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Ronald Ray
HOWARD
Classification: Murderer
Classification: Influenced
by rap music and its anti-police
messages
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder:
April 11,
1992
Date of arrest:
Same day
Date of birth: July
22,
1973
Victim profile: Bill
Davidson, 43 (Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper)
Method of murder:
Shooting
(9 mm pistol)
Location: Jackson County, Texas, USA
Status: Executed
by lethal injection in Texas on October 6,
2005
Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Bill Davidson stopped a
vehicle on U.S. 59 in Jackson County for having a broken headlight.
The driver of the vehicle, Ronald Ray Howard, shot Davidson in the
neck. The vehicle Howard was driving was stolen.
Howard fled the scene of the shooting, but he was arrested within a
couple of hours with the murder weapon, a nine millimeter handgun
loaded with hollow point bullets, in his possession.
Howard
confessed to killing the trooper and repeated his confession to a
grand jury.
Citations:
Howard v. State, 941 S.W.2d 102 (Tex.Cr.App. 1996) (Direct
Appeal). Howard v. Dretke, 125 Fed.Appx. 560 (5th Cir. 2005).
(Habeas).
Final Meal:
None requested.
Final Words:
Asked if he had a final statement, Howard looked at the victim's
family and said he hoped that "this helps a little. I don't know
how, but I hope it helps." Then he turned to friends and a brother
who were among his witnesses, expressing love and thanking them for
finding two of his children, who visited him on death row within the
past week. "Love you all. Thank you so much," he said. As the drugs
were administered, he lifted his head from the gurney and mouthed
that he loved them, urged them to be strong and said "I'm going home."
ClarkProsecutor.org
Texas Department of Corrections
Inmate: Howard, Ronald Ray
Date of Birth: 07/22/73
TDCJ#: 999069
Date Received: 08/25/93
Education: 7th Grade
Date of Offense: 04/11/92
County of Conviction: Travis County Venued from Jackson County
Race: Black
Gender: Male
Hair Color: Black
Height: 5 ft 11 in
Weight: 168
Eye Color: Brown
Texas Attorney General
MEDIA ADVISORY
Thursday, September 29, 2005 -
Ronald Ray Howard Scheduled For Execution
AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott
offers the following information about Ronald Ray Howard, who is
scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. Thursday, October 6, 2005.
The 32-year-old Howard was sentenced to death for
the capital murder of Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Bill
Davidson during a routine traffic stop. A summary of the evidence
presented at trial follows.
FACTS OF THE CRIME
On April 11, 1992, Texas Department of Public
Safety Trooper Bill Davidson stopped a vehicle on U.S. 59 in Jackson
County for having a broken headlight. The driver of the vehicle,
Ronald Ray Howard, shot Davidson in the neck. The vehicle Howard was
driving was stolen.
Howard fled the scene of the shooting, but he was
arrested within a couple of hours with the murder weapon, a nine
millimeter handgun loaded with hollow point bullets, in his
possession. No fewer than eight people witnessed the shooting and
provided a description of the gunman.
Howard confessed to killing
the trooper and repeated his confession to a grand jury. Tests
indicated Howard had both cocaine and marijuana in his system at the
time of the murder.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
April 30, 1992— A Jackson County grand jury
indicted Howard for capital murder.
July 14, 1993 — A jury found Howard guilty of
capital murder and following a separate punishment hearing, the
court assessed a sentence of death.
December 18, 1996 — Howard’s conviction was
affirmed on direct appeal by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
However, the court reversed the sentence and ordered a new
punishment trial.
January 26, 1999 — Howard was again sentenced to
death.
December 19, 2001 — The Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals affirmed the sentence.
May 13, 2002 — The U.S. Supreme Court denied
Howard’s petition for certiorari review.
September 5, 2000 — Howard filed an application
for writ of habeas corpus in the state trial court.
February 6, 2002 — The Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals denied habeas relief.
May 5, 2003 — Howard filed a petition for writ of
habeas corpus in a U.S. federal district court.
March 19, 2004 — The federal district court
denied habeas relief.
March 11, 2005 — The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals denied Howard permission to appeal and affirmed the federal
district court’s denial of habeas relief.
March 30, 2005 — The trial court entered an order
setting the execution date for October 6, 2005.
PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY
On Jan. 10, 1991, Howard received a 6-year
probated sentence for burglary of a motor vehicle and a 45-day jail
sentence for theft. Both were Harris County cases. Howard was on
probation when he shot Trooper Davidson.
Killer who said rap music influenced him is
executed
Man was convicted in Austin of killing police officer near
Edna
By Michael Graczyk -
Statesman.com
AP October 7, 2005
HUNTSVILLE -- Ronald Ray Howard was executed
Thursday for fatally shooting a state trooper, a slaying his trial
attorneys argued was prompted by Howard's listening to anti-police
rap music.
Asked if he had a final statement, Howard looked
at the trooper's widow, daughter and brother and said he hoped that
"this helps a little. I don't know how, but I hope it helps."
Then
he turned to friends and a brother who were among his witnesses,
expressing love and thanking them for finding two of his children,
who visited him on death row within the past week. "Love you all.
Thank you so much," he said.
As the drugs were administered, he
lifted his head from the gurney and mouthed that he loved them,
urged them to be strong and said "I'm going home." The slain
trooper's widow and daughter, who were standing next to the window,
hugged and kissed as Howard slipped into unconsciousness. Twelve
minutes later, he was pronounced dead.
Howard, 32, convicted in Austin, was executed for
gunning down Texas Department of Public Safety trooper Bill
Davidson, 43, during a traffic stop 13 years ago outside Edna, about
100 miles southwest of Houston.
