Episode 329: The Death Penalty’s Accomplice - Dr. James Grigson
Texas has always had a reputation for carrying out executions, and one man’s testimony made many of them possible. This doctor claimed he could predict the future dangerousness of an offender with absolute certainty, even if they never met. And time after time, juries believed him. This week’s episode is The Death Penalty’s Accomplice - Dr. James Grigson.
SOURCES
Obituary - James Paul Grigson (2004), Dallas Morning News: https://obits.dallasnews.com/us/obituaries/dallasmorningnews/name/james-grigson-obituary?id=27809118
Memorial - Dr James Paul Grigson, FindaGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8888027/james_paul-grigson
Travels with Dr. Death, Vanity Fair: https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/1990/5/travels-with-dr-death
Grigson, James Paul, Jr. (1932–2004), Texas State Historical Association: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/grigson-james-paul-jr
Effect of "Dr. Death" and his testimony lingers, https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Effect-of-Dr-Death-and-his-testimony-lingers-1960299.php
Law: They Call Him Dr. Death, Time: https://time.com/archive/6700497/law-they-call-him-dr-death/
Dangerous predictions: the case of Randall Dale Adams, The Forensic Examiner: https://web.archive.org/web/20160127134817/http://www.biomedsearch.com/article/Dangerous-predictions-case-Randall-Dale/125957151.html
Psychiatric Times: https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/deaths-conviction
2018 case upheld: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/texas-court-of-criminal-appeals-upholds-death-sentence-based-on-false-psychiatric-testimony
Law student 2021: https://law.vanderbilt.edu/jackson-hill-22-race-and-future-dangerousness-in-the-texas-death-penalty/
Death Watch: Expert Opinion: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2014-04-04/death-watch-expert-opinion/
This Doctor Helped Send Ramiro Gonzales to Death Row. Now He’s Changed His Mind., The Marshall Project: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2022/07/11/this-doctor-helped-send-ramiro-gonzales-to-death-row-now-he-s-changed-his-mind
Law Review: Junk Mental Health Science and the Texas Death Penalty, Death Penalty Information Center: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/law-review-junk-mental-health-science-and-the-texas-death-penalty
Experts Say Texas’ Future Dangerousness Concept Is Based on Junk Science, Death Penalty Information Center: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/experts-say-texas-future-dangerousness-concept-is-based-on-junk-science
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/22/texas-death-penalty-executions-decline/
HIGH COURT UPHOLDS EXPEDITED HANDLING OF DEATH ROW CASE, New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/07/us/high-court-upholds-expedited-handling-of-death-row-case.html
Texas ‘Dr. Death’ retires after 167 capital case trials, Washington Times: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2003/dec/20/20031220-113219-5189r/
(James R. Acker, Snake Oil with a Bite: The Lethal Veneer of Science and Texas’ Death Penalty, 81 Albany Law Review 751 (2018): http://www.albanylawreview.org/Articles/Vol81_3/751%20Acker%20PRODUCTION.pdf
Texas ranked second in executions carried out in 2024, behind Alabama, Houston Public Media: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/criminal-justice/2024/12/19/509081/texas-ranked-second-in-executions-carried-out-in-2024-behind-alabama/
Grigson, James Paul, Jr. (1932–2004), Texas State Historical Association: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/grigson-james-paul-jr
The Law; Expert Witness Is Unfazed by 'Dr. Death' Label, The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/10/us/the-law-expert-witness-is-unfazed-by-dr-death-label.html
Texas Study Challenges ‘Violent Behavior’ Predictions, Los Angeles Times: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-mar-31-na-death31-story.html
A Belated Farewell to The Thin Blue Line's Randall Dale Adams, "The First Innocent Man", Dallas Observer: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/a-belated-farewell-to-the-thin-blue-lines-randall-dale-adams-the-first-innocent-man-7120313
Filmmaker helped free innocent man, Northwester Pritzker School of Law: https://www.law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/wrongfulconvictions/exonerations/tx/randall-dale-adams.html#:~:text=Although%20the%20American%20Psychiatric%20Association,that%20ended%20in%20death%20sentences.
The Anti-Post-Modern Post-Modernist, ErrolMorriss.com, https://www.errolmorris.com/content/interview/amnesia0204.html
‘The Thin Blue Line’: The true crime documentary that changed the world, Far Out Magazine UK: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-thin-blue-line-documentary-changed-world/
The Truth Is Not Enough, Telling It Is: Looking Back At ‘The Thin Blue Line’, Texas Public Radio: https://www.tpr.org/arts-culture/2015-07-01/the-truth-is-not-enough-telling-it-is-looking-back-at-the-thin-blue-line
This Documentary Shows That True Crime Can Be Done Tastefully, Collider: https://collider.com/the-thin-blue-line-true-crime-documentary/
Federal Court Rejects Duane Buck Racial Bias Appeal, Death Penalty Information Center: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/federal-court-rejects-duane-buck-racial-bias-appeal
New Podcast: Duane Buck’s Appeal Lawyer Tells Story of His Case, Discusses Future Dangerousness and Racial Bias, Death Penalty Information Center: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-podcast-duane-bucks-appeal-lawyer-tells-story-of-his-case-discusses-future-dangerousness-and-racial-bias
Neuroscience Experts: Brain Science Shows Texas’ Use of Future Dangerousness to Sentence Those Under 21 to Death is Unreliable, Unconstitutional, Death Penalty Information Center: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/neuroscience-experts-brain-science-shows-texas-use-of-future-dangerousness-to-sentence-those-under-21-to-death-is-unreliable-unconstitutional
Expert Who Predicted “Future Dangerousness” in Texas Death Cases Ruled Unreliable, Death Penalty Information Center: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/expert-who-predicted-future-dangerousness-in-texas-death-cases-ruled-unreliable
Capital Punishment in Texas, Texas State Historical Association: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/capital-punishment-in-texas
