Stop the Execution of Carlos Trevino in Texas

Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Board of Pardons and Paroles

UPDATE 9/16/2020: This execution has been stayed pending resolution of COVID19. This petition will remain active. If you have not yet signed it, please do.

Carlos Trevino was scheduled to die by lethal injection on September 30, 2020 in Huntsville, Texas. That date has been temporarily stayed. Trevino was convicted in 1997 of murdering 15-year-old Linda Salinas and sentenced to death.

There is great concern around Mr. Trevino's case, as his appeal attorneys have produced new evidence that suggests that his original trial attorney was ineffective counsel, and did not present all the proper mitigating evidence, which resulted in an unfair sentence of death.

Some of the concerning facts:

- His trial attorney did not investigate potentially mitigating evidence that he suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome, due to his mother drinking while she was pregnant. Mr. Trevino weighed four pounds at birth, and has suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome symptoms throughout his life, greatly impairing his ability to make decisions.

Therefore, we are petitioning both the Board of Pardons and Paroles and Texas Governor Greg Abbott.  

Please sign the petition asking Governor Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to do everything within their power to stop this execution, including issuing a stay, and seeking a path to clemency in the case.

Please note: In Texas, the Governor does have limited power when it comes to the death penalty. But the story we are told that "it's out of the governor's hands," is only true if we allow it to be. Yes, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles must recommend clemency in that state in order for the Governor to grant clemency (mercy) by commuting a death sentence. But the fact is that the governor appoints the members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles. He can choose to appoint members who will take valid claims and concerns more seriously, instead of acting like rubber-stamping gate-keepers. He can still use his position of power and influence to enact justice in the State of Texas.


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To: Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Board of Pardons and Paroles
From: [Your Name]

We are writing to ask that you stop the September 30 execution of Carlos Trevino, who was convicted in 1997 of murdering 15-year-old Linda Salinas.

There are serious mitigating factors that were not introduced at his original trial, including his fetal alcohol syndrome symptoms, and also that he had ineffective counsel, perhaps resulting in an unfair death sentence.

We are also concerned that while the vast majority of states with capital punishment continue on a downward trend of executions, Texas has continued to go against trend by carrying on an aggressive execution schedule.

Texas' execution schedule goes against the national trend as more states are abandoning the death penalty in law or practice, whereas Texas is now only 1 of about 8 states that actively uses the death penalty.

We, the undersigned, ask that you do everything within your power to stop this execution, including issuing a stay, and seeking a path to clemency in the case.

Thank you for your time and attention to this very serious and very urgent matter.