John —

As Melissa Lucio's execution date of April 27, 2022 approaches, a former juror from her 2008 trial is speaking out about why he regrets his decision to convict her and sentence her to death.
 
Johnny Galvin Jr. recently penned an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle about his experience serving on Melissa’s jury. He shares that he initially did not vote to sentence Melissa to death because he felt Melissa’s lawyers were “hardly making a case for her,” but that he ultimately felt pressured by the other jurors to vote for a death sentence.

“... I wish I had never done so,” he wrote. 

Take a moment to read more about Johnny’s decision to speak out on Melissa’s case, and then share the article with your friends and family online.

Melissa was taken into custody and aggressively questioned for hours on the night of her daughter's death. She asserted her innocence more than 100 times during the five-hour interrogation. Her perseverance through the grueling and traumatic interrogation was particularly noteworthy given the lifetime of violence and abuse she has survived. He also said that he was led to believe that the medical examiner had scientific proof of abuse, and that he and his fellow jurors were not aware there were other medical explanations for the child’s bruises, which the medical examiner claimed with certainty could only have been caused by abuse.

“If I had known all of this information, or even part of it, I would have stood by my vote for life no matter what anyone else on the jury said. But it seems some of my fellow jurors would also have voted differently if they knew all the information about Lucio’s life, her interrogation and the facts surrounding the child’s death that the lawyers should have told us,” Johnny said.

Now, Johnny is joining three other former jurors in saying they support relief for Melissa, due to their grave concerns about evidence that was withheld from them at trial. More than 80 Texas state representatives from both sides of the aisle have also signed a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles urging them to grant Melissa clemency.

“The idea that my decision to take another person’s life was not based on complete and accurate information in a fair trial is horrifying,” wrote Johnny. “I am now convinced that the jury got it wrong and I know that there is too much doubt to execute [Melissa] Lucio. If I could take back my vote, I would.”

Read more from Johnny’s op-ed and the evidence that was withheld from the jury at Melissa’s trial here, and then please share it widely. We have less than 30 days to prevent this irreversible injustice.

Thank you,

— The Innocence Project Team

P.S. If you haven’t yet, add your name to the petition calling on Texas to stop Melissa's execution or text SAVEMELISSA to 97016.