The execution of a Texas inmate convicted of fatally shooting three teenagers in 1998 is back on despite concerns his trial was tainted by racial bias.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reinstated John Balentine’s death warrant after it was withdrawn last week by another judge because Balentine’s attorneys had not been told about the upcoming lethal injection. He was set to be executed Wednesday night.
Balentine, 54, was convicted and later sentenced to death for the Jan. 1998 slayings of Edward Mark Caylor, 17, Kai Brooke Geyer, 15, and Steven Watson, 15, at a home in Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle.
Prosecutors argued at his trial that the killings happened as a result of a feud between Balentine and Caylor, the brother of Balentine’s ex-girlfriend. The victims were shot in the head while sleeping.
Balentine, who is Black, said he had been threatened by Caylor, who was white, over his interracial relationship between Caylor’s sister.
An appeals court rejected Balentine’s lawyers’ attempt to have his execution halted because of allegations that “racism and racial issues pervaded” his trial. The attempt was denied on procedural grounds without a review of the racial bias allegations.
Balentine’s lawyers argued that Dory England, the jury foreman, was racist, used slurs and coerced jurors who were pushing for a life sentence into agreeing to sentence Balentine to death.
Shawn Nolan, an attorney for Balentine, said the court’s “unwillingness to address issues of bias and misconduct … is all the more problematic.”
Lola Perkins, England’s sister-in-law, said England “was racist against Black people because that is how he was raised,” as part of Balentine’s petition for the case to be reviewed.
England, who died in 2021, also reportedly said he wanted a death sentence because he “would need to hunt [Balentine] down” if he was ever released from prison.
Prosecutors also objected to all potential Black jurors during selection, according to Balentine’s attorneys.
“Without a thorough judicial consideration of Mr. Balentine’s claims, we can have no confidence that the death verdict isn’t tainted by racial bias,” Nolan said.
Balentine’s trial attorneys — one of whom died in 2006 — also reportedly referred to the verdict as a “justifiable lynching” in their notes.
Randall Sherrod, the surviving trial attorney, denied holding racist views and said he believed Balentine received a fair trial. He added that Balentine rejected a plea agreement to avoid the death penalty because he feared being attacked while in prison after receiving racist threats.
If his execution goes through as scheduled on Wednesday, Balentine would be the third inmate to be executed after filing a lawsuit claiming the state is using expired or unsafe lethal injection drugs.