UPDATE: JOSE BRISENO RECEIVED A STAY OF EXECUTION ON APRIL 2. Texas death row inmate Jose Briseno is sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed on April 7. However, a stream of let­ters and sup­port, includ­ing some from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice staff, fel­low pris­on­ers, and a net­work of peo­ple out­side of prison has been sent to the Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles ask­ing that his sen­tence be com­mut­ed to life. According to the clemen­cy peti­tion sub­mit­ted by his attor­ney, dur­ing his 17 years on death row, Briseno devel­oped a pro­found spir­i­tu­al­i­ty that affect­ed many peo­ple. Letters from peo­ple he impact­ed said he would be of greater ser­vice to soci­ety and to the prison by being allowed to live rather than exe­cut­ed. Briseno was con­vict­ed in 1992 of the mur­der of the sher­iff in Dimmit County, Texas. See a video about Jose Briseno’s life here.

(In re Jose Garcia Briseno, Application for Commutation of Sentence (Texas 2009)). For more infor­ma­tion about this case, click here. See Clemency.

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