Duane Buck

Duane Edward Buck (born July 5, 1963) is an African-American man on death row following his conviction for the shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend Debra Gardner and her friend Kenneth Butler. He also wounded his own sister, who was also at Gardner's home. His case has attracted extensive attention after Buck argued his right to a fair trial was violated when a psychologist testified that black people were statistically more likely to commit violence. In Texas, the jury must agree that the defendant poses a continuing threat to recommend a death sentence.

He was scheduled to be executed on September 15, 2011, however, the Supreme Court of the United States granted a stay of the process. The psychologist's assertion about black offenders has been the cornerstone of Buck's death penalty appeal; that his sentencing was racially biased. In 2000 Texas Attorney General John Cornyn recommended that six cases, including Buck's case, be reviewed for racially biased testimony. Buck's case was not reviewed; the other five cases were reviewed but all of those offenders were sentenced to death again because the testimony was found to be only a small part of each trial.

In response to Buck's case, the justices conceded that the testimony of Dr. Walter Quijano, "would provide a basis for reversal of [Buck's] sentence if the prosecution were responsible for presenting that testimony to the jury." However, the witness was a defense witness and it was Buck's own attorney who elicited the correlation between race and future risk for criminal actions. Retired Justice John Paul Stevens commented that he believed the decision would be different if the prosecution presented the testimony. Sonia Sotomayor described Buck's death sentence as "marred by racial overtones" that "our criminal justice system should not tolerate." Sotomayor and Justice Elena Kagan dissented from the denial.