A dramatic confession from a co-defendant is giving a North Texas death row inmate a chance to challenge his conviction and scheduled execution in a 2008 double murder.
James Broadnax, 37, is set to die by lethal injection on April 30 for the slayings of Christian music producers Stephen Swan, 26, and Matthew Butler, 28, outside their Garland studio. His cousin and co-defendant, Demarius Cummings, who is already serving life without parole for the same crimes, has now signed a statement taking full responsibility.
“I was the one who shot the two victims, not James,” Cummings wrote, NBC 5 DFW reported.
Cummings said he came forward after learning of Broadnax’s execution date.
“I want to clear my conscience and do not want James to be executed for shooting two people when I was the one who committed those acts,” he stated.
Broadnax’s attorneys filed the petition this week with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, arguing the confession matches forensic evidence from the trial, including DNA results that found only Cummings’ genetic material on the murder weapon.
Cornell Law School professor Sheri Johnson, a consultant on the case, said the statement fits the trial record.
“That declaration actually matches with the forensic evidence that was presented at trial,” Johnson said, NBC 5 reported.
The appeal also revives claims that Broadnax’s original trial was flawed. Prosecutors struck seven black potential jurors, resulting in a panel of 11 white members and one black member after one was reinstated. They also used rap lyrics written by Broadnax during sentencing to portray him as violent.
“They thought that that would contribute to picturing Mr. Broadnax as a violent person and maybe even as a psychopath,” Johnson said.
Johnson noted Cummings faces no further punishment.
“…Mr. Cummings has already been sentenced to life,” she said. “The only question is whether it’s right to execute Mr. Broadnax when there is at the very least a huge amount of doubt that he was the shooter.”
The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office said it will respond.
“Our office will do its due diligence and respond to the motion,” a spokesperson told reporters.
Broadnax’s lawyers are asking the court to stay the execution, send the case back for a new trial, and remove the death sentence. Prosecutors did not rely on the state’s “law of parties” doctrine at trial, which could have allowed a conviction without the shots being fired.
If granted, the stay would be the third issued by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in just over a year.
