Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Texas Attorney General Media Advisory

AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott offers the following information about Robert Dale Rowell, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. Tuesday, November 15, 2005. The 50-year-old Rowell was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for the 1993 murder of Raymond Mata.

FACTS OF THE CRIME

In the early morning hours of May 10, 1993, Robert Dale Rowell went to the Houston home of Irvin Wright. Angie Perez and her husband, Raymond Mata, were also living in Wright’s home. Perez opened the door for Rowell, who said he was going to get dope and money from Wright. Holding a gun, Rowell told Perez and Mata he would shoot them if they tried to leave. After Rowell went into Wright’s room, Perez heard a thumping sound followed by Wright screaming for Rowell to stop hitting him. After about three minutes, Wright and Rowell went to Perez’s and Mata’s bedroom. Wright was staggering, covered in blood. Rowell ordered the trio to get into the bathtub; he then shot them. Mata died from a gunshot wound, but he had also been struck on the back of his head with a hammer-type instrument. Wright and Perez survived. Police arrested Rowell at a steering column repair shop where he worked, and officers searched his work area, finding a .22 caliber revolver with six spent cartridge casings in the chamber, the gun case and Wright’s bank bag.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On March 1, 1994, a Harris County grand jury indicted Rowell for the capital murder. A jury found Rowell guilty of capital murder, and he was sentenced to death on April 7, 1994. Rowell appealed his conviction and sentence to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which affirmed the conviction and sentence on December 18, 1996. The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently denied Rowell’s petition for writ of certiorari on October 6, 1997.

Rowell filed an application for writ of habeas corpus in the trial court on April 14, 1998. The state habeas court issued findings of fact and conclusions of law recommending that Rowell be denied relief. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals adopted the state habeas court’s findings and conclusions on September 11, 2002.

Thereafter, Rowell filed a habeas petition in a Houston U.S. district court on September 2, 2003. On February 23, 2004, the federal district court denied Rowell’s federal writ petition. Rowell then sought permission to appeal from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but the court denied Rowell’s request on January 25, 2005. Subsequently, Rowell filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, but the Court denied certiorari review on October 3, 2005.

PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY

Rowell began preying on people in 1973. He committed a string of armed robberies which resulted in his first trip to state prison. For these robberies, Rowell received concurrent sentences of ten and twelve years.

After he was paroled from prison, Rowell once again went on a robbery spree. In 1980, Rowell robbed two stores at gunpoint. During this crime spree, an armed Rowell robbed the manager of a restaurant, while a Houston police officer was in the restaurant. After Rowell ran out of the restaurant, the officer, with his weapon drawn, followed and identified himself as a police officer. Rowell turned around, shot at the officer, then ran again; the officer returned fire. Rowell was apprehended while lying under a vehicle in a parking lot about a half block away. Rowell was sentenced on November 18, 1980, to 30 years in state prison to be served concurrently for each of the robberies he committed during this spree. While in prison, Rowell fatally stabbed another inmate between ten and fifteen times in the chest with a homemade knife. For this killing, Rowell was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to eight years in prison.

Psychological testing on Rowell indicates that he is subject to depression, psychopathic behavior, deviancy, anxiety, social introversion, and drug and alcohol addiction. A psychiatrist who testified for the defense stated that Rowell’s psychological profile was unusual for a capital defendant because Rowell does not act impulsively; rather, he scores high in his ability to think rationally and act purposefully.

ProDeathPenalty.com

On 05/10/1993 in Houston, Texas, Rowell entered a crack house in an attempt to rob Irving Wright of drugs and money. Rowell started shooting with a 25 caliber pistol striking all three victims, killing Wright and Raymond David Mata. Another man was shot in the left arm and leg and paralyzed. Rowell then robbed the victims of unknown money and fled the scene by car. Rowell came to the home of people with whom he was supposedly friends in search of drugs and money. While he probably could have gotten what he wanted with very little resistance from Wright due to his size, Rowell chose instead to beat him in the head with a claw hammer. Then, still receiving no resistance from any of the victims, Rowell marched all three into the bathroom and shot them. One of the victims also had signs of continued beatings after he was shot. Rowell then proceeded to take a shower and clean himself up.

Texas Execution Information Center by David Carson.

Robert Dale Rowell, 50, was executed by lethal injection on 15 November 2005 in Huntsville, Texas for killing two men in a crack house robbery.

