Deadly injustice
Juan Balderas was sentenced to death on March 14, 2014 in Harris County, Texas, the “death penalty capitol of the world.”
There is overwhelming evidence of Juan’s innocence, and Harris County has failed to bring the true murderer to justice. Juan is paying for their crime with his life.
Hidden evidence, flawed testimony and Brady violations
The prosecution did not have enough reliable evidence to convict Juan. They used false and biased testimony at trial, offered and accepted a plea deal in exchange for false and biased testimony and used impermissibly suggestive photo lineups to get the conviction they wanted. They also withheld crucial evidence from Juan’s defense team that supports his innocence and undermines the case against him. Prosecution began handing over this evidence after trial in 2015 and as recently as December 2020.
Eight years of solitary before trial
Juan was arrested in 2005 and held in varying degrees of solitary confinement for over eight years, until his long-delayed trial in 2014. With no money to afford a lawyer, Juan suffered from having an ineffective, court-appointed defense team that did not conduct a proper investigation and spent years trying to convince him to take a plea deal while claiming his innocence.
He maintains his innocence to this day.
A victim of the system,
fighting to survive.
Juan is currently petitioning the federal court in the hopes of having his conviction vacated, with representation on a pro bono basis by law firm DLA Piper LLP.
