I'm not a horse. I'm not here to be broke. But broken lives are another legacy to which the relatives of victims bear bleak witness. Others testifying about life on death row include lawyers, psychologists, and guards. Demonstrators for and against the death penalty hold vigil outside the prison doors.
Reporters show up to note each execution.
But Joe Gonzales abandons hope and then his life. Convicted of robbery and murder, Gonzales refuses to appeal and welcomes execution. After a scant eight months, the shortest death-row stint in Texas history, he is put to death. David Lee Herman, convicted of torturing and murdering a topless dancer, meets death differently. Herman is treated in the prison hospital and then dispatched from the living as planned.