At about 4:00 a.m. on 10 May 1993, Rowell, then 38, arrived at the north Houston home of Irvin Wright, 52. Raymond Mata, 38 and Mata's wife, Angie Perez, were also living in Wright's home. Perez opened the door for Rowell. Rowell then pulled out a gun and said that he was there to get drugs and money from Wright. He told Mata and Perez he would shoot them if they tried to flee.

Rowell then went into Wright's room and began hitting him with a claw hammer. From the other room, Perez heard a thumping sound, followed by Wright screaming for Rowell to stop hitting him. After about three minutes, Rowell came into Mata and Perez's bedroom, bringing Wright with him, staggering and covered in blood. Rowell ordered the three of them to get into the bathtub. He then shot them, killing Mata and wounding Perez and Wright. He then beat Mata on the head with the hammer. Rowell then took a shower, stole some money, and drove away. Wright later died in a Houston hospital. Perez survived to testify against Rowell.

Police arrested Rowell at the mechanic's shop where he worked. Officers found a .22-caliber revolver with six spent cartridge casings in the chamber. They also found a bank bag belonging to Wright.

At the trial, the state presented evidence that Rowell beat Mata on the head with a claw hammer after shooting him. Prosecutors said that Rowell went to Wright's home intending to rob him because he thought he had been overcharged for crack cocaine. The defense claimed that there was no robbery and that Rowell only fired after Wright and Mata lunged for his gun.

Rowell had a history of robbery and violence. In 1974, at age 18, after a string of robberies, he was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison. He served 4½ years of that sentence and was paroled in 1978. While still on parole, he went on another robbery spree. He was caught after shooting at a Houston police officer while robbing a restaurant. He was convicted in 1980 on three counts of armed robbery and sentenced to 30 years in prison. In 1982, while in prison, Rowell fatally stabbed another inmate between 10 and 15 times in the chest with a homemade knife. He was convicted of manslaughter and given another concurrent 8-year sentence. He was paroled again in 1991. (At the time, the state of Texas was under strict prison population caps imposed by U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice.) According to court records, Rowell was using $500 worth of cocaine a day at the time of the killings.

A jury convicted Rowell of capital murder in April 1994 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in December 1996. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Rowell declined to speak with reporters while on death row. In a 1998 psychological evaluation report, Rowell stated, "The whole neighborhood did drugs, and once you do them, you always want them. Before I did drugs, I stayed with my grandfather and fished, and I was happy."

There were no serious efforts to stop Rowell's execution, either by his own lawyers or by anti-death-penalty organizations.

"I would like to apologize to the victim's family and all the grief I have caused them," Rowell said in his last statement. He also expressed love to some friends who attended his execution. He concluded his last statement by saying, "Praise the Lord. Let's go warden. That's it." The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m.

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

TEXAS - Robert Dale Rowell - November 14, 2005

Robert Dale Rowell, a white man, will be executed in Texas on Nov. 15, 2005 for the May 10, 1993 capital murder of Raymond David Mata. Rowell entered a Houston crack house on May 10, 1993 to rob drugs and money. While in the course of committing or attempting robbery, Rowell shot Mata and two others. One of the three victims survived the shooting to testify. During the presentation of mitigating evidence at the sentencing phase of trial, Rowell’s brother, two Texas Department of Criminal Justice employees, and two prison ministry counselors testified that “Rowell was a good brother, son, and grandson; he was a good employee” and that “he found religion while incarcerated.” They also testified that Rowell would not be violent once “free from the influence of drugs.” In his federal appeal Rowell claimed that his constitutional rights were violated when the court refused to expand on the term “society” in special issue one. According to Texas law, at sentencing the jury is asked two special issue questions; the answers to these questions lead either to a life sentence or a death sentence. The first question is in regard to the defendant’s future dangerousness to society. The jury sent a note to the court during deliberations requesting clarification of the term “society” as used in special issue one. To which the trial judge answered “I am prohibited by law from expanding on the Court’s charge.” Additionally, the trial court did not allow the jury to consider how long Rowell would be confined without parole if sentenced to life. Forty-nine year old Rowell would be 84 years old before his first opportunity for parole. Perhaps, had the judge clarified for the jury that society meant prison society during a life sentence and the broader society on parole, the jury would have found that Rowell would not be a danger to other inmates and would not be a danger when paroled as an 84 year old man in 35 years. Instead the jury may have considered Rowell’s future dangerousness as a prediction of his dangerousness if released now.Because the jury that decided Rowell’s fate did not clearly understand the issue of future dangerousness and did not know how long he would be in prison before his first chance at parole, Rowell’s death sentence should be reviewed. Please write to Texas Gov. Rick Perry requesting that Robert Dale Rowell’s execution be stopped.

