EXECUTED JUNE 2002
BY FAX: 512-463-1849
June 12, 2002
Honorable Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428
Re: Daniel Reneau
Dear Governor Perry:
On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, we strongly urge you to exercise your discretionary power in favor of staying the execution of Daniel Reneau and commute his sentence to life imprisonment. Mr. Reneau is currently scheduled for execution on June 13, 2002. Mr. Reneau's case presents two compelling reasons for clemency, including childhood abuse and the possibility of controlling his behavior by medication.
First, as the clemency petitions you have received demonstrate, Mr. Reneau was physically abused as a child. Mr. Reneau's father abandoned the family when Mr. Reneau was three years old. Mr. Reneau has not spoken to his father since then. Mr. Reneau and his younger brother were placed in the state's custody at age eight because of reports of neglect and physical abuse by their mother and stepfather. The physical abuse was documented by the staff at St. Joseph Medical Center, where it was reported that Mr. Reneau's mother and stepfather punished him by tying him up like a mummy for an extended period of time for refusing to sleep on a urine stained mattress. Because of his mother's refusal to take him back into the family, Mr. Reneau was transferred from one treatment center to another for six years. While this history of physical abuse and abandonment does not excuse the crime committed, it does argue strongly for mercy in determining his punishment.
Second, Mr. Reneau's behavioral impulses can be controlled by medication. In 1991, treatment with Tegretol moderated Mr. Reneau's complex seizure disorder, but his prescription was discontinued. A court-ordered report from 1996 recommended that in light of Mr. Reneau's explosive behavior, medical diagnosis of complex seizure disorder and history of treatment with Tegretol, anticonvulsive medication could assist Mr. Reneau in modulating his aggressive impulses. With the proper medication, Mr. Reneau could be a productive member of the prison community.
The ACLU opposes capital punishment in all cases as a barbarous anachronism and a violation of the Constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Our country is almost alone among advanced nations in continuing to use the death penalty.
We respectfully urge you to grant clemency in this case.
Sincerely,
Diann Rust-Tierney
ACLU Capital Punishment Project
William Harrel
ACLU of Texas
Brooke S. Horiuchi*
Pro Bono Counsel
Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P.
1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20044
*Admittance to the District of Columbia Bar pending; supervision by James V. Dick, a member of the District of Columbia Bar.
