellis Unit](/source/O._B._Ellis_Unit)
| victims           = Debra Gardner<br>Kenneth Butler
| criminal_penalty  = [Death](/source/Capital_punishment_in_Texas); [commuted](/source/Commutation_(law)) to [life imprisonment](/source/Life_imprisonment_in_the_United_States) with the possibility of [parole](/source/parole) after 40 years
| conviction        = [Capital murder](/source/Capital_murder)<br>[Attempted capital murder](/source/Attempted_murder) (2 counts)
| known_for = ''[Buck v. Davis](/source/Buck_v._Davis)''
}}
'''Duane Edward Buck''' (born July 5, 1963) is an [African-American](/source/African-American) man formerly on death row following his conviction for the shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend Debra Gardner and her friend Kenneth Butler. He also wounded his sister, who was also at Gardner's home.

His sentence was commuted from death to life in prison after the Supreme Court case ''[Buck v. Davis](/source/Buck_v._Davis)''.

==Trial==
Buck was tried for the 1995 shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend, Debra Gardner, and her friend Kenneth Butler. At trial, [psychologist](/source/psychologist) Walter Quijano was a defense witness. At one point during his testimony, Quijano said that black people were statistically more likely to commit violence.<ref name=Sacks>{{cite news|last1=Sacks|first1=Mike|title=Supreme Court Punts Death Penalty Case: Sotomayor, Alito Square Off On Decision Not To Hear Argument|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/07/supreme-court-death-penalty-case-duane-buck_n_1080112.html|agency=Huffington Post|date=November 7, 2011}}</ref>  

At the sentencing hearing, the prosecutor used the psychologist's statements to argue that Buck posed a risk of future violence. "You heard from Dr. Quijano, who had a lot of experience in the Texas Department of Corrections, who told you that there was a probability that the man would commit future acts of violence." (In Texas, the jury must first unanimously agree that the defendant poses a "continuing threat to society" in order for a death sentence to be imposed.)<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/17/us/experts-testimony-on-race-led-to-stay-of-execution-in-texas.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&|title = Texas Execution Stayed Based on Race Testimony|last = Fernandez|first = Manny|date = September 16, 2011|work = The New York Times}}</ref>

==Subsequent proceedings==
The psychologist's assertion about black offenders was the cornerstone of Buck's [death penalty](/source/death_penalty) appeal: that his sentencing was [racially biased](/source/racism). In 2000 [Texas Attorney General](/source/Texas_Attorney_General) [John Cornyn](/source/John_Cornyn) recommended that six cases, including Buck's case, be reviewed for racially biased testimony. Buck's case was not reviewed; the other five cases were reviewed but all of those offenders were sentenced to death again because the testimony was found to be only a small part of each trial.<ref name="Graczyk2011">Michael Graczyk. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/15/duane-buck-attorneys-plead-supreme-court_n_965272.html "Duane Buck Case: U.S. Supreme Court Stays Execution Of Texas Inmate".] ''[The Huffington Post](/source/The_Huffington_Post)'', 9/15/11.</ref>

Buck was scheduled to be executed on September 15, 2011; however, the [Supreme Court of the United States](/source/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States) granted a stay of the process.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/09/15/texas.execution/ "Temporary stay granted for Texas death row inmate".] ''[CNN](/source/CNN)'', 9/15/2011.</ref><ref name="guardian execution halted">{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/16/duane-buck-execution-stayed-supreme-court | title=Duane Buck Texas execution halted by supreme court | work=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) | date=2011-09-16 | access-date=September 16, 2011 | author=Pilkington, Ed | location=London | quote=Duane Buck, an inmate on [Texas](/source/Texas)'s death row for the past 16 years, has been spared the lethal injection after the U.S. Supreme Court stayed his execution on the grounds that the jury at his sentencing hearing was told he was a danger to the public because he is black.}}</ref> 

In response to Buck's case, the justices conceded that the testimony of Quijano "would provide a basis for reversal of [Buck's] sentence if the prosecution were responsible for presenting that testimony to the jury." However, Quijano was a defense witness, and it was Buck's attorney who elicited the correlation between race and future risk for criminal actions. Retired Justice John Paul Stevens commented that he believed the decision would be different if the prosecution presented the testimony. [Sonia Sotomayor](/source/Sonia_Sotomayor) described Buck's death sentence as "marred by racial overtones" that "our criminal justice system should not tolerate." Sotomayor and Justice Elena Kagan dissented from the denial.<ref name=Sacks/>

On August 20, 2015, the [United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit](/source/United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_Fifth_Circuit) rejected hearing the question of race being allowed as a deciding factor for executing the guilty.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fifth Circuit Rejects Duane Buck's Appeal of Racially Biased Death Sentence|last1=Wray|first1=Dianna|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/news/fifth-circuit-rejects-duane-bucks-appeal-of-racially-biased-death-sentence-7688977|website=HoustonPress|publisher=Houston Press, LP|access-date=12 October 2015}}</ref>  The 5th denied a [certificate of appealability](/source/certificate_of_appealability) because Buck did not show extraordinary circumstances.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cayce|first1=Lyle|title=IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT - No. 14-70030, Fifth Circuit|url=https://drive.google.com/a/houstonpress.com/file/d/0BxR5nee8pBYQVWE2NXFwMEt2U1E/view|website=HoustonPress|publisher=Houston Press LLC|access-date=12 October 2015}}</ref>

The [United States Supreme Court](/source/United_States_Supreme_Court) granted [certiorari](/source/certiorari) and, on October 5, 2016, heard oral argument as to whether the Fifth Circuit imposed an improper and unduly burdensome Certificate of Appealability standard.<ref name="SCOTUSblog">{{cite web | url=http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/buck-v-stephens/ | title=Buck v. Davis | publisher=SCOTUSblog | access-date=5 October 2016}}</ref> On October 3, 2017, Buck was resentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility after 40 years plus two concurrent 60-year terms for attempted murder. He will become eligible for parole in 2035.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://cw39.com/2017/10/03/duane-buck-removed-from-death-row-and-sentenced-to-two-60-year-terms/|title=Duane Buck removed from death row, sentenced to two 60-year terms|date=2017-10-03|work=CW39 NewsFix|access-date=2017-10-04|language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==
*[List of death row inmates in the United States](/source/List_of_death_row_inmates_in_the_United_States)

== References ==
<ref>
Lindell, Chuck. "Appeal Tossed in Death Row Case." Austin American Statesman. Nov 21 2013, Section A.1. ProQuest Newsstand. ProQuest. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.
</ref>
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://tdcj.state.tx.us/death_row/dr_info/buckduane.jpg Duane Buck Profile] - [Texas Department of Criminal Justice](/source/Texas_Department_of_Criminal_Justice)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buck, Duane}}
Category:American people convicted of murder
Category:1963 births
Category:Living people
Category:People convicted of murder by Texas
Category:Prisoners sentenced to death by Texas

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Duane Buck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duane_Buck) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duane_Buck?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.