The execution was the 14th this year
in Texas, the nation's most active capital punishment state. The
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles this week unanimously refused
Howard's request that his sentence be commuted to life.
In an interview Wednesday on death row, Howard
recalled the trooper pulling him over on U.S. 59 for a broken
headlight. "How you doing?" Davidson asked Howard, who was armed
with a 9 mm pistol. "But I was already in motion," Howard said. "I'd
already shot as I hear him saying that."
Davidson, father of two and on the force for 19
years, died three days later of a gunshot wound to the neck. Howard
was captured within hours of the slaying after a police chase that
ended in nearby Victoria when he crashed the stolen sport-utility
vehicle he was driving into a house and tried to run.
Howard said
the trooper earlier had pulled alongside of him, sped off, then was
waiting over a hill on the side of the road as Howard drove past.
Davidson then flicked on his lights and pulled him over, Howard said.
"I felt like I was being taunted," Howard said, adding that his
previous encounters with police, particularly in his hometown of
Houston, had soured him on police officers.
Defense attorneys argued at his trial that
Howard's constant exposure to gangsta rap music and its anti-police
messages influenced him to pull the trigger. "He grew up in the
ghetto and disliked police, and these were his heroes, these rappers
. . . telling him if you're pulled over, just blast away," his trial
attorney, Allen Tanner, recalled last week. "It affected him. That
was a totally valid serious defense."
"I'm not a psychologist," Howard said Wednesday.
"So I don't know. I never said: Yes, it did, or no, it didn't. I
don't know. But my lawyers thought it could have caused it." At the
time of the April 1992 shooting, the 18-year-old father of four was
on probation for burglary. He acknowledged Wednesday stealing "a lot
of cars" but said it was normal activity for kids in his part of
Houston.
Jurors in Austin, where Howard's trial was moved
because of publicity in Jackson County, needed just 40 minutes to
convict the admitted drug dealer and seventh-grade dropout. They
deliberated six days before deciding he should die.
The Texas Court
of Criminal Appeals overturned Howard's death sentence in 1996
because a potential juror improperly was eliminated from the jury
pool. At a second trial, in Corpus Christi in 1999, Howard again was
sentenced to die.
Howard was one of three Texas inmates with
execution dates this month. At least six are scheduled for November,
and another in December. In last-day appeals, David Dow, with the
Texas Innocence Project, argued in the federal courts Howard was
abandoned by a previous court-appointed attorney who failed to file
proper appeals.
Dow was appointed to the case within the past few
days and argued without a reprieve, there wasn't enough time for his
team to write a petition seeking review of the case. Howard was one
of three Texas inmates with execution dates this month. At least six
are scheduled for November and another in December.
Ronald Ray
Howard (July 22, 1973 –
October 6, 2005) was an African American convicted
murderer executed by lethal injection by the U.S.
state of Texas. He was convicted of the shooting
death of Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper
Bill Davidson after Howard was stopped driving a
stolen car on April 11, 1992.
Davidson had stopped Howard on
U.S. Highway 59 about 5 miles (8 km) south of Edna,
Texas in a 1986 GMC Jimmy, as his vehicle had a
broken headlight. When Davidson approached the
driver-side window of the car, he was shot in the
neck. Howard drove off but was apprehended later in
the night, with a 9 mm pistol. The car was later
found to be stolen. Three days later, Davidson died
of his injuries. Drug tests showed that Howard had
cocaine and cannabis in his system at the time of
the murder.
Howard also said that the rap
music that he listened to had conditioned him to
hate police officers. He had been listening to Tupac
Shakur's "Soulja's Story" when pulled over. The song
talks of a young black man being pulled over by a
police officer and then shooting him.
On June 8, 1993 he was convicted
of capital murder and just over a month later
sentenced to death. On December 18, 1996, however,
the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned the
sentence (but not the conviction) because a
prospective juror had been erroneously dismissed.
The appeals court ordered a new punishment trial,
which took place on January 26, 1999; the new trial
again sentenced Howard to death. This new sentence
was confirmed by the Court of Criminal Appeals on
December 19, 2001. On March 30, 2005 after appealing
to the Supreme Court of the United States, the Court
of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the District
Court for the Southern District of Texas his
execution date was set as October 6.
He was married with three
daughters and one son. Born in Houston, Texas, he
dropped out of school in the 8th grade. He started,
but never finished training in electrician, building
maintenance, computer data entry, and heavy diesel
mechanics. His prior criminal convictions were
burglary of a motor vehicle (6-year probated
sentence) and 45-day jail sentence for theft. When
Davidson was shot Howard was on probation.
According to the National
Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Howard
continued to regret his actions and worked to stop
at-risk youth following his lead. During his time on
death row he also become a more educated Christian
man.
When asked by the warden if he
had a final statement, he looked at the family of
Davidson and said:
"I hope this helps a little.
I don't know how, but I hope it helps."
He also told his family that he
loved them all.
Wikipedia.org
ProDeathPenalty.com
Bill Davidson, a state trooper, stopped Ronald
Ray Howard for a traffic violation. Davidson was shot through the
neck after stopping Howard in a stolen vehicle. Howard fled in the
stolen GMC Jimmy to Victoria, Texas where he was captured after a
police chase during which he lost control of his vehicle and struck
a horse.
He was arrested in possession of a loaded 9 mm pistol, the
same weapon used to shoot Davidson. Bill Davidson died three days
after being shot. Howard claimed that listening to a rap song caused
him to shoot Officer Davidson.
