Texas death row man asks to have his execution delayed for 30 days to donate a kidney

A Texas death row inmate has asked the governor to delay his scheduled execution by 30 days on Wednesday so he can donate a kidney, a project his lawyers say stems from his efforts to redeem himself for the murder he committed.

Lawyers for Ramiro Gonzales, 39, who was sentenced to death for the 2001 murder of Bridget Townsend, requested an adjournment in a June 29 letter from Governor Greg Abbott, writing in part that, at Gonzales’ request, donating an organ to a stranger was “according to his efforts to atone for his crimes.”

But the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which allowed Gonzales to be approved for organ donation, opposed the efforts because of his impending execution, his lawyers wrote.

Gonzales did apply for an organ donation prior to his medical execution, but was deemed inappropriate by the department’s care policy, a department spokesperson confirmed to CNN on July 3.

“He still wants to save a life,” Michael Zoosman, a Jewish clergyman whose correspondence with Gonzales first catalyzed the prisoner’s kidney donation project, told CNN. “And Texas is denying him that.”

CNN reached out to the governor’s office for comment.

Gonzales is due to be executed on Wednesday for his 2006 manslaughter conviction in the Townsend murder case.

Gonzales, who was 18 at the time, was looking to buy drugs in January 2001, not the year Townsend, who was a drug dealer, following a 2009 appeals court ruling.

When she called, Townsend answered the phone and told Gonzales that her boyfriend was at work. Gonzales then went to the house “for the purpose of stealing cocaine”, stole money, tied Townsend’s hands and feet and kidnapped her, records say. Gonzales then took Townsend to a fenced-in area of ​​her family’s ranch, sexually assaulted her, and shot her, killing her.

In October 2002, while sitting in a county jail awaiting arrest on an unrelated matter, Gonzales led authorities to Townsend’s body and ended up confessing to the murder, records show.

Since Gonzales and Zoosman began sending letters in January 2021, The Recluse “has never given an apology for what he did,” said Zoosman, a federal hospital chaplain and founder of ¡L’chaim! Jews against the death penalty, he told CNN.

The first time Gonzales brought up the idea of ​​donating a kidney was when Zoosman mentioned that someone in his Maryland congregation needed a transplant, Zoosman told CNN.

“I mentioned this to him out of the blue in a letter… and he accepted,” Zoosman said, adding that Gonzales was “very willing” and even wrote a letter to the person who needed the kidney.

“It was something I wanted to do to atone for the life I took,” Zoosman said.

A rare blood type makes Gonzales an “excellent candidate”

Gonzales has been “activated” for organ donation since then, his lawyers Thea Posel and Raoul Schonemann of the University of Texas at Austin Capital Punishment Clinic said in a statement to CNN last week.

Earlier this year, the state’s criminal justice department allowed him to be examined by the medical department at the University of Texas at Galveston (UTMB), where Gonzales was deemed an “excellent candidate.” to the governor. However, Gonzales’ rare B blood type means he is not compatible with Zoosman’s congregation.

“But that didn’t stop Ramiro,” Zoosman said. “Of their own accord, I am looking through their legal team for another way to do this, to become an altruistic kidney donor,” i.e., donating your kidney without a known or intended recipient.

But according to Gonzales’ lawyers, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice told them in May that it does not allow altruistic kidney donation because it could introduce an “uncertain timetable, possibly interfering with the court-ordered execution date.” of costs, as declared by the lawyers.

However, the medical center — which declined to comment for this story, citing federal medical privacy law — told Gonzales’ lawyers that his rare blood type would make him “an excellent match with people who are on the UTMB waiting list.” about 10 years ago. years due to the same rare B blood type,” according to the lawyers’ statement. The hospital assured Gonzales’ team in March that the donation process could be completed within a month, according to the lawyers.

In recent weeks, lawyers for Gonzales have repeatedly asked the state criminal justice department to reconsider its position on altruistic donations, according to Posel and Schonemann’s statement. The department denied the requests, they said.

“He never expected it to lead to leniency”

Lawyers for Gonzales also asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend to the governor that his client’s sentence be commuted to life in prison, according to his statement. They also requested a 180-day deferral to complete a possible kidney donation.

The council declined to comment to CNN, although a spokesperson noted that members vote for clemency two days before a scheduled execution, in line with its policy.

Gonzales also has other lawsuits pending in the courts that could delay his execution: In one, he wanted the state’s criminal justice department to allow his spiritual adviser — who is not Zoosman — to place his hand on his chest, hold his hand, and pray audibly at the time of execution. That request had previously been denied, but a federal judge this month ruled in an injunction that the state could only execute Gonzales on Wednesday if it allowed it, court documents show.

But while these legal proceedings may be efforts to stop or delay Gonzales’ execution, Zoosman firmly believes the inmate’s attempt to become a kidney donor is not.

“In his correspondence with me, he never indicated that he thought this would be a way out or a way to save his life. He never expected it to lead to leniency,” he said. In fact, according to Zoosman, Gonzales didn’t want to publicly reveal that he wanted to donate a kidney. It was only decided, he said, because his request was denied.

“There has been a lot of discussion in the press lately about who is pro-life and who is not,” Zoosman said, referring to the ongoing struggles for abortion rights following the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn the Roe v. Wade. “And, of course, that’s another matter.”

“But I can say this: I cannot conceive of a more death-friendly stance than that of a state that not only engages in the state-sponsored murder of defenseless human beings,” he added, “but prevents those in the tail of that murder. to donate their organs to save the lives of others.”