Rincones: Melissa Lucio's case one that cries out for mercy
As lead pastor of Lubbock’s Alliance Church and Executive Director of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas, I strive to guide my community toward compassion, forgiveness, and justice. The case of Melissa Lucio, who is scheduled to be executed April 27, implicates all these virtues. That is why I, along with more than 130 other faith leaders representing diverse denominations across this state, have called upon the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Gov. Greg Abbott to grant clemency to Melissa and spare her life.
I believe our justice system should be directed toward improving lives, not destroying life. But regardless of one’s position on the death penalty, Melissa’s case raises too many questions – including the existence of evidence that her daughter’s death was an accident and not a crime – to allow her to be executed.
It is intolerable to imagine that our state would execute an innocent person. This should be a subject on which law and faith are aligned in preventing irreparable injustice. In Melissa’s case, there is forensic and eyewitness evidence that was not presented to her jury indicating that her toddler, Mariah, died due to an accident, not by homicide. The jury never learned that Mariah had a disability that made her vulnerable to falls or that she had fallen in recent months.
Mariah tragically died two days after accidentally falling down steep stairs while the family was moving to a new home. It appears that law enforcement rushed to judgment after Mariah’s death. They blamed Melissa even though she had no record of violence toward any of her children. Officers interrogated Melissa for hours. She was exhausted, grieving her child’s death, and pregnant with twins. She asserted her innocence more than 100 times, but they kept bombarding her with accusations. Finally, she agreed to say what they asked, “I guess I did it.” This so-called confession was the heart of the prosecution’s case.
That Melissa Lucio may be innocent of any crime should alone warrant clemency. But it is not the only reason why her case cries out for mercy.
The early Biblical record required a certainty of guilt: “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime … Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.” Deuteronomy 19:15
This case fails in that regard. Seven Fifth Circuit judges recognized this and wrote that “The State presented no physical evidence or witness testimony establishing that [Melissa] abused Mariah or any of her children, let alone killed Mariah.”
The District Attorney that presented her conciliatory statement to the jury as a “confession” and sought the death penalty is serving a 13-year federal prison sentence for bribery and extortion.
Melissa was a victim of both physical and sexual abuse throughout her life, starting at age 6. She “escaped” by getting married at 16, but her older husband was a violent alcoholic. After he abandoned her with five small children, her second husband continued the cycle of violence and abuse. The jury never heard about Melissa’s history of trauma or how the abuse she suffered made her vulnerable to a false confession before they convicted her of capital murder.
I find it notable that despite spending the past 13 years on death row and facing execution, Melissa has not become embittered. Rather, in 2014 she embraced her faith and began to walk with God. She has formed a strong faith community with other women behind bars. Her faith has also provided a bridge to some of her children, all of whom have been deeply affected by her incarceration.
As people of faith, we understand the basic Biblical premise that mankind is broken by sin. That is why God removes vengeance from our hands. Broken people in a broken system produce an unjust result.
With a convicted and corrupt DA, failed interrogations, failure to consider additional evidence, and more, it is evident that there are too many broken pieces in this process for there to be a just result.
Regardless of one’s position on the death penalty, Melissa’s case raises too many questions and implicates too many Biblical virtues and legal protections to allow her to be executed.
My heart breaks for this woman and her family who have suffered so much. Poverty, addiction, and domestic upheaval may have contributed to Mariah’s tragic death. But we all bear responsibility for those circumstances, because our communities must do more to protect vulnerable women like Melissa and their children. Allowing her to be executed would be grossly unfair and undermine a culture that values the life of every person.
Jesse Rincones serves as the executive director of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas and is the lead pastor at Alliance Church in Lubbock.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Jesse Rincones the case of Melissa Lucio cries out for mercy
