Expert reports indicating that Michael Dean “Spider” Gonzales is mildly intellectually disabled were submitted to 358th District Judge John Shrode Thursday. It’s a step that could mean Gonzales’ sentence would be converted to life instead of death, his attorneys said.
Gonzales was convicted in 1995 in the 1994 murders of his neighbors, Manuel and Merced Aguirre.
Travis Golden Bragg, an attorney for the Texas Attorney General’s Office, said the hearing Thursday was on the issue of whether or not Gonzales is intellectually disabled and whether he would be eligible for execution.
Bragg said that the state’s expert agreed with Gonzales’ expert that Gonzales is mildly intellectually disabled.
Gonzales appeared in Ector County District Court Thursday in a wheelchair with handcuffs, a waist chain and shackles on his feet.
Richard Burr, one of Gonzales’ attorneys, said Gonzales has “bad diabetes” and it’s starting to affect his feet. He said Gonzales has a walker in his cell.
Gonzales was taken back to the Polunsky Unit in Livingston afterward.
Richard Burr, one of Gonzales’ defense attorneys, said it’s unusual that experts from both sides agreed on the intellectual disability issue.
“Usually when both parties agree, that part of the case is over because cases only exist to resolve dispute and there is no dispute. The judge just wants to be sure from his own perspective that there’s nothing that should be in dispute,” Burr said.
“We think once he has a chance to review everything, he will come out that way; or if he decides to hold a hearing, he will come out that way,” he added.
Burr said the judge has to sign something called findings of fact and conclusions of law.
“Once he signs that, then the Court of Criminal Appeals has to approve it. They are the final authority,” Burr said.
Donna Coltharp, another attorney for Gonzales, said the judge can sign them with or without a live hearing.
“The evidence is before him as of today and he’s considering having a live hearing. He could reject the agreement. No court has done that that we’re aware of in an intellectual disability case where both experts agree,” Coltharp said.
She said the time frame for a decision is unclear.
“We’re going to get a proposed set of findings and conclusions from both parties that we agree on by probably about two weeks from now,” Burr said.
If everyone agrees that Gonzales is mildly intellectually disabled, that would mean he would no longer have a death sentence. Burr said his sentence would be converted to a life sentence. This would have to be done by the Court of Criminal Appeals, he said.
“If the Court of Criminal Appeals accepts the findings, then his sentence would be converted to a life sentence,” Coltharp said.
Burr said Gonzales has not had any disciplinary reports in years.
A past Odessa American article said Gonzales, 50, immediately became a suspect because he was the Aguirres’ next-door neighbor and the Aguirres suspected him of earlier break-ins. They’d expressed fear of the known gang leader.
Gonzales and three members of his gang were questioned by police and Gonzales was arrested on May 7, 1994. Authorities said items stolen from the Aguirres’ home were found in the possession of several people who said they’d bought them from Gonzales and his fingerprints were found on them.
The jury convicted Gonzales, who earned his nickname due to two spider tattoos, in December 1995. His conviction was upheld and he was re-sentenced to death in 2009 after his sentence was overturned.
Gonzales had been scheduled to be executed in March 2022, but the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals granted Gonzales a stay.
Gonzales’ other attorney, Richard Burr contends Gonzales’ IQ doesn’t meet the legal threshold required for execution. The United States does not allow people with IQs 70 or below to be executed if they’re also unable to handle life’s demands and if there was evidence of issues before the age of 18.
He also contends prosecutors hid the fact Snow Robertson, the lead Odessa Police Department detective on the case, had a reputation for cutting corners, abusing witnesses, falsifying confessions and “covering his tracks.”
If jurors had known these things about Robertson then certain evidence that was presented during the trial might’ve been looked upon differently, Burr has said.
