Death row inmate asks for postponement of execution so he can donate kidney, #Death #convicted #prisoner #question #correction #delay #donate #kid Welcome to OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
An American prisoner who will be killed in less than two weeks has demanded that his execution be postponed so that he can donate a kidney.
Ramiro Gonzales will receive a lethal injection on July 13 for fatally shooting 18-year-old Bridget Townsend, a woman in southwest Texas whose remains were found nearly two years after she disappeared in 2001.
In a letter sent to Gonzales’ lawyers, Thea Posel and Raoul Schonemann, the Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to grant a 30-day extension so that the prisoner can be considered a living donor “to someone in dire need of a kidney transplant.”
His lawyers also made a separate request to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles for a 180-day adjournment related to the kidney donation.
In their request to Abbott, Gonzales’ attorneys included a letter from Officer Michael Zoosman, an ordained Jewish clergyman from Maryland who corresponded with Gonzales.
“There was no doubt in my mind that Ramiro’s desire to be an altruistic kidney donor is not motivated by a last minute attempt to stop or postpone his execution. “I will go to my grave and believe in my heart that this is something Ramiro wants to do to help heal his soul with his God,” Zoosman wrote.
Gonzales ‘lawyers say he is determined to be an “excellent candidate” for donation after being evaluated by the transplant team at the University of Texas’ medical branch in Galveston. The evaluation found Gonzales has a rare blood type, which means his donation could benefit someone who may be struggling to find a match.
“Virtually all that is left is the operation to remove Ramiro’s kidney. “UTMB has confirmed that the procedure can be completed within a month,” Posel and Schonemann wrote to Abbott.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice allows inmates to make organ and tissue donations.
Amanda Hernandez, the agency’s spokeswoman, said Gonzales was deemed incompetent after making a request to be a donor earlier this year. She did not give a reason, but Gonzales’ lawyers said in their letter that the agency had objected due to the pending execution date.
Gonzales’ lawyers also made a separate request, asking the council to commute his death sentence to a lesser sentence.
They also asked that his execution not continue if his spiritual counselor was not allowed to hold his hand and place another hand on his heart during his execution.
A federal hearing on the latter request would begin on Tuesday, July 5th.
Gonzales, a prisoner with a seventh-grade education, was convicted of shooting dead 18-year-old Bridget Townsend when he was 18. Her remains have not been found for two years.