A North Texas man who claimed he was not the gunman in a fatal robbery that left two people dead nearly 18 years ago and said prosecutors misused rap lyrics he wrote to secure the death penalty was executed Thursday night.
James Broadnax was pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m. after receiving a lethal injection at the state prison in Huntsville, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) north of Houston.
He was condemned for the 2008 shooting deaths of two men outside a suburban Dallas music studio. Prosecutors say Broadnax and his cousin, Demaryius Cummings, shot and robbed Stephen Swann and Matthew Butler in the parking lot of Butler’s recording studio in Garland. Cummings was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Broadnax was defiant in his final statement, in which he also sought forgiveness from relatives of crime victims.
The execution was punctuated by screams of “I love you” from his wife, who was also a witness to the execution.
Broadnax, 37, admitted to the shooting, telling reporters in a jailhouse interview that “I pulled the trigger” and that he showed no remorse, prosecutors said.
Earlier Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request by Broadnax’s lawyers to halt his execution.
His attorneys focused his final appeal on two issues: Cummings’ recent admission that he was the shooter; and Broadnax’s constitutional rights being violated because prosecutors removed potential jurors on the basis of race during the trial.
“I’m really going to tell it like I’m supposed to be told, that’s me, I’m the murderer. I shot Matthew Bullard and Steve Swann,” Cummings said in a recent jailhouse video made to prevent Broadnax’s execution.
Broadnax’s lawyers said in court documents filed in Superior Court that Cummings’ guilty plea “is corroborated by the fact that his DNA, not Mr. Broadnax’s DNA, was found on the murder weapon and in the pocket of one of the victims.”
In the film, Broadnax says his confession was false because he didn’t care about his life at the time. Broadnax’s attorney said he was under the influence of drugs during the television interview.
He also apologized to the families of Butler and Swann for their involvement in the robbery.
“I wish I could show them my soul so they could see how sorry I am. I’m very remorseful for what happened,” Broadnax said.
His attorneys also claim prosecutors dismissed all seven potential black jurors because of their race and “used a spreadsheet during the jury selection process that only bolded each black juror’s name,” according to court documents. One black juror was later reinstated. Broadnax is black.
In the 1986 decision in Batson v. Kentucky, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that excluding jurors on the basis of race violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Broadnax’s lawyers argued in an earlier appeal that prosecutors violated his constitutional rights by using some rap lyrics he wrote to portray him as violent and dangerous to secure the death penalty. Several A-list rappers, including Travis Scott, T.I. and Killer Mike, have filed briefs with the Supreme Court in support of Broadnax’s appeal.
But the High Court dismissed that appeal and another that focused on how forensic evidence was presented at his trial.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Tuesday denied Broadnax’s request for 180 days of probation or a reduced sentence.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office described Cummings’ confession as “questionable new evidence.” It also said in court documents that Broadnax’s claims that potential black jurors were being kicked out were “completely baseless” because those jurors were targeted not because of their race but because of their answers during the trial, including some who opposed the death penalty.
Matthew Butler’s mother, Teresa Butler, has called for the execution to continue.
“Cummings’ so-called confession is just a delaying tactic by Broadnax’s desperate defense team. It’s all lies,” Butler wrote in a social media post.
Broadnax was the third person executed in Texas and the 10th nationwide this year. Texas has carried out more executions than any other state in its history.
About an hour before Broadnax was executed Thursday, Florida executed 70-year-old James Ernest Hitchcock for beating and strangling his 13-year-old stepniece.
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