Lionell Gonzales Rodriguez

Background

Lionell Gonzalez Rodriguez was executed by lethal injection on June 20, 2007 in Texas. He was convicted in Texas state court for the murder of Tracy Gee and sentenced to death.

The offence

On September 5, 1990, then nineteen-year-old Lionell Rodriguez, with a shotgun and automatic rifle he had stolen from his stepfather the day before, joined his cousin, James Gonzales, in driving around town looking for a place to rob. At a stop light at the intersection of South Rice and North Braeswood, Rodriguez noticed a young woman sitting alone at the wheel of a car next to them. Rodriguez aimed the rifle at the woman and fired one time.

Rodriguez jumped out of the vehicle and ran over, dumped the woman’s body on the street and drove off in her car. The young woman was Tracy Gee, age 22.

Rodriguez was arrested in Gee’s car four hours later in Fort Bend County. The interior of the car and Rodriguez’s pants were soaked in Tracy’s blood, and her bone, blood and brain matter was clotted throughout his hair. He confessed to killing Gee.

During the sentencing phase of trial, the State presented evidence of Rodriguez’s lengthy criminal history, including the revocation of juvenile probation for offenses committed while on probation. Several citizens testified about Rodriguez’s extremely violent and assaultive temper, including the motorist at whom Rodriguez fired several rounds on the night of the offense. Several witnesses testified about Rodriguez’s extremely violent behavior during his incarceration at the Harris County Jail.

Investigation and arrest

Rodriguez and his codefendant, cousin James Gonzales, were described as having decided to prowl Houston to act out fantasies. They failed to hold up a gas station because there were too many people around. They shot at a motorist in Fort Bend County.

When they pulled up at a stoplight in Houston alongside a car driven by Gee, Rodriguez wanted her car because theirs was running low on gas. Gonzales slid back in the driver’s seat to give Rodriguez a clear shot with a .30-caliber M-1 rifle he’d stolen from his stepfather, a Fort Bend County police officer. The bullet shattered the passenger side window of Gee’s car and struck her in the head, fatally wounding her. Rodriguez jumped into her car, pushed her body to the pavement and drove over her as he sped away.

Gonzales, still driving his own car, soon after tried to flee from an officer who was pulling him over for a broken taillight. Fearing he was being stopped for Gee’s shooting, he told officers Rodriguez was the gunman. Police then tracked down Rodriguez near his home in Fort Bend County. When arrested, Rodriguez was in Gee’s car; the interior of it was splattered with her remains.

A fired bullet was recovered from Gee’s car, and gunpowder residue was found in Gonzales’s car, showing that a gun was fired from inside that car. An autopsy revealed a massive entrance gunshot wound to Gee’s right temple with very large lacerations radiating around it, and an exit wound with extensive lacerations on the left forehead. Gee’s skull had massive fractures, with some of her brain extruded through the wounds and some bone fragments lost from her skull. The cause of death was the gunshot wound.

Gonzales initially stated he did not kill Gee, and that his cousin did.

Trial

Rodriguez was found guilty of capital murder on May 23, 1991. The trial judge sentenced him to death on May 29, 1991.

Rodriguez’s conviction was reversed on December 15, 1993 by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals because the jury was shuffled twice. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals found the habeas court’s findings supported by the record and denied relief on October 23, 2002.

Rodriguez was found guilty of capital murder a second time on September 14, 1994. The 185th state District Court judge sentenced Rodriguez to death on September 20, 1994.

During Rodriguez’s sentencing proceedings, the jury heard testimony about Rodriguez’s home life and his father’s abuse. It also heard evidence of Rodriguez’s drug problem, including that Rodriguez got angry when he used crack cocaine. Gee’s sister Susan offered victim impact testimony, stating that her mother’s health was affected by Tracy Gee’s death and describing Tracy as a person of integrity who loved children.

At his execution, Rodriguez addressed Gee’s relatives and apologized. He said:

“You have every right to hate me.. You have every right to want to see this,
I couldn’t do this in a letter. I had to do this face to face, eye to eye. None of this should have happened.”

He also said:

“None of this should have happened.” “I’m responsible. I’m responsible.” “I’m sorry to you all.” “This never should have happened.” “To ... my family, you all don't deserve to see this (but) it is the right thing to do.”

Rodriguez told Gee’s family he hoped they could forgive him. He also said, “We’ll see each other again.”

The jury found that: (1) Rodriguez deliberately caused Tracy Gee’s death and with the reasonable expectation that her death would occur; (2) there was a reasonable probability that Rodriguez would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society; and (3) there were not sufficient mitigating circumstances to warrant imposition of a sentence of life imprisonment rather than death. The jury convicted Rodriguez of capital murder and sentenced him to death on September 20, 1994.