On April 11, 1992, Howard was driving an
automobile that he had stolen three days earlier when Department of
Public Safety Trooper Bill Davidson noticed that the right headlight
of the vehicle was broken. Davidson pulled Howard over to the side
of the road, called in the license plate, and got out of his police
car.
As Davidson approached the driver-side window, Howard shot him
in the neck, inflicting a fatal wound. Howard then drove off. Law
enforcement officers arrested Howard on the night of the shooting.
Later that month, a grand jury indicted him for
capital murder. Given the overwhelming evidence of guilt - including
multiple confessions by Howard (to the police, the grand jury, and
fellow inmates), numerous eye witnesses, and evidence that at the
time of his arrest Howard possessed ammunition matching the firearm
used to kill Trooper Davidson--Howard’s counsel did not contest the
State’s evidence at the guilt phase of his trial.
The jury convicted
Howard of capital murder. Following a separate punishment phase, the
jury answered the special issues in a manner requiring the
imposition of the death penalty. Consequently, the trial court
sentenced Howard to death. During his trial the suspect claimed he
shot Trooper Davidson because the rap music he was listening to
forced him to do so.
Trooper Davidson had served the Highway Patrol
for over 20 years. He began his career with the agency on June 26,
1973, and was stationed at Edna. He was survived by his wife and two
children.
Texas Execution Information
Center by David Carson
Txexecutions.org
Ronald Ray Howard, 32, was executed by lethal
injection on 6 October 2005 in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of a
state trooper.
On 11 April 1992, Trooper Bill Davidson, 43, of
the Texas Department of Public Safety observed a vehicle with a
broken headlight on U.S. Highway 59 in Jackson County.
He pulled the
vehicle over for a traffic stop. He called in the license plate and
learned that the vehicle, a 1986 GMC Jimmy, was stolen. As Davidson
approached the driver's window, the driver, Ronald Howard, then 18,
shot him in the neck. Howard then drove off.
At least eight people witnessed the shooting and
provided a description of the gunman. Trooper Davidson also
described the shooter. A pursuit by police ended when Howard lost
control of the vehicle and struck a house, then attempted to flee on
foot. He was arrested in possession of a loaded 9mm pistol. He
confessed to shooting Davidson, who died of his wound three days
later.
Howard had previous convictions for burglary and
theft. He was on probation at the time of the murder.
Howard and his trial attorney said that his
behavior was prompted in part by violent, anti-police rap music.
Howard told a grand jury that he was listening to "Soulja's Story"
by Tupac Shakur before the shooting. In the song, a black teenager
is pulled over by police and opens fire: They finally pull me over
and I laugh, "Remember Rodney King?", And I blast on his punk ass,
Now I got a murder case.
A jury convicted Howard of capital murder in July
1993 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
affirmed the conviction in December 1996, but, finding that a
prospective juror was erroneously dismissed over her ability to
impose a death sentence, it reversed the death sentence and ordered
a new punishment hearing.
In January 1999, Howard was again
sentenced to death by a jury. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed
the death sentence in December 2001. All of his subsequent appeals
in state and federal court were denied.
In an interview from death row, Howard told a
reporter that as he was driving on U.S. 59, Davidson pulled along
side of him, then sped off. When Howard drove over a hill, Davidson
was waiting for him on the other side. Howard said that as he drove
past, Davidson flipped on his lights and pulled him over. "I felt
like I was being taunted," Howard said.
"All my experiences with police have never been
good, whether I've been doing something bad or not," Howard
continued. "That's what I think played a major part. I assumed that
this wasn't going to be a good experience either." Howard said that
Davidson asked him, "How you doing?" as he approached him. "But I
was already in motion. I'd already shot as I hear him saying that."
In the interview, Howard did not say for certain
that rap music was responsible for his crime. "I'm not a
psychologist," Howard said. "So I don't know. I never said, 'yes it
did' or 'no it didn't.' I don't know. But my lawyers thought it
could have caused it. And they were trying to justify, put reason
for what I did."
Howard's trial attorney, Allen Tanner, told a
reporter the week before Howard's execution, "He grew up in the
ghetto and disliked police, and these were his heroes ... these
rappers ... telling him if you're pulled over, just blast away. It
affected him," Tanner said. That was a totally valid, serious
defense."
At the time of the shooting, Howard was an 18-year-old
father of four and was on probation for burglary. He told the
reporter that he had stolen "a lot of cars," but that was a normal
activity for teenagers in his Houston neighborhood. "When you think
about people on death row, you think of monsters - non-sociable
people who can't help but hurt other people," Howard said. "That's
not who I am."
"I hope this helps a little," Howard told the
victim's widow and two children at his execution. "I don't know how,
but I hope it helps." He then expressed love to his friends and
brother. As the lethal injection was administered, Howard looked at
his friends again and mouthed, "I'm going home. I'm good. Be strong.
I'll be alright." He was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m.
National Coalition to Abolish
the Death Penalty
Ronald Ray Howard - TEXAS - October 6, 2005
Ronald Ray Howard, a black man, faces execution
on Oct. 6, 2005 for the murder of Department of Public Safety
Trooper Bill Davidson, a 43-year-old white man, during a traffic
stop on April 11, 1992.
Ronald Howard was 18 years old at the time
of the crime and driving a stolen car when Davidson stopped him. In
an unpremeditated panic Howard shot Davidson. Ronald Ray Howard has
continual expressed his deep regret.