Huntsville Item

"Drug addict executed Tuesday." (11/16/05)

Looking at six women who came to support him during his last hour, Robert Dale Rowell apologized to his victims' families. “I would like to apologize to the victims' family and all the grief I have caused them,” Rowell said in his brief final statement, as the mother, sister and brother of one of his victims watched through a window. Rowell was a habitual drug user who murdered two people at a Houston crack house 12 years ago.

He then addressed his friends, saying, “I would like to say I love the girls next to them,” he said. Several of the women sobbed and had to support each other as they watched the lethal drugs begin to take effect. Rowell said, “Praise the Lord. Let's go warden. That's it.”

The 50-year-old then snorted twice and drew his final breath. He was pronounced dead nine minutes later at 6:24 p.m. CST.

Rowell had already been to prison, where records showed he fatally stabbed a fellow inmate while serving a sentence for robbery, and was free under mandatory supervision when he was arrested for the 1993 shooting spree that sent him to death row.

His execution was the first of two scheduled in Texas on consecutive nights this week. He was the 18th prisoner this year to receive lethal injection in the nation's most active capital punishment state. Condemned inmate Shannon Thomas was to follow him to the death chamber gurney Wednesday night for a triple slaying in Baytown on Christmas Eve in 1993. The U.S. Supreme Court last month refused to review Rowell's case and no late legal attempts were made to spare him.

Raymond Mata, 38, and Irvin Wright, 52, were killed May 10, 1993, when Rowell showed up at Wright's house before dawn complaining about paying too much for some crack cocaine. Mata also was living there with his wife, Angie Perez. “He always had a dope problem,” said Kelly Siegler, the Harris County district attorney who prosecuted the capital murder case and used Rowell's extensive criminal history to persuade jurors to send him to death row.

Wright was beaten with a claw hammer. Then all three were herded into a bathroom where they were shot in a bathtub. Perez was seriously wounded but survived to testify against Rowell. Rowell was arrested a short time later at an auto repair shop where he worked. Police found a .22-caliber revolver with six spent cartridge casings and a bank bag belonging to Wright.

Rowell declined to speak with reporters as his death date approached. Witnesses at his trial described him as depressed, introverted, psychopathic and a chronic drug user who turned violent while under the influence of drugs.

Rowell first went to prison in 1974 at age 18 with 10- and 12-year concurrent sentences for armed robbery. He was paroled 4 1/2 years later. A 1980 robbery spree that included a shootout with a Houston police officer at a restaurant ended with his arrest while he hid under a car in a parking lot and got him a 30-year sentence. Two years later, prison records show he fatally stabbed a fellow inmate at the Ramsey I prison in Brazoria County, earning him a manslaughter conviction and another eight-year prison term.

In June 1991, however, he was released under mandatory supervision only to be arrested two years later for the crack house shootings.

Thomas was to follow Rowell to the death chamber 24 hours later. One other execution is scheduled in Texas for December. If carried out, the 20 lethal injections would be three less than a year ago. A record 40 were carried out in 2000.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Houston Chronicle

"Killer in Houston crack house shooting executed." (Associated Press Nov. 15, 2005, 6:42PM)

HUNTSVILLE — A habitual drug user was executed this evening for the slayings of two people at a Houston crack house 12 years ago.

"I would like to apologize to the victims' family and all the grief I have caused them," Robert Dale Rowell said in a brief final statement as the mother, sister and brother of one of his victims watched through a window. "I would like to say I love the girls next to them," he said, referring to six women he selected to watch him die. Several of them sobbed. Then he said, "Praise the Lord. Let's go warden. That's it." Rowell, 50, snorted twice as the drugs began taking effect. He was pronounced dead nine minutes later at 6:24 p.m. CST.

Rowell already had been to prison, where records showed he fatally stabbing a fellow inmate while serving a sentence for robbery, and was free under mandatory supervision when he was arrested for the 1993 shooting spree that sent him to death row.

