Justice for Robert Pruett

I'VE BEEN trying to find somebody interested in getting their hands dirty regarding the case of Robert Lynn Pruett, who is a young man sitting on death row in Texas right now. I don't believe there are many innocent men on death row at the moment, but I believe Mr. Pruett is one.

Robert Lynn Pruett has been sitting on Texas death row since 2002 now, and knowing the expeditious rate at which Texas executes its inmates, I feel he won't be there much longer. The average inmate in Texas spends 6.5 years on death row before he is executed.

Pruett was charged with the death of correctional officer Daniel Nagle, although correctional officers that knew Pruett and one other witness have come forward in the past to say that he had no part in the killing--that it was in fact gang related, with the catalyst being a drug ring that was possibly going to be exposed by Nagle.

Pruett was already serving a 99-year sentence under Texas' law of parties for a murder his father participated in when Pruett was only 15 years old. Now, he sits on death row.

Through various reports, I've come across some interesting facts on his case:

-- The state's case against Pruett consists only of inmates. Only one inmate, Allen Thompson, signed a statement the day of the murder. Thompson, who worked for Sgt. Martinez as an informant, claimed to witness Pruett attacking Nagle. He also stated that he ran to find the first guard so that he could to alert them of the attack.

Officer Dancer was the first person Thompson alerted about the altercation. The problem is, he had to wait for Officer L. Gleiu to open the gate for him before he could get to Officer Dancer, who was in another part of the building. Upon finding Officer Dancer, he told her he needed to speak with Sgt. Martinez. Officer Gleiu testified that she has no memory of seeing Thompson at all that day. Allen Thompson was the state's star witness.

-- A torn-up disciplinary report with Pruett's name on it was found by Nagle's body. However, the only evidence found on the report was an unknown palm print that belonged to neither Pruett or Nagle. Nagle would have had to have signed off on the discipline report before it being processed, yet none of his fingerprints appeared on the report.

-- Every inmate who testified against Pruett received a reward in exchange for their testimony.

--DNA evidence--blood--was found at the crime scene, but it all belonged to Nagle except a spot on the murder weapon that was unable to be identified. The prosecution argued that Pruett cut his thumb while stabbing Nagle to death. Pictures were taken of a wound on Pruett's thumb, which he states he cut earlier that day on the workout equipment in the recreation yard.

However, after DNA testing, none of Pruett's blood was found in or around the crime scene, or on the murder weapon, and none of Nagle's blood was found on Pruett or on any of his clothing. There is no physical or DNA evidence linking Pruett to the crime scene.

-- Sgt. Martinez was indicted the same day as Pruett for laundering $60, 000 of drug money for a prison gang. He was apprehended with the money a month after Nagle's murder, along with several other officers. Sgt. Ortiz resigned around the same time. Both of these Sergeants were on duty at the time of Nagle's death.

-- Nagle was the president of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Worker's Union, and was well known for adhering to the rules and outing dirty guards. If Sergeants Martinez and Ortiz were indeed affiliated with a prison gang and laundering drug money for them, that would be motive enough to stage the crime scene with the disciplinary report against Pruett, and get Nagle out of the way.

Further information on this case can be found at the Austin Chronicle, To Free the Truth and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Web sites.

If you've read this far, thank you for taking the time to do so. I hope you find the evidence above compelling enough to look into this case. A young man's life depends on it.
Candice Christie, from the Internet