On appeal, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
denied Howard’s rehearing request. In a dissenting opinion Texas
Court of Criminal Appeals Justice Overstreet held that two of the
state-stricken jurors were not challengeable for cause. Perhaps if
these two legitimate jurors had been allowed to remain on the jury
Howard’s trial would have ended differently.
Thirteen years on death row has changed Ronald
Howard. He not only has continued to regret his own crime, but has
also joined in the struggle to help other at-risk youth to not
follow down his path. Howard’s own ghetto upbringing allows him to
connect with other at-risk youth.
In his 13 years on death row
Howard has used this fact to help other young people to not travel
the path that he did. Additionally Howard has spent his time on
death row becoming a more educated Christian man. Howard has earned
the respect of wardens and prison guards, some of whom have come to
him for advice or aide. Howard also currently lacks legal
representation.
The death of Officer Davidson is tragic. However
the death of Ronald Ray Howard will not bring Davidson back.
Allowing Howard to live also will allow him to continue his work in
preventing similar fates for other at risk youth. Please contact Gov.
Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole to ask that
Ronald Ray Howard’s execution be stopped.
Man executed for slaying state trooper
By Brian Lacy -
The Hunstville Item
October 7, 2005
Thirteen years after standing beside Bill
Davidson's hospital bed as he died, the family of the state trooper
watched Thursday night as his killer was executed inside the
Huntsville ”Walls“ Unit.
Ronald Ray Howard was sentenced to death
for killing Davidson, a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper,
with a gunshot to the neck during a traffic stop outside Edna, about
100 miles southwest of Houston, on April 11, 1992.
In his final statement, Howard looked at
Davidson's family and said, ”I hope this helps a little. I don't
know how, but I hope it helps.“ He then thanked his supporters,
including one brother, for their love and support. Before losing
consciousness, he continued to look at his friend, mouthing the
words ”I'm going home. I'm good. Be strong. I'll be alright.“ Howard
was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m., 12 minutes after the lethal
injection was given.
Linda Davidson, Bill's widow, asked people to
remember what a wonderful man her husband was - not what kind of
person Howard could have become. ”It helps knowing the son of a
bitch got what he deserved,“ she said of Howard. ”Today justice has
been served. It's real frustrating - the wheels of justice turn very
slowly.“
In an interview Wednesday at death row, Howard
recalled the trooper pulling him over on U.S. Highway 59, apparently
for a broken headlight. ”How you doing?“ Davidson asked the then
18-year-old Howard, who was armed with a 9 mm pistol. ”But I was
already in motion,“ Howard said. ”I'd already shot as I hear him
saying that.“
Davidson, father of two and on the force for 19
years, died three days later of a gunshot wound to the neck. Howard
was captured within hours of the slaying after a police chase that
ended in nearby Victoria when he wrecked the stolen SUV he was
driving, crashing it into a house, and tried to run away on foot.
Howard said the trooper earlier had pulled along
side of him, sped off, then was waiting over a hill on the side of
the road as Howard drove past, flicked on his lights and pulled him
over. ”I felt like I was being taunted,“ Howard said, adding that
his previous encounters with police, particularly in his hometown of
Houston, soured him on police officers.
Defense lawyers argued at his trial that Howard's
constant exposure to gangsta rap music and its anti-police messages
influenced him to pull the trigger. ”He grew up in the ghetto and
disliked police and these were his heroes, these rappers ... telling
him if you're pulled over, just blast away,“ his trial attorney,
Allen Tanner, recalled last week. ”It affected him. That was a
totally valid serious defense.“
Howard told a grand jury he was
listening to ”Soulja's Story“ by Tupac Shakur before he shot
Davidson. The song makes references to a young black male being
pulled over by police, remembering Rodney King, then opening fire on
an officer.
At the time of the April 1992 shooting, the 18-year-old
father of four was on probation for burglary. He acknowledged
Wednesday stealing ”a lot of cars“ but said it was the normal
activity for kids in his part of Houston. ”When you think about
people on death row, you think of monsters, non-sociable people who
can't help but hurt other people. That's not who I am,“ he said.
Howard's execution was the 14th this year in
Texas and the first of three scheduled for October.
Ronald Ray Howard, Sr.
About.com
Tried and convicted in Travis County on a change
of venue from Jackson County, Ronald Ray Howard was on death row for
the 1992 shooting death of a Texas Department of Public Safety
Trooper. At his trial Howard blamed rap, and specifically music by
Tupac Shakur, for goading him into violence.
On Texas Death Row: Ronald Ray Howard, Sr., Texas
Department of Criminal Justice Number 999069, was received at TDCJ
on August 25, 1993. His sentence was reversed in 1996 but he was re-sentenced
to death in 1999. He was executed on October 6, 2005.
"As I've made plenty of changes over the years
with my life and way of thinking, the only purpose to be served by
my execution now would be that of revenge." ~ Ronald Ray Howard, Sr.
About Ronald Ray Howard, Sr.: Ron Howard was from
Houston, Texas. Born July 22, 1973, by the time he was 17 he had
already had run-ins with the law including "Unauthorized Use of a
Motor Vehicle."
He was 18 when he was arrested for the shooting of
DPS Trooper Bill Davidson in Jackson County, Texas after a high
speed chase. Howard was driving a stolen vehicle. Howard has three
daughters and one son.
About Bill Davidson: Trooper Bill Davidson began
his career with the Texas Department of Public Safety on June 26,
1973. He was stationed at Edna, Texas. Davidson died on April 14,
1992, from injuries suffered when he was shot on April 11 after
stopping a stolen vehicle driven by Ronald Ray Howard. He was 43 at
the time of his death and is survived by his wife, Linda.