Sentencing

Rodriguez received a death sentence after the May 23, 1991 conviction and again after the September 14, 1994 conviction.

The State introduced evidence that Rodriguez shot at another driver during the events leading up to Gee’s death. Officers Theron Runnels and Randy West testified that Gonzales stated that his cousin Rodriguez killed Gee when West brought Gonzales to the scene of the crime where Runnels was performing inventory on Gonzales’s car.

The State produced evidence that Rodriguez burglarized an elementary school in January 1990. Rodriguez received probation for that burglary, but his probation was later revoked.

The State also introduced records from the Harris County Jail naming Rodriguez as an “escape threat” and as “aggressive towards staff,” instructing jail staff to use handcuffs and leg irons when moving Rodriguez from his cell. A Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy testified that during Rodriguez’s incarceration at the Harris County Jail on the capital murder charge, there was a standing order that Rodriguez was to wear leg irons and handcuffs when he was out of his cell. Rodriguez became belligerent to a jail deputy while being brought to a visit with his mother, broke a window after returning to his cell, and was frequently disruptive. Deputies tried to perform daily searches for shanks or weapons and found a homemade shank during one search.

Appeals

Direct appeal

On September 1, 1995, Rodriguez filed a direct appeal raising 31 points of error. On February 5, 1997, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Rodriguez’s conviction and sentence.

State habeas corpus

On March 27, 1998, Rodriguez filed an application for state writ of habeas corpus raising 13 issues. On October 8, 2001, State Writ denied. On October 23, 2002, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals found the habeas court’s findings supported by the record and denied relief.

Federal habeas corpus

On July 3, 2003, Rodriguez filed an amended federal habeas corpus petition raising 17 claims in a Houston U.S. district court. On March 24, 2004, the federal district court dismissed Rodriguez’s federal habeas petition.

On April 23, 2004, Rodriguez filed notice of appeal in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On May 29, 2005, the federal district court denied relief but granted certificate of appealability (“COA”) on one claim.

On October 19, 2005, Rodriguez filed an application for additional COA to include six additional claims in the 5th Circuit Court. On September 11, 2006, the 5th Circuit Court denied Rodriguez’s motion for COA and affirmed the denial of habeas relief.

On February 13, 2007, Rodriguez petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for certiorari review of the 5th Circuit Court’s opinion. On April 16, 2007, the Supreme Court denied certiorari review.

Outcome

Rodriguez was executed in Texas on June 20, 2007. He was strapped to the gurney at 6:02 p.m. and was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m.

At the execution, Rodriguez muttered a brief prayer and whispered:

“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

The execution was the first of two on consecutive evenings in the nation’s most active death penalty state. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review his case two months earlier.

A Harris County jury convicted Rodriguez of capital murder and decided he should die. Rodriguez’s conviction was overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 1993 because of a procedural problem in jury selection. The following year, he was convicted a second time and again sentenced to death.

Other details

Rodriguez’s codefendant, cousin James Gonzales, got 30 years for aggravated robbery.

In proceedings related to federal habeas corpus, the Court of Appeals held that an accomplice’s out-of-court statement to police was admissible as excited utterance and that the statement and Rodriguez’s jail disciplinary records were admissible under prevailing law at the time Rodriguez’s conviction became final. The Court of Appeals also held that a prospective juror who had previously been convicted of theft and who had successfully completed probation was subject to challenge for cause. The Court of Appeals held that a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel in sentencing proceedings was not cognizable by petition for federal writ of habeas corpus and that defense counsel did not provide ineffective assistance at sentencing. The court affirmed; certificate of appealability was denied.

In death row interviews and testimony described as part of post-conviction discussion, Rodriguez stated that he hoped the victim’s family could forgive him and that he did not want people to think of him as a monster. He also stated that on the night of the murder he and his cousin decided to go act out fantasies from the movies, and that they had contemplated robbing a gas station but it was too busy and they lost their nerve.

Rodriguez also stated in an interview:

“It should've never happened.” “Not only did I bring so much pain and heartache to the Gee family, but also to my family. I destroyed two families ... Of all the pain I caused, I'm ashamed.”

Rodriguez pleaded to a reporter:

“Don't make me look any worse than I already do.”

During the punishment hearing, one quoted statement from Rodriguez was:

“People on juries ... they actually believe we'll never change for the better.”

He also said:

“They figure we're better off dead. But people change with time.”

Rodriguez’s brother waved goodbye as other family members looked ahead. Rodriguez’s father, Henry Rodriguez, held his hand on the glass separating him from his son, removing it only once to comfort his other two sons and family friends who came to witness the execution.