His execution was the first of two scheduled in Texas on consecutive nights this week. He was the 18th prisoner this year to receive lethal injection in the nation's most active capital punishment state. Condemned inmate Shannon Thomas was to follow him to the death chamber gurney Wednesday night for a triple slaying in Baytown on Christmas Eve in 1993. The U.S. Supreme Court last month refused to review Rowell's case and no late legal attempts were made to spare him.

Raymond Mata, 38, and Irvin Wright, 52, were killed May 10, 1993, when Rowell showed up at Wright's house before dawn complaining about paying too much for some crack cocaine. Mata also was living their with his wife, Angie Perez. "He always had a dope problem," said Kelly Siegler, the Harris County district attorney who prosecuted the capital murder case and used Rowell's extensive criminal history to persuade jurors to send him to death row. Wright was beaten with a claw hammer. Then all three were herded into a bathroom where they were shot in a bathtub. Perez was seriously wounded but survived to testify against him. Rowell was arrested a short time later at an auto repair shop where he worked. Police found a .22-caliber revolver with six spent cartridge casings and a bank bag belonging to Wright. Rowell declined to speak with reporters as his death date approached.

Witnesses at his trial described him as depressed, introverted, psychopathic and a chronic drug user who turned violent while under the influence of drugs. Rowell first went to prison in 1974 at age 18 with 10- and 12-year concurrent sentences for armed robbery. He was paroled 4 1/2 years later. A 1980 robbery spree that included a shootout with a Houston police officer at a restaurant ended with his arrest while he hid under a car in a parking lot and got him a 30-year sentence. Two years later, prison records show he fatally stabbed a fellow inmate at the Ramsey I prison in Brazoria County, earning him a manslaughter conviction and another eight-year prison term. In June 1991, however, he was released under mandatory supervision only to be arrested two years later for the crack house shootings.

Thomas was to follow Rowell to the death chamber 24 hours later. One other execution is scheduled in Texas for December. If carried out, the 20 lethal injections would be three less than a year ago. A record 40 were carried out in 2000.

Houston Chronicle

"Death row inmate is not one to stand out; With all appeals exhausted, Rowell will become 18th to die this year," by Rosanna Ruiz. (Nov. 15, 2005, 6:38PM)

Unlike many of his fellow inmates on death row, Robert Dale Rowell never got much television airtime or received much newspaper ink. The 50-year-old will walk into Texas' death chamber tonight a virtual unknown, the 18th inmate to be put to death this year.

No public campaign has been waged on his behalf. The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty issued a routine alert on Rowell's execution that does little more than lay out the facts of his case. A last-minute reprieve is unlikely. His lawyers are not claiming he is mentally retarded or that his trial attorney fell asleep in court. His appeals were exhausted last month when the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to review his case or his claim that the trial judge should have given the jury better instructions. "There is nothing now pending," Rowell's attorney Ed Mallett said Monday.

The trial was not even one to stand out for Kelly Siegler, the Harris County assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case in 1994. "The fact that he killed somebody before is probably what convinced the jury that he needed the death penalty," she said. Rowell was convicted of capital murder in the fatal shooting of crack dealer Irvin Wright and housemate Raymond Mata. Angie Perez, Mata's wife, was seriously wounded.

Much of his defense centered on his lawyers' contention that Rowell did not rob the victims and the death penalty should not have been available. After the jury convicted Rowell, his lawyers tried to use the punishment phase of the trial to mitigate the crime by showing Rowell had begun a life of drug abuse at 13. A year later, according to court records, Rowell was injecting heroin and taking "anything else that I could get my hands on." Soon, he turned to robbery and burglary to support his $100-a-day drug habit, which led to his first conviction in 1974 for assault. He also was convicted for holdups of a drug store and a convenience store. In 1980, he attempted to rob a restaurant, where he exchanged gunfire with an off-duty Houston police officer. In 1982, he stabbed another inmate more than a dozen times, claiming the other man had made sexual advances toward him. He was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to eight years in prison. Rowell stayed clean for almost two years after his release from prison in 1991. But after his introduction to crack cocaine, he told authorities his "life deteriorated rapidly" and he was soon using an ounce, or $500 worth of cocaine a day.