Rap Music and the Death of Trooper Bill Davidson:
In an articled entitled, "The Music of Murder" Dennis R Martin
writes,
"On April 11, 1992, Trooper Bill Davidson,
formerly with the Texas Department of Public Safety, was killed in
cold blood as he approached the driver of a vehicle he had stopped
for a defective headlight. The trooper's widow, Linda Davidson,
described to me an account of the events surrounding the killing and
the impact of this tragedy on the Davidson Family.
The teen-age
killer, Ronald Howard, explained to law enforcement authorities that
he felt hypnotized by the lyrics of six songs by the rap group 2 Pac,
from their album 2 Pacalypse Now which urge the killing of police
officers.
Howard claims that the lyrical instructions devoured him
like an animal, taking control over his subconscious mind and
compelling him to kill Trooper Davidson as he approached Howard's
vehicle. The rap's influence, however, apparently continues to
affect Howard's judgment.
Two psychiatrists found that the music
still affects his psychosocial behavior. In a meeting with Linda
Davidson, Howard expressed his desire to completely carry out the
rap's instruction by putting away a pig's wife and dusting his
family. Howard's reaction has left Linda dumfounded, confused,
bewildered, and most of all, angry."
In an English 201 paper "Music and Violence: Does
Music Really Trigger Violence?" Ryan Leyden writes:
"In 1993 Ronald Ray Howard, an eighth grade drop-out,
was convicted of shooting Texas State Trooper Bill Davidson. This
teenager had been listening to the song "Sister Souljah," by Tupac
Shakur. The songs' lyrics are: “Cops on my tail they finally pull me
over and I laugh. Remember Rodney King and I blast his punk ass.”
The jury remained unconvinced that Howard's
listening to the song caused him to commit an act of violence.
Howard placed responsibility in Shakur for "pulling the trigger". He
was convicted of the murder."
From Jacci Howard Bear,Your Guide to Austin, TX.
Ronrhoward.org
Welcome to the Website of Ronald Ray Howard, Sr.
*22 July 1973 - †06 October 2005
After having resided in a small cage on Texas'
death row for more than 13 years, Ron was murdered by the State of
Texas on the 6th of October, 2005.
We, his family and friends, are shocked at the
brutality of this system that made our loved one a person who did
not deserve to live because of a single action that was not
premeditated but committed in an act of panic. A system that did not
see the changes in him, that did not even consider giving him a
second chance, a fair trial, or effective counsel.
We grieve the loss of Ron, a wonderful father to
three, a loving brother, caring son and grandson, and the best
friend and companion we have ever had. Yet inspite of the grief and
horror, we know that Ron is in a better place now. After so many
years of fighting, pain and mistreatment, our beloved Ron is free at
last.
The system tried hard, but it did not break Ron.
He was strong, postitive, courageous, and dignified to his last
seconds. The State of Texas took his body but it could not take his
soul. Ron's spirit lives on in all of us who love him. And it lives
on in his writings on this website. Ron reached out to speak the
truth about his life, the ghetto myth and Hip Hop, and life on death
row. He has reached at-risk youth and helped them find better
perspectives for their own lives than life on the streets. He has
made a difference to young and old all over the world. We will
continue to keep this spirit alive.
The goal of this site is many, but one thing it
is not is a site meant to champion myself. Not in the least. This
site is not an attempt to make me look like an angel, for I admit
that I am not. But I am also not the monster who many would attempt
to say I am.
The main goal of this site is to serve as a
warning to those would-be murderers, drug dealers, or criminals. To
show that one does not have to be the worst of the worst to find
themselves on death row or in prison for life. This site is an
attempt to do something that the death penalty does not do: serve as
a deterrent. And if it does in fact serve as a deterrent, if one
person does not die because of my writing, then the death of Mr.
Davidson would not have been in vain.
That is the main goal of this website. I have
never asked anyone for sympathy, for I realize no matter what, I was
wrong for my actions many years ago. It took time to understand
that. But I understand. As I've made plenty of changes over the
years with my life and way of thinking, the only purpose to be
served by my execution now would be that of revenge.
With the use of this website I have sought to use
my life as an example of the realities of life on the streets and
where it could lead. Hoping that some at risk youth might see my
message and choose to do better with their lives. This website has
been my voice, and over the few years I've been doing this, on many
occasions I've been rewarded with messages from young people letting
me know that my story, my life, and my words has had positive
effects on their way of thinking...
There are those who wish me ill no matter what.
There are those who actually have a reason to. And I understand that
as well. So if you wish to express your hopes of my demise Im okay
with that. Death isnt something I fear, its something we all will
face someday. For death is the wage of sin.
But for those of you who simply wish to send hate
messages and attempt to make like you actually know me, and claim
that I write lies on this site, I ask you to prove it. If you can,
then it will be accepted and acknowledged. Otherwise, do not make
claims when you have never even walked a day in my life.
Otherwise your messages will not be allowed on
this site. Thank you for your time and patience as we continuously
struggle to make something positive come from this insane tragedy.
I write in sincerity.
Ron R. Howard, Sr.
Killer who blamed rap music executed
Houston Chronicle
Associated Press - Oct. 6, 2005
HUNTSVILLE — Convicted killer Ronald Ray Howard
was executed today for fatally shooting a Texas state trooper, a
slaying his trial attorneys argued was prompted by Howard listening
to anti-police rap music. Asked if he had a final statement, Howard
looked at the trooper's widow, daughter and brother and said he
hoped "this helps a little. I don't know how, but I hope it helps."
