Episode 5: A Quiet Morning

The Last 12 Weeks

In Episode 5: A Quiet Morning, the final days before David Wood’s execution are marked by intense legal maneuvering and emotional weight. As Naomi visits David one last time on death row, their complex relationship—blending compassion, professional duty, and personal connection—comes to a poignant head, while Greg Abbott’s office prepares last-minute appeals amid dwindling time.

Key takeaways

• David Wood’s final visit with Naomi is emotionally charged, revealing personal stories and deepening their bond beyond legal boundaries.
• The Fifth Circuit unexpectedly authorizes key claims, including Ramona Dismukes’ testimony, which could create reasonable doubt about David’s guilt.
• The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals grants a stay of execution in a 6-2 vote, marking a rare victory after decades of denial.

Transcript preview

On a warm day in early March, I meet Naomi in Dallas. We're in the final stretch of this case, exactly one week out from David Wood's execution date, and Naomi's driving up to death row to visit him. I can't be with her for the actual visit, but still I'm tagging along for the ride. All of Naomi's visits with David have come with the stress of a coming execution, but it's impossible to ignore the specific context here. That is potentially her last visit with him. I have been giving some thought to how to leave the conversation and the sense of, you know, what do we say when it's time for me to go? This particular question, what do I say when it's time for me to go, is a thorny one for death penalty lawyers? Being face to face with a perfectly healthy human being as a moment of their death rapidly approaches, painfully aware of its exact manner and timing. Greg describes this last interaction as a deeply unnatural, a conversation where language itself feels inadequate. Naomi has been running scenarios in her head for how to leave it with David. She tells me she was up at 3.30 this morning, trying to figure out just the right thing to say. It's hard because you want to be caring and you want to express compassion, but you also have to remain in the role of an attorney and like, um, like I don't want to have like some sort of, part like teary goodbye of like I might never see you again and you know it I want to be fair in the odds right which is like I could see you and I might not. He didn't want to talk about the case, so I just told him a little bit about like next steps and what had happened. Naomi tells me she said maybe five sentences during their entire visit. Most of the rest of it was listening to David tell stories. About his first stint in prison in a unit everyone called the Gladiator school. About a summer he spent in his dad's hometown where he stole a bunch of fireworks, so his little cousins would set them off. He also told me to never try shrooms. Plankin statement. He said that he'd seen things that a human should never have to see while he was on shrooms. And he's worried about Greg. He's worried about his sister. And he's, you know, he's worried about Greg. He's worried about his sister. He said he was going to be okay. He's worried about Greg. He's worried about his sister. He said he was going to be okay. Do you think he's going to be okay? I don't know. I think so. I think I mean it maybe I'm just trying to comfort myself but he's really angry. He's really angry. You know? I think I mean it's maybe I'm just trying to comfort myself but he's really angry. You know? I did know that part from the hour Maurice and I spent with David. his case. That wasn't hard to pick up on. But Naomi had a different vantage point here. Maybe a biased one, but no doubt a closer one. When her office first took on David's case, Naomi agreed to help but didn't want to go to death row to visit with him. Jeremy, her boss, has always made it clear that in these situations, when it's very likely that their client will be executed within months. It's not a requirement to go. But Greg told Naomi that her perspective and work on the case was something that David was something that David would want to hear about firsthand, so she started heading down to see him. Their relationship, under those conditions, grew quickly. He sent her some of his paintings, and she started to see him as more than just a name on a legal filing. Even though she'd only known him for a few months, Naomi had a feel for his anxiety and fear. She had come to know him in a way the defied easy category. It's this really strange relationship that is not a friendship, although it can sometimes feel like one. Like how do we describe not only like that relationship but the grief of maybe losing that person like what am I really sad about here particularly when and as far as the outside world knows David Wood is a serial killer who also has a very criminal record of crimes against children. And I know, like every time I, you know, like in the microphone say that like I'm sad, I'm like, oh I can just hear the, well the families of the victims are sad because they never got this time either. I'm like, oh, I can just hear the, well the families of the victims are sad because they never got this time either. as if David Wood is executed and there are family members who are seeking closure and peace from that. I hope they get it because otherwise it is truly, truly pointless. How did you leave it? really hope I get to see him again. I really hope we get to see him again. I really hope we get a stay. Shama, this is the final episode of the last 12 weeks. There are now six days until David Woods execution date. For this final stretch, Alvin is with Naomi and Jeremy in Dallas. I'm with Greg, who's a couple hundred miles away in Livingston, Texas. For this final stretch, Alvin is with Naomi and Jeremy in Dallas. I'm with Greg who's a couple hundred miles away in Livingston, Texas. For this final push in the case, Greg has decided to set up a one-man war room, a holiday in here, about 15 minutes from death row. He's in a pretty Spartan suite on the third floor that overlooks a parking lot and a dollar store. At desk covered in papers, a small mountain of bottled drinks. He's got more than one novel on his bedstand, which seems a little optimistic given the circumstances. Greg could do his legal work from anywhere with an internet connection, but he chooses to do it from here so that he can visit David as much as possible in these next few days. That and because it was in this in years ago that he want to stay of execution for another client. He figures he'll take all the luck he can get. I plop down on a faux leather couch in his room as he gets to work. The legal specifics of what Greg and the other lawyers are going to be up to and the run-up to the execution are interesting and I'll get to them. But there is one not strictly legal thing I've been wondering about this moment for Greg. I'm curious about his relationship with David. What potentially losing him might mean for Greg. He explains it to me by A lot of his other death row clients, Greg tells me, have had severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia. Communicating with them could be challenging. Greg cared for these men and fought for them, but he wouldn't describe those relationships as all that close. Certainly not as close as the one I've had with David. And yes, I've gotten to know him fairly well over the years, now 16 years. about his personal life with David than he otherwise might have with a client. When Greg's father was suffering from Alzheimer's, David asked if he could pray for him. Ham painted him a card that Greg put in his father's room. Greg saw David through the death of his younger brother and has gotten close with David's sister too. I was surprised at these men with their wildly different life experiences and temperments. Both referred to each other as brothers. David's allowed to invite up to five people to witness his execution, and it's Greg thinks there's a chance David will ask him. David hasn't brought it up yet, and Greg is sort of hoping he doesn't. He's never watched one of his clients be executed before. He always worried that the trauma of it would make it harder for him to do his job. But Greg says if David doesn't have anyone else, he'll be there. He doesn't want David to face death alone. In any case, this is probably the last time Greg will be in this position. He turned 60 not long ago. And though he isn't planning to retire anytime soon soon soon soon soon soon soon soon soon soon soon soon soon soon soon soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, he's soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, he's soon, soon, he's soon, he's soon, he's to take on new death row clients. Another capital case at this point, given how long they last, might outlive him. So in all likelihood, David will be his last death row client. These are the things weighing on Greg's mind as he prepares for all the work ahead of him. Most likely firing off responses to whatever court decisions and prosecution briefs come out this week. To that end, he's stocked his mini-fridge with yogurt and what I'd call an apocalyptic amount of blueberries, so he never has to leave the room for breakfast. He's got his So I like to have a turkey sandwich every day for lunch. So I've got my bread. I've