Michael Gonzales was sentenced to death by the State of Texas for a double murder
According to court documents Michael Gonzales would break into a home where he would murder Manuel and Merced Aguirre when they woke up during the robbery
Michael Gonzales was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Michael Gonzales Photos
Michael Gonzales Now
SID Number: 04413117
TDCJ Number: 00999174
Name: GONZALES,MICHAEL DEAN
Race: H
Gender: M
Age: 49
Maximum Sentence Date: DEATH ROW
Current Facility: POLUNSKY
Projected Release Date: DEATH ROW
Parole Eligibility Date: DEATH ROW
Michael Gonzales Case
In a hearing on Tuesday, Michael Dean “Spider” Gonzales’s defense team argued that there is evidence proving that Gonzales does not deserve the death penalty.
The defense claims that they can prove that Gonzales is intellectually disabled, by using expert witnesses and lay witnesses.
A lay witness does not have to be qualified to testify in an “expert” field, the state argued that because they are not professionals lay witnesses should not be called.
Judge Shrode decided that lay witnesses will be allowed
Gonzales’s attorneys also brought up what they called “The Brady Issue”.
The defense claimed, using “The Brady Issue,” that if the arresting detective fabricated evidence in other cases he most likely did so in Gonzales’s case as well. During Tuesday’s hearing, the defense claimed that they will be able to prove that Detective Robertson fabricated evidence in Gonzales’s case.
The State argued today that most of what the defense wants to use to prove that Robertson fabricated evidence is not admissible in court.
Judge Shrode, decided that there will be an evidentiary hearing possibly held in September to decide whether or not “Spider” Gonzales should receive the death penalty
According to a defense attorney, the hearing scheduled in September would just overturn the death penalty, and Gonzales would still spend the rest of his life in prison.
Michael Dean Gonzales, also known as “Spider” was charged with the murders of Manuel and Merced Aguirre, his neighbors, back in 1995.
An investigation found that Gonzales was burglarizing the couple’s home when they woke up. Gonzales then stabbed Manuel and Merced several times.
Gonzales then stole a VCR, a microwave oven, a camera, a .22-caliber revolver, and a purse. He was arrested later that day
He was sentenced to death on December 12, 1995. He has been on death row ever since.
His execution date was set for March 8, 2022. A date that came and went while Gonzales remained in a Prison Cell.
March 3, 2022, Gonzales’s lawyers asked Judge Shrode to grant a stay of execution.
Almost 28 years after he was sentenced to the death penalty, Michael Dean “Spider” Gonzales was granted a stay of execution.
He was granted stay of execution on the claims of intellectual disability and the State holding back materials.
