Editor's Letter

Killing Machine

There is hardly a more searing thought than that of society releasing a convicted killer who kills again. Unless it is our execution of an innocent man. In Texas these days juries have to confront that dilemma more often than anywhere else in the United States because of the success of a singular forensic psychiatrist. Dr. James Grigson, known by his foes as Dr. Death, has proved so adept at convincing juries that a murderer will kill again that Texas is experiencing an execution boom. Since 1976 the state has sent more prisoners to death row—over 350—and then executed more of them—33—than any other state. Grigson takes the stand during the penalty phase of a capital-murder trial, when, in Texas, jurors can choose death if they are convinced that the defendant would pose a violent future threat to society if allowed to live. Dr. Grigson assures them he can "guarantee" that the criminal before them is a "sociopath" who will always be dangerous.

His detractors point out that Dr. Death often pronounces his lethal diagnosis on the basis of a few scant biographical notes and without ever examining his subject. No need to, he claims, and the jury usually agrees. At last count, he had testified in 127 trials and the jury had voted for ° death 118 times. Ron Rosenbaum spent a grim § week on the road with Dr. Grigson, watching him | blow the defense to shreds with his blend of medical ⅜ expertise and retributive passion in three back-toback trials. When the dust had settled, three more murderers were on their way to death row.

Rosenbaum also discovered, somewhat to his surprise, that Dr. Grigson was not the humorless fanatic he had pictured from a distance, but a complex, highly intelligent practitioner who welcomed scrutiny of his methods—denounced by the American Psychiatric Association for lacking scientific basis. To Texas D.A.'s faced with the brutality of casual murder, he is society's cleanup angel.

In "Travels with Dr. Death" (page 140), readers will find themselves in the jury box, their moral queasiness about the Dr. Death road show fighting it out with the graphic horror of the crimes.

Editor in chief