In 2014, Juan Balderas was sentenced to death for the murder of his friend in December 2005, a crime he did not commit.

Juan was arrested on December 16, 2005 and spent the next eight years in varying degrees of solitary confinement, awaiting trial. Even though multiple alibi witnesses could attest to Juan being elsewhere at the time of the murder and there was no DNA evidence presented at trial tying him to the crime scene, Juan remains on Texas death row due to a series of errors and deprivations at trial, on direct appeal and on state collateral review, in violation of his federal constitutional rights. 

During the years Juan was incarcerated and awaiting trial to prove his innocence, his court-appointed defense team took on an unmanageable caseload. The defense team squandered numerous opportunities to investigate alibi witnesses, confessions from an alternative suspect, details of a plan by fellow gang members to frame Juan for the crime and expert evidence showing that eyewitness identification of Juan as the shooter was suggestive, biased and unreliable. 

Since being sentenced to death in 2014, Juan has continued to be a victim of Harris County’s injustices, including the prosecutor’s office withholding key evidence until after trial that could have proven Juan’s innocence. 

There is overwhelming evidence of Juan’s innocence, and Harris County has failed to bring the true murderer to justice. Juan is paying for their crime with his life.

Take action against this deadly injustice! Sign the petition to show your support for Juan Balderas!