David Lee Lewis, a mentally impaired man, was sentenced to death over 30 years ago. Mr. Lewis was sentenced to death on April 7th, 1987 for the murder of an elderly woman, Ms. Myrtle Ruby. Mr. Lewis had intended to burglarize Ms. Ruby’s home. He believed no one to be home when he entered the premises. Mr. Lewis had been heading to hunt with a family member when he decided to burglarize Ms. Ruby’s home. He had a hunting rifle with him and during the commission of the burglary ended up shooting Ms. Ruby when she startled him. 

            While I do not condone Mr. Lewis’s behavior, and most certainly am empathetic and sympathetic towards the Ruby family for their tragic loss, Mr. Lewis does not deserve the death penalty. In fact, not only does he not deserve the death penalty, but it would be unconstitutional to put Mr. Lewis to death.

            Mr. Lewis has had his IQ tested repeatedly, his lowest IQ test resulted in a score of 69, while his highest was a mere 80. 69 is below the threshold for mental retardation (70). According to the Supreme Court Case, Atkins v. Virginia, which was decided in 2002, it is held “that executions of mentally retarded criminals are cruel and unusual punishments”, thus prohibited by the eighth Amendment. While you may be tempted to ignore Mr. Lewis’s IQ test of 69, even the IQ test results ranging between 70 and 80 indicate borderline mental retardation.

            Furthermore, a significant factor in returning a death sentence in Texas, is assessing the defendant’s risk for future violence, i.e. risk of being a danger to society. Mr. Lewis has not only admitted guilt, but he has also shown immense remorse for his crime. Mr. Lewis has no indication what-so-ever that he would be such a risk to society that he must be executed.

            Mr. Lewis has been on death row for over 30 years. He was sentenced to death during a time where mental retardation was not fully understood. Mr. Lewis is considered to be intellectually disabled by multiple experts and he continues to show quite obvious learning disabilities.

            All of Mr. Lewis’s appeals have been rejected, so I am turning to Governor Abbott as a last resort. It is for these reasons, that I respectfully ask Governor Abbott to commute Mr. David Lee Lewis’s sentence of death to life with the possibility of parole, or at the very least, life without the possibility of parole. Mr. David Lee Lewis, death row inmate #999866, does not deserve the death penalty and it would be unconstitutional to execute him.

Thank you