Opinion: Death penalty in decline - How a prosecutor, and a nation, changed course Chris Vognar FacebookTwitterEmail 1of5 Judge Elsa Alcala is interviewed for “Behind the Walls,” a Houston Chronicle podcast on prison and criminal justice.Scott KingsleyShow MoreShow Less 2of5 Cover image for "Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty" by Maurice ChammahCrownShow MoreShow Less 3of5 4of5 Maurice Chammah, author of "Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty"Tamir KalifaShow MoreShow Less 5of5 Back in 1994, Harris County prosecutor Elsa Alcala won a death sentence against Houston’s Gerald Eldridge, accused of murdering his wife and daughter. After the trial, her boss, storied district attorney Johnny Holmes, gave her a little gift. “Congratulations, killer,” he said as he handed over a novelty pen made to look like a small plastic syringe.