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Cake day: October 18th, 2024

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  • It’s in the summary above and the article.

    During the sentencing phase of Broadnax’s capital trial, prosecutors presented the jury with 40 pages of the defendant’s notebooks found in a suitcase after his arrest. The state carefully selected rap lyrics infused with violent images of murder, robbery and drugs, to make the case that Broadnax should be sentenced to death. Its lawyers skirted over lyrics addressing peaceful narratives such as redemption and love. For the ultimate punishment to be secured under Texas law, jurors would have to be persuaded that the defendant posed a threat of “future dangerousness”.

    By leaning heavily on rap lyrics and racist dog whistles, Texas prosecutors managed to drown out mitigating evidence that might have spared Broadnax’s life. His defense lawyers emphasised that Broadnax was just 19 when the murders took place. He had endured an abusive childhood at the hands of a grandmother who locked him up in his room without food and frequently beat him. And despite such a traumatic background, he had no previous criminal record other than a single conviction for non-violent marijuana possession.

    The jury was clearly less swayed by such details than by the prosecutors’ lurid invocation of the rap lyrics. Jurors asked to see the notebooks twice during their deliberations. Then they sent Broadnax to death row.