Then he turned to friends and a brother who were
among his witnesses, expressing love and thanking them for locating
two of his young children, who visited him on death row within the
past week. "Love you all. Thank you so much," he said.
As the drugs
were administered, he lifted his head from the gurney and mouthed
that he loved them, urged them to be strong and said "I'm going home."
Twelve minutes later, he was pronounced dead. The widow and daughter,
who were standing next to the window, hugged and kissed as he
slipped into unconsciousness.
Howard, 32, was executed for gunning down Texas
Department of Public Safety Officer Bill Davidson, 43, during a
traffic stop 13 years ago outside Edna, about 100 miles southwest of
Houston.
The execution was the 14th this year in Texas, the nation's
most active capital punishment state. The Texas Board of Pardons and
Paroles earlier this week unanimously refused Howard's request that
his death sentence be commuted to life.
"It helps knowing the son of a bitch got what he
deserved," Linda Davidson, the trooper's widow, describing Howard as
the "judge, jury and executioner" of her husband. "Today justice has
been served. It's real frustrating the wheels of justice turn very
slowly."
In an interview Wednesday at death row, Howard
recalled the trooper pulling him over on U.S. Highway 59, apparently
for a broken headlight. "How you doing?" Davidson asked the then 18-year-old
Howard, who was armed with a 9 mm pistol. "But I was already in
motion," Howard said. "I'd already shot as I hear him saying that."
Davidson, father of two and on the force for 19 years, died three
days later of a gunshot wound to the neck.
Howard was captured
within hours of the slaying after a police chase that ended in
nearby Victoria when he wrecked the stolen SUV he was driving,
crashing it into a house, and tried to run away on foot.
Howard said the trooper earlier had pulled along
side of him, sped off, then was waiting over a hill on the side of
the road as Howard drove past, flicked on his lights and pulled him
over. "I felt like I was being taunted," Howard said, adding that
his previous encounters with police, particularly in his hometown of
Houston, soured him on police officers. "All my experiences with
police have never been good, whether I've been doing something bad
or not. That's what I think played a major part. I assumed that this
wasn't going to be a good experience either."
Defense lawyers argued at his trial that Howard's
constant exposure to gangsta rap music and its anti-police messages
influenced him to pull the trigger. "He grew up in the ghetto and
disliked police and these were his heroes, these rappers ... telling
him if you're pulled over, just blast away," his trial attorney,
Allen Tanner, recalled last week. "It affected him. That was a
totally valid serious defense."
Howard told a grand jury he was
listening to Soulja's Story by Tupac Shakur before he shot Davidson.
The song makes references to a young black male being pulled over by
police, remembering Rodney King, then opening fire on an officer. "I'm
not a psychologist," Howard said Wednesday. "So I don't know. I
never said: Yes it did or no it didn't. I don't know. But my lawyers
thought it could have caused it. And they were trying to justify,
put reason, for what I did."
At the time of the April 1992 shooting, the
18-year-old father of four was on probation for burglary. He
acknowledged Wednesday stealing "a lot of cars" but said it was the
normal activity for kids in his part of Houston. "When you think
about people on death row, you think of monsters, non-sociable
people who can't help but hurt other people. That's not who I am,"
he said.
Jurors in Austin, where Howard's trial was moved
because of publicity in Jackson County, needed just 40 minutes to
convict the self-admitted drug dealer and seventh-grade dropout. The
same panel, however, deliberated six days before deciding he should
die.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Howard's death
sentence in 1996 because a potential juror improperly was eliminated
from the jury pool. At a second trial in Corpus Christi in 1999,
Howard again was sentenced to die.
In last-day appeals, David Dow, with the Texas
Innocence Project, argued in the federal courts Howard was abandoned
by a previous court-appointed attorney who failed to file proper
appeals. Dow was appointed to the case within the past few days and
argued without a reprieve, there wasn't enough time for his team to
write a petition seeking review of the case.
Howard was one of three Texas inmates with
execution dates this month. At least six are scheduled for November
and another in December.
Texas executes rap fan who killed police officer
Reuters News
Oct 6, 2005
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (Reuters) - Texas executed a
man on Thursday who killed a police officer and blamed it on rap
music that he said goaded him into violence. Ronald Ray Howard, 32,
was the 14th person put to death this year in Texas, the nation's
leading death penalty state.
He was condemned for the shooting death of Texas
Department of Public Safety Trooper Bill Davidson on April 11, 1992.
Howard was driving a stolen vehicle and shot Davidson in the neck
when the officer pulled him over and approached his car.
At his trial, Howard's lawyers argued the rap
music he listened to for hours, particularly that of late rapper
Tupac Shakur, carried a message of violence toward police that
influenced Howard's behavior.
In a final statement while strapped to a gurney
in the Texas death chamber, Howard said he hoped his execution "helps
a little" for Davidson's family, but added, "I do not know how." "I
love you all very much. Thank you very much," he said. Howard did
not request a last meal.
He was the 350th person executed in Texas since
the state resumed the death penalty in 1982, six years after a U.S.
Supreme Court decision lifted a national ban on capital punishment.
Nine more executions are scheduled in Texas this year.
Canadian Coalition to Abolish
the Death Penalty
To All Concerned, Hello !
So how has life been treating you as of late ? I
hope that life is worth enjoying on your end. I guess you could say
that I am doing all right at the moment, although, we both know that
I could and should be doing much better. Anyway, I am writing this
letter in hopes of drawing your attention to establishing a
friendship with me. Being that this is an introduction letter, I
would like to take this time to introduce myself to you.