According to court records, about 4 a.m. on May 19, 1993, Rowell went to his dealer's home in the 100 block of Red Ripple in northwest Houston to steal his money and drugs because he felt he had been overcharged. Perez, who testified during the trial, said she heard "thumping" sounds as Rowell was beating the 600-pound Wright in the next room. Rowell ordered the three into the bathroom tub where he shot them. Mata, shot in the head, died instantly. Wright died later. Perez was hit in the hand and the head, and told authorities she had numbness in her leg and trouble walking.

Eleven years later, Mallett describes his client as a "reasonably literate, very nice person." "He has a history of being violent when confronted and under the influence of drugs. All of his offenses are drug-related," Mallett said. "He's aware he has an extreme susceptibility to addiction and that he cannot control it when it's available to him." Rowell earned his GED and associate's degree in prison.

In court records, Randy Rowell explained that he and his brother had to be more independent as children because their mother had been on medication most of her life. Randy Rowell did not return a phone call seeking comment for this article. "The whole neighborhood did drugs and once you do them, you always want them," Robert Rowell is quoted in a 1998 report after a psychological evaluation. "Before I did drugs, I stayed with my grandfather and fished and I was happy."

Rowell is the first of two Harris County men sentenced to die this week. Shannon Thomas is slated to be executed Wednesday for the 1993 triple slayings of a Baytown father and his two children on Christmas Eve.

Denton Record Chronicle

"Killer in crack house shooting executed," by Michael Graczyk. (11/16/2005)

A habitual drug user was executed Tuesday evening for the slayings of two people at a Houston crack house 12 years ago.

"I would like to apologize to the victims' family and all the grief I have caused them," Robert Dale Rowell said in a brief final statement as the mother, sister and brother of one of his victims watched through a window. "I would like to say I love the girls next to them," he said, referring to six women he selected to watch him die. Several of them sobbed. Then he said, "Praise the Lord. Let's go warden. That's it." Rowell, 50, snorted twice as the drugs began taking effect. He was pronounced dead nine minutes later at 6:24 p.m. CST.

Rowell already had been to prison, where records showed he fatally stabbing a fellow inmate while serving a sentence for robbery, and was free under mandatory supervision when he was arrested for the 1993 shooting spree that sent him to death row.

His execution was the first of two scheduled in Texas on consecutive nights this week. He was the 18th prisoner this year to receive lethal injection in the nation's most active capital punishment state. Condemned inmate Shannon Thomas was to follow him to the death chamber gurney Wednesday night for a triple slaying in Baytown on Christmas Eve in 1993. The U.S. Supreme Court last month refused to review Rowell's case and no late legal attempts were made to spare him.

Raymond Mata, 38, and Irvin Wright, 52, were killed May 10, 1993, when Rowell showed up at Wright's house before dawn complaining about paying too much for some crack cocaine. Mata also was living their with his wife, Angie Perez. "He always had a dope problem," said Kelly Siegler, the Harris County district attorney who prosecuted the capital murder case and used Rowell's extensive criminal history to persuade jurors to send him to death row. Wright was beaten with a claw hammer. Then all three were herded into a bathroom where they were shot in a bathtub. Perez was seriously wounded but survived to testify against him. Rowell was arrested a short time later at an auto repair shop where he worked. Police found a .22-caliber revolver with six spent cartridge casings and a bank bag belonging to Wright.

Rowell declined to speak with reporters as his death date approached. Witnesses at his trial described him as depressed, introverted, psychopathic and a chronic drug user who turned violent while under the influence of drugs.

Rowell first went to prison in 1974 at age 18 with 10- and 12-year concurrent sentences for armed robbery. He was paroled 4 1/2 years later. A 1980 robbery spree that included a shootout with a Houston police officer at a restaurant ended with his arrest while he hid under a car in a parking lot and got him a 30-year sentence. Two years later, prison records show he fatally stabbed a fellow inmate at the Ramsey I prison in Brazoria County, earning him a manslaughter conviction and another eight-year prison term. In June 1991, however, he was released under mandatory supervision only to be arrested two years later for the crack house shootings.

Thomas was to follow Rowell to the death chamber 24 hours later. One other execution is scheduled in Texas for December. If carried out, the 20 lethal injections would be three less than a year ago. A record 40 were carried out in 2000.

