Invisible Wounds

Dear Supporters,

We are grateful to share the news that our client Stewart Mettz has been spared the death penalty. The prosecutor agreed to drop the death penalty, and Stewart has been sentenced to life imprisonment. Stewart was a combat Veteran of the Gulf War. 

Our combat Veterans come home to us carrying a heavy burden. Struggling to re-adapt to civilian life, many bear invisible wounds that manifest as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, major depression, and brain injury. Too often, Veterans do not receive the support they need to cope with all they have seen. It is not surprising, then, that so many Veterans end up entangled in our justice system, even if they lived peaceful lives before their service.

Veterans are twice as likely as non-veterans to experience incarceration. Combat exposure in particular, and the follow-on mental-health impacts, greatly increase the chances of a person’s justice involvement. A third of Veterans never receive any treatment for their mental health or substance abuse problems. 

At Texas Defender Service, we investigate and share stories that help prosecutors, judges and juries see the full picture of our clients’ lives; not just their worst acts, but everything they have lived through and what makes them human.

Some of our clients bear the scars of extreme childhood poverty; others are burdened by mental illness or carry the invisible wounds of war trauma. Whatever a client’s story, it matters. And we know that telling their story makes a difference. By sharing our clients’ whole human stories with Texas courts, we have saved 42 lives from execution or death sentence since 2018.

With gratitude,