This Tuesday, 47-year-old Joseph Garcia is scheduled to be executed in Huntsville, Texas. Back in 2000, Garcia was a member of the infamous Texas Seven —- a group who escaped a maximum security prison in San Antonio and robbed several places for supplies. During one of those robberies, Police Officer Aubrey Hawkins was shot and killed. The men were apprehended a month later. While there is no evidence that Garcia fired a weapon (and may not have even been in the vicinity), Garcia was convicted under Texas’ controversial “law of parties,” in which co-conspirators can be tried as responsible along with the actual triggermen. A last minute bid for clemency was denied on Friday.
But Garcia’s story is much longer and sadder than the bare facts would lead you to believe and very few people — least of all the juries who convicted him – have heard all the details. The many tragedies and injustices that landed him in jail in the first place were detailed by Sister Helen Prejean, the famed nun and anti-capital punishment activist whose life was movingly portrayed by Susan Sarandon in Dead Man Walking.
In a lengthy Twitter thread, Sister Helen lays out the awful cycles of abuse, neglect and incompetence that have haunted Garcia’s life since he was a child. Raised in an abusive family by a young woman who battled a crippling addiction, Garcia’s early life was fraught with trauma and instances of assault.
Burdened by his extremely traumatic childhood, Joseph struggled to navigate adulthood. In 1988, Joseph met and started a relationship with a woman named Debra. They married a few years later in August 1991. Debra offered Joseph some stability and the hope of a loving family.
— Sister Helen Prejean (@helenprejean) December 2, 2018
Joseph felt a lot of pressure to succeed. However, as is typical for abandoned and neglected children, Joseph struggled to comply with the strict rules and environment of the military. He wanted to belong, but could not understand how to do that.
— Sister Helen Prejean (@helenprejean) December 2, 2018
Joseph and Debra returned to San Antonio with their one-month-old daughter, Arlene, named after Joseph’s beloved sister. Joseph felt great shame and disappointment returning early from the Coast Guard. He struggled to find steady employment in San Antonio.
— Sister Helen Prejean (@helenprejean) December 2, 2018
In February of 1996, Garcia killed an intoxicated man in self-defense after being attacked and threatened by him numerous times. The state appointed attorney admitted that he didn’t pay much attention to the case (he only met with Garcia twice before the trial, for less than five minutes both times).
The appointed attorney himself seems to have recognized that he was not doing a good job. In his 3.5 minute closing argument, the attorney said: “I, of course, will be through with this case after today. Perhaps I shouldn’t have undertaken it, anyway.”
— Sister Helen Prejean (@helenprejean) December 2, 2018
Garcia was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Then in 2000, the attempted jailbreak happened, and when Garcia and the others were re-apprehended, they were collectively tried for the death of Officer Hawkins — a crime for which Garcia has maintained his innocence. Garcia’s trial was once again plagued by the incompetence and indifference of the justice system, which badly botched his case. Among other indignities, it was recently revealed that the judge who sentenced Garcia harbored bitterly racist views.
A much longer summary of Garcia’s sad life can be sister in Sister Helen’s thread. Since the legal system seems unwilling or uninterested in hearing the full story of the man they are about to execute, the least the rest of us can do is hear it for ourselves.
Joseph Garcia was sentenced to death even though the prosecution could not prove that he fired a weapon or was even in the vicinity of the shooting. The judge who presided over that trial is accused of racism and bigotry. Many of Joseph’s appellate lawyers were inadequate.
— Sister Helen Prejean (@helenprejean) December 2, 2018