Houston Chronicle

"Killer in Houston shootings to be executed." (Associated Press Nov. 14, 2005, 11:21AM)

HUNTSVILLE — Robert Dale Rowell already had a slaying under his belt, a fatal stabbing committed while in prison on a robbery conviction, when a Harris County jury decided he deserved to die for shooting three people at a Houston crack house, killing two of them and leaving a third paralyzed.

Rowell, 50, faced lethal injection Tuesday evening for the 1993 shooting spree that left Raymond Mata, 38, and Irvin Wright, 52, dead. Mata's wife, Angie Perez, was seriously wounded. He would be the 18th Texas prisoner executed this year and the first of two on consecutive nights this week. Condemned inmate Shannon Thomas was to follow him to the death chamber Wednesday night for a triple slaying in Baytown on Christmas Eve in 1993.

The U.S. Supreme Court last month refused to review Rowell's case.

Rowell has spent much of his adult life in prison, and prosecutors used his extensive criminal history to convince jurors to send him to death row.

Evidence showed Rowell arrived at Wright's north Houston house on Red Ripple Road about 4 a.m. May 10, 1993, as a dissatisfied customer complaining he'd paid too much for some crack cocaine. Mata and Perez, who answered the door, also were living there. Court records show Rowell, armed with a pistol, warned the couple he would shoot them if they tried to flee. "He knew the guy was a dope dealer, and he was thinking either he was going to get a little dope or get some cash," Kelly Siegler, the Harris County assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case, recalled. "And then things went crazy."

Perez later would say she heard a thumping sound and screams from Wright's room. Wright, investigators determined, had been badly beaten with a claw hammer and was led into the couple's room. All three were herded into a bathroom where they were shot in a bathtub. Rowell then took a shower. He was arrested a short time later at an auto repair shop where he worked. Police found a .22-caliber revolver with six spent cartridge casings and a bank bag belonging to Wright.

Rowell declined to speak with reporters in the weeks before his scheduled punishment. His attorney, Edward Mallett, did not return calls seeking comment. Witnesses at his trial described him as depressed, introverted, psychopathic and a chronic drug user who turned violent while under the influence of drugs.

Rowell first went to prison in 1974 at age 18 with 10- and 12-year concurrent sentences for armed robbery. He was paroled 4 1/2 years later. He was involved in a 1980 robbery spree that included a shootout with a Houston police officer at a restaurant that ended with his arrest while he hid under a car in a parking lot. That got him a 30-year sentence for robbery.

In September 1982, prison records show he used a shank to fatally stab a fellow inmate at the Ramsey I prison in Brazoria County, earning him a manslaughter conviction and another eight-year prison term. In June 1991, however, Rowell was released under mandatory supervision. Two years later, he was arrested for the slayings that earned him a cell on death row.

"I think the jury was pretty appalled by it," Siegler said of his release from prison on the earlier sentences.

After Thomas, set to die Wednesday, one other 2005 execution is scheduled in Texas for December. If carried out, the 20 lethal injections would be three less than a year ago and the fewest for a year in Texas since 17 inmates were put to death in 2001. A record 40 were executed in 2000. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monsters and Critics

"Texas executes 18th inmate of year." (UPI Nov 16, 2005, 19:00 GMT)

HUNTSVILLE, TX, United States (UPI) -- Texas held its 18th execution of the year Tuesday putting a 50-year-old inmate to death for killing two people in a crack house in 1993.

Robert Dale Rowell died by lethal injection shortly after 6 p.m. in the state prison in Huntsville, KWTX-TV in Waco reported.

Rowell, a longtime drug user, had a long criminal record before he went on trial for capital murder. He went to prison in 1980 after exchanging fire with a police officer during a robbery and received an eight-year sentence for killing a fellow inmate.

Freed in 1991, Rowell apparently managed to stay clean for two years before getting hooked on crack cocaine. He was convicted of killing his drug dealer, Raymond Mata, and another man, Irving Wright, because he thought Mata had overcharged him.

MySanAntonio

"Killer in Houston crack house shooting set to die Tuesday night," by Michael Graxzyk. (11/15/2005)

Robert Dale Rowell was in prison when authorities said he committed his first slaying, the fatal stabbing of a fellow inmate. Eventually released into the free world to be under mandatory supervision, Rowell wound up back in prison — this time on death row — for the fatal shooting of two people at a Houston crack house.

