Jerry Martin (pic­tured, r.) was exe­cut­ed in Texas on December 3 for killing a cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer dur­ing an escape attempt in 2007. Meanwhile, John Falk (l.), who also par­tic­i­pat­ed in the escape and was report­ed­ly dri­ving the car that struck and killed the offi­cer, has not even been con­vict­ed six years after the crime. Falk’s orig­i­nal tri­al was declared a mis­tri­al due to prob­lems with the jury instruc­tions, and it is pos­silbe anoth­er tri­al will not be allowed. (He remains incar­cer­at­ed for life on his orig­i­nal charge.) Martin waived his appeals and said he had tried to escape from prison out of a sense of hopelessness.

The author of the arti­cle in the Texas Monthly about the two defen­dants said such dif­fer­ent out­comes ​“is tes­ta­ment to a much broad­er truth about the death penal­ty in Texas: whether or not an exe­cu­tion takes place is the prod­uct of a dizzy­ing array of fac­tors. It depends on what coun­ty you’re from, who the DA is there, who is appoint­ed as the defense attor­ney, and how each tiny legal tech­ni­cal­i­ty is ana­lyzed up and down a chain of appeals courts.”

(M. Chammah, ​“Sitting in Legal Purgatory,” Texas Monthly, December 3, 2013). See Arbitrariness. Listen to DPIC’s lat­est pod­cast on Arbitrariness.

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