My name is
Ronald R. Howard Sr., and I am 27 years of age. And right now I am
trapped on the most infamous, or famous, depending on your choice,
death row here in the United States, Texas Death Row. I have been
here for the last seven years. But I have been jailed for the last
eight and a half years. I'm from the city of Houston, and have lived
there for all of the 18 years of freedom that I enjoyed.
I stand at about 6'2, and weigh 210 pounds. I
have black hair and brown eyes. I'm also the father of three, and
with the picture I am sending of myself, you will see my youngest
little girl with me. Her name is JaBoria. I have a great deal that
interest. I enjoy reading, listening to music, playing sports such
as football and basketball. I also like to watch boxing. I enjoy
spending time with friends. I like animals of the wild, large cats,
snakes, and wild birds or exotic birds. Though I have never been
camping or had a chance to take a hike through a forest, I think
that I would enjoy that as well. These are just a few things that I
find of interest. Being that I have briefly described myself to you
I would like to close this letter by letting you know the type of
person I'm looking forward to hearing from.
I'm a very open and
honest person, therefore, I am looking for the same in return.
Someone who is willing to simply be the person that they are,
willing to share their thoughts and ideas with me. And at the same
time listen to what is on my mind.
Someone who understands that life
here can be very stressful and boring and that a regular
correspondence with someone is really appreciated on this end. Are
you that somebody ? Tell me you're that somebody. Having said all of
that, I will now bring this letter to a close. I hope, that this
letter definitely strikes your interest in corresponding because I
am looking because I am looking for a friend I can express myself to.
You will find out more about me in future letters if you take the
time to respond.
Sincerely, Ron Howard
Ron's Original Pen Pal Request:
Dear Reader, First off, I am hoping that this letter may find you at
your very best. That your health is good, and that you have a smile
shining bright.... And as for myself I well I am doing fine. And
speaking of myself, Please allow me to introduce myself... My name
is Ronald Ray Howard Sr., and I am a 26 year old African American,
who has somehow found himself trapped within prison wall's....In
fact I am on death row, and have been for a little over six years
now.
I am writing this letter in hope's of finding a
friend or two. A pen friend. Some one who I can trade thought's with.
Some one just to be a friend. And as I understand it, you and/or
your organization help's people like me with finding some one to
write.
So I would like to ask that you assist me in my search for a
pen pal. And to assist you in the search, I think that I would do
good in telling you more of what type of person that I am hoping to
find. And then a little more about myself, as well....
I am
searching for some one who is at least 24 year's of age and up. Male
or Female? It really doesn't matter. I am looking for someone who
can be honest and open minded. Real and true to themselves, and then
to me as well.
I am hoping for a person who is down to earth.
Someone who will not attempt to judge another, but who will try to
understand first and foremost. And as for me, I feel that I am a
very real, honest and down to earth person. I try to enjoy the
simple thing's that life has to offer. I am not a religious person,
yet I do believe in God. I feel that since there is so much evil in
this world, that there just has to be some goodness too. I like
animals, most all kinds, but large cat's and Black Panther's in
particular.
I enjoy listening to music, reading book's and some
poetry too. I also enjoy doing work with my hand's. Wood craft's and
the like. And I am a very big sport's fan. Baseball, and Football, I
like to play and watch too. But I love to watch and play basketball.
It is my favorite.
Well, that's really all that I can think of
to tell you about myself, and what I am in search of. I really do
hope that it is a help. And I am hoping to receive some type of
response some time in the near future.... I would like to thank you
fur you time and for your help.
Sincerely, Ron Howard
Howard v. State,
941 S.W.2d 102 (Tex.Cr.App. 1996) (Direct Appeal).
Defendant was convicted in the 24th District
Court, Jackson County, Whayland G. Kilgore, J., of capital murder.
Defendant appealed. The Court of Criminal Appeals, Mansfield, J., on
original disposition and Clinton, J., on rehearing, held that: (1)
vacillating veniremember was properly dismissed; (2) defendant's
voir dire examination was not impermissibly restricted by rephrasing
requirement; (3) veniremembers who expressed unequivocal opposition
to imposing death penalty were properly dismissed without affording
defendant opportunity to examine them; (4) presence of 20 uniformed
state troopers and police officers at penalty phase did not violate
right to fair trial; (5) three jury deadlock notes during penalty
phase did not warrant mistrial; (6) supplemental charge encouraging
dialectic on punishment determination was not coercive; and, on
rehearing, (7) trial court abused its discretion in granting State's
causal challenge against veniremember who stated that she would
require proof of prior murder to find future dangerousness for
sentencing purposes.
Vacated and cause remanded. Overstreet, J.,
dissented on original disposition. Maloney, J., dissented on
original disposition and filed opinion in which Clinton and Baird,
JJ., joined. Baird, J., filed concurring statement joining only in
judgment of court on rehearing. McCormick, P.J., and Maloney, J.,
dissented in part on rehearing with separate opinions. White,
Mansfield, and Keller, JJ., dissented on rehearing.
MANSFIELD, Justice. A Travis County jury [FN1]
convicted appellant, Ronald Ray Howard, of capital murder. At the
punishment phase of the trial, the jury found appellant to be a "future
danger" under and, further, declined to find mitigating
circumstances sufficient to militate against application of the
death penalty under Article 37.071 § 2(e). The trial court sentenced
appellant to death. We will affirm the judgment of the trial court.
FN1. Appellant's trial was held in Travis County
on a change of venue from Jackson County.