Rowell, 50, faced lethal injection Tuesday evening for the 1993 shooting spree that killed Raymond Mata, 38, and Irvin Wright, 52. Mata's wife, Angie Perez, was seriously wounded in the shooting. Rowell would be the 18th Texas prisoner executed this year and the first of two on consecutive nights this week. Condemned inmate Shannon Thomas was to follow him to the death chamber Wednesday night for a triple slaying in Baytown on Christmas Eve in 1993. The U.S. Supreme Court last month refused to review Rowell's case.

Rowell has spent much of his adult life in prison, and prosecutors used his extensive criminal history to convince jurors to send him to death row. "He always had a dope problem," said Kelly Siegler, the Harris County district attorney who prosecuted the capital murder case.

Evidence showed Rowell arrived at Wright's north Houston house about 4 a.m. May 10, 1993, complaining he'd paid too much for some crack cocaine. Mata and Perez, who answered the door, also were living there. "He knew the guy was a dope dealer, and he was thinking either he was going to get a little dope or get some cash," Siegler said. "And then things went crazy." Wright was beaten with a claw hammer and led into the couple's room, then all three were herded into a bathroom where they were shot in a bathtub, Perez later told authorities. Rowell then took a shower. He was arrested a short time later at an auto repair shop where he worked. Police found a .22-caliber revolver with six spent cartridge casings and a bank bag belonging to Wright.

Rowell declined to speak with reporters in the weeks before his scheduled punishment. Witnesses at his trial described him as depressed, introverted, psychopathic and a chronic drug user who turned violent while under the influence of drugs. Rowell first went to prison in 1974 at age 18 with 10- and 12-year concurrent sentences for armed robbery. He was paroled 4 1/2 years later. He was involved in a 1980 robbery spree that included a shootout with a Houston police officer at a restaurant that ended with his arrest while he hid under a car in a parking lot. That got him a 30-year sentence for robbery.

In September 1982, prison records show he used a shank to fatally stab a fellow inmate at the Ramsey I prison in Brazoria County, earning him a manslaughter conviction and another eight-year prison term. In June 1991, he was released under mandatory supervision. He was arrested two years later for the crack house shootings.

Thomas was to follow Rowell to the Texas death chamber 24 hours later. One other execution is scheduled in Texas for December. If carried out, the 20 lethal injections would be three less than a year ago and the fewest for a year in Texas since 17 inmates were put to death in 2001. A record 40 were executed in 2000.

Rowell v. Dretke, 398 F.3d 370 (5th Cir. 2005)

Background: Petitioner, who was convicted and sentenced to death in Texas state court for capital murder, filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Ewing Werlein, Jr., J., denied the petition, and petitioner applied for a certificate of appealability (COA).

Holdings: The Court of Appeals, DeMoss, Circuit Judge, held that:
(1) petitioner failed to make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right as to his claim that his constitutional rights were violated when the trial court refused to define for the jury the term "society" in the future dangerousness special issue of the punishment charge, and
(2) petitioner failed to make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right as to his claim that Texas law was unconstitutional because it failed to assign a proper burden of proof on the special issues and failed to provide for appellate review of the mitigating evidence. Application denied.

DeMOSS, Circuit Judge:
Petitioner Robert Dale Rowell ("Rowell") was convicted and sentenced to death in Texas state court for the capital murder of Raymond David Mata. Rowell filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The district court denied Rowell's petition. Rowell now requests a certificate of appealability ("COA") from this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2), seeking to appeal the district court's denial of habeas relief. To begin, this Court GRANTS Rowell's motion for leave to file a reply to Respondent's opposition to request for COA and further GRANTS Rowell's motion for leave to file oversize reply.

For the reasons detailed below, we DENY Rowell's application for COA because he has failed to make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right as to his claims: (1) that his constitutional rights were violated when the trial court refused to define for the jury the term "society" in the future dangerousness special issue of the punishment charge; and (2) that Texas law is unconstitutional because it fails to assign a proper burden of proof on the special issues and fails to provide for appellate review of the mitigating evidence.

BACKGROUND

Rowell was convicted and sentenced to death in April 1994 for the capital offense of murdering Raymond David Mata while in the course of committing or attempting to commit robbery. On direct appeal in December 1996, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ("TCCA") affirmed Rowell's conviction and sentence. In October 1997, the Supreme Court denied Rowell's petition for writ of certiorari.

Thereafter, in April 1998, Rowell filed a state application for writ of habeas corpus. The trial court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law recommending the denial of relief. In September 2002, the TCCA adopted the trial judge's findings and conclusions and denied Rowell habeas relief. Rowell then filed a federal habeas petition in the district court in September 2003. Respondent filed an answer and a motion for summary judgment. In February 2004, the district court granted Respondent's motion, dismissed Rowell's petition, entered a final judgment, and denied Rowell a COA on his claims. Rowell timely filed the instant application for COA.

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Rowell also objects on appeal to Texas's use of special issue no. 2, the mitigation special issue. Rowell argues this special issue is unconstitutional because Texas law fails to assign a burden of proof. Rowell also contends this special issue is unconstitutional because it is not subject to appellate review of the sufficiency of the mitigating evidence. Rowell also made the argument (now foreclosed by Schriro v. Summerlin, --- U.S. ----, 124 S.Ct. 2519, 159 L.Ed.2d 442 (2004)) that Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002), is a new substantive rule of criminal law that should be given retroactive effect on collateral review. Rowell insists that just as Ring should be construed to require Texas to provide for some burden of proof on whether a sufficient mitigating circumstance has been proven, the Constitution also entitled him to have the TCCA review whether there was evidence to support the jury's answer.

Respondent replies that there is no doubt Texas's special issues are constitutional. See Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262, 268-71, 96 S.Ct. 2950, 49 L.Ed.2d 929 (1976). Respondent stresses that here the jury at the guilt-innocence phase first found beyond a reasonable doubt that Rowell was guilty of the intentional murder of Raymond Mata and that the murder occurred in the course of Rowell's committing or attempting to commit robbery. During the punishment phase, the jury then answered "yes" to the question of whether Rowell would pose a continuing threat to society, thereby finding that the State had met its burden of proving Rowell's future dangerousness to society beyond a reasonable doubt. [FN4] Consistent with Supreme Court precedent, Respondent argues this determination--whether a defendant falls within the narrowed class of death-eligible defendants--is properly subject to review by the TCCA. See, e.g., Swearingen v. State, 101 S.W.3d 89, 95-98 (Tex.Crim.App.2003) (reviewing sufficiency of evidence on conviction); Guevara v. State, 97 S.W.3d 579, 581 (Tex.Crim.App.2003) (reviewing sufficiency of evidence on future dangerousness). Respondent contends the mitigation special issue satisfies the Eighth Amendment's requirements for the individualized selection decision because it allows the jury to "consider relevant mitigating evidence of the character and record of the defendant and the circumstances of the crime." Tuilaepa v. California, 512 U.S. 967, 972, 114 S.Ct. 2630, 129 L.Ed.2d 750 (1994); see also Franklin v. Lynaugh, 487 U.S. 164, 182, 108 S.Ct. 2320, 101 L.Ed.2d 155 (1988) (noting Texas's special issues sufficiently allow for jury discretion to consider mitigating aspects). [FN5]

FN4. The State presented evidence pertaining to the wanton and callous disregard for human life Rowell exhibited through the facts of his crime, as related by the district court: [Rowell] came to the home of people with whom he was supposedly friends in search of drugs and money. While he probably could have gotten what he wanted with very little resistance from Wright due to his size, [Rowell] chose instead to beat him in the head with a claw hammer. Then, still receiving no resistance from any of the victims, [Rowell] marched all three into the bathroom and shot them. One of the victims also had signs of continued beatings after he was shot. [Rowell] then proceeded to take a shower and clean himself up. The State also presented evidence that Rowell killed a fellow inmate while in the penitentiary by stabbing him multiple times in the chest with a homemade knife.;FN5. Here, the jury was presented testimony by Rowell's brother, a psychiatrist, two Texas Department of Criminal Justice employees, and two prison ministry counselors. They testified that: Rowell was a good brother, son, and grandson; he was a good employee; he had, with one exception of killing while incarcerated, a relatively clear prison record; he found religion while incarcerated; he was depressed and introverted; and he was previously a chronic drug user who would not be violent when free from the influence of drugs.

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Having carefully reviewed the record of this case and the parties' respective briefing, for the reasons set forth above, we conclude Rowell has failed to satisfy this Court that reasonable jurists would find the district court's resolution of the issues debatable. Rowell has also failed to show it is debatable that his additional due process claims adequately stated the denial of any constitutional right. Therefore, we DENY Rowell a COA. Motions GRANTED. COA DENIED.