* * *
The facts pertaining to the guilt/innocence phase
of the prosecution are virtually uncontested. The victim, Department
of Public Safety Trooper Bill Davidson, pulled appellant over in the
course of a routine traffic stop on April 11, 1992, in Jackson
County. Appellant was driving a stolen car and apparently decided to
shoot Trooper Davidson rather than submit to the stop. When the
trooper approached appellant's automobile, appellant shot him in the
neck, killing him. Appellant confessed to the killing on three
distinct occasions. [FN4]
FN4. First, appellant gave a voluntary,
tape-recorded confession shortly after his arrest. Later, appellant
gave a second written confession to police. Both were admitted into
evidence at trial. In both instances, appellant conceded shooting
the peace officer with conscious knowledge of the victim's status as
such. Finally appellant confessed to a grand jury. The recording of
the grand jury proceeding was also played to the jury.
* * *
OPINION ON APPELLANT'S MOTION FOR REHEARING
CLINTON, Judge.
We granted rehearing in this cause in order to re-examine
appellant's points of error one and twenty-four, whereby he
contended the trial court erred in granting State's challenges for
cause against veniremen Durling and Ochoa, respectively. Appellant
contends that our disposition of these points of error on original
submission conflicts with our holding in Garrett v. State, 851 S.W.2d
853 (Tex.Cr.App.1993). On closer scrutiny we reaffirm our conclusion
that the trial court did not err in granting the State's challenge
for cause against venireman Ochoa. However, we conclude that the
State failed to sustain its burden to establish venireman Durling
was challengeable for cause, and that the trial court erred to grant
the State's challenge against her. Accordingly, we will vacate the
judgment of the trial court and remand the cause for a new
punishment proceeding. Article 44.29(c), V.A.C.C.P.; Ransom v. State,
920 S.W.2d 288 (Tex.Cr.App.1996) (Opinion on State's motion for
rehearing).
Howard v. Dretke,
125 Fed.Appx. 560 (5th Cir. 2005). (Habeas)
Background: Defendant convicted of capital murder
petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus. The United States District
Court for the Southern District of Texas denied relief. Defendant
applied for a certificate of appealability (COA).
Holding: The Court of Appeals, King, Chief
Circuit Judge, held that state appellate court was not unreasonable
in concluding that defendant's attorney did not provide ineffective
assistance of counsel. Application denied.
Petitioner-Appellant Ronald Ray Howard seeks a
certificate of appealability (COA) to appeal the district court's
dismissal of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas corpus petition. Because
Howard cannot make a substantial showing of the denial of a
constitutional right, we DENY his application for a COA.
I. BACKGROUND
On April 11, 1992, Howard was driving an
automobile that he had stolen three days earlier when Department of
Public Safety Trooper Bill Davidson noticed that the right headlight
of the vehicle was broken. Davidson pulled Howard over to the side
of the road, called in the license plate, and got out of his police
car. As Davidson approached the driver-side window, Howard shot him
in the neck, inflicting a fatal wound. Howard then drove off.
Law enforcement officers arrested Howard on the
night of the shooting. Later that month, a grand jury indicted him
for capital murder. Given the overwhelming evidence of guilt--e.g.,
multiple confessions by Howard (to the police, the grand jury, and
fellow inmates), numerous eye witnesses, and evidence that at the
time of his arrest Howard possessed ammunition matching the firearm
used to kill Trooper Davidson--Howard's counsel did not contest the
State's evidence at the guilt phase of his trial. The jury convicted
Howard of capital murder.
Following a separate punishment phase, the jury
answered the special issues in a manner requiring the imposition of
the *562 death penalty. Consequently, the trial court sentenced
Howard to death. On direct review, however, the Texas Court of
Criminal Appeals overturned the sentence, finding that the trial
court erroneously dismissed a prospective juror over her ability to
answer Texas's special issues. Howard v. State, 941 S.W.2d 102 (Tex.Crim.App.1996).
After a second punishment phase, a new jury answered Texas's special
issues in a manner again requiring the imposition of a death
sentence. Again, the trial court sentenced Howard to death. The
Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the judgment on direct appeal,
and the United States Supreme Court denied Howard's petition for
certiorari. Howard v. Texas, 535 U.S. 1065, 122 S.Ct. 1935, 152 L.Ed.2d
840 (2002).
While his second direct appeal was pending,
Howard filed a state application for habeas relief. The state habeas
court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law recommending
the denial of Howard's state habeas application. The Court of
Criminal Appeals subsequently denied Howard's application.
On May 5, 2003, Howard filed a petition for
habeas relief in the United States District Court for the Southern
District of Texas. In his federal habeas petition, which was
prepared with the assistance of newly court-appointed counsel,
Howard alleged that his trial counsel provided ineffective
assistance of counsel by not contesting the State's evidence at the
guilt phase of his original trial.
In addition, Howard argued that he was denied
effective assistance of counsel during his second punishment phase
because his attorney: (1) failed to object during voir dire when the
prosecution informed potential jurors of Howard's first death
sentence; (2) failed to strike a juror whose husband and brother
were law enforcement officers; (3) entered into an agreement with
the prosecution that allowed Howard's extraneous offenses into
evidence without objection; and (4) failed to object to numerous
prosecution exhibits. On March 19, 2004, the district court rejected
Howard's claims, denied his habeas petition, and denied a COA on all
of his claims. Howard now seeks a COA from this court only with
respect to his argument that his trial attorney provided ineffective
assistance of counsel at the second punishment phase by not
objecting when the prosecution repeatedly informed potential jurors
that Howard had been sentenced to death at the original punishment
phase of his trial.
* * *
For the forgoing reasons, we DENY Howard's
application for a COA.
