Feb. 8
TEXAS:
Start of truck driver's trial delayed for 4th time Prosecutors given time
to file motion against dual juries
Federal prosecutors are expected to fire the next salvo in the battle over
how Tyrone Williams will be prosecuted now that an appeals court has
blocked the start of his death-penalty trial for the 4th time.
2 judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay over the
weekend to give prosecutors in Houston time to file a motion asking the
appeals court to overturn a ruling made Friday by U.S. District Judge
Vanessa Gilmore.
Jury selection was to have begun Monday morning. Williams could receive a
death sentence if he is convicted of causing the deaths of 19 illegal
immigrants during a smuggling attempt in May 2003.
Prosecutors oppose Gilmore's ruling that a non-death-penalty jury should
hear the guilt/innocence phase of the trial and, if Williams is convicted,
a separate jury qualified to consider the death penalty should be chosen
to decide his punishment. Defense attorney Craig Washington suggested the
plan, saying it would increase the likelihood of getting blacks on the 1st
jury.
Washington contends that then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft chose to
seek the death penalty against Williams because he is black. Prosecutors
have countered that Williams, 34, was the only one of the 14 people
indicted in the case who could have saved the victims' lives.
12 of the accused smuggling-ring members were eligible for the death
penalty, but prosecutors are seeking it against only Williams, a Jamaican
immigrant from Schenectady, N.Y.
Washington said studies have shown that death-penalty qualification of
jurors leads to a disproportionate exclusion of blacks and women.
Charles Baird, a former state appeals court judge who now is a visiting
professor at the South Texas College of Law, said the split-jury plan was
"very unusual."
"I think Judge Gilmore is grappling with a way to fashion a remedy that
takes in the positions of both sides," said Baird, who is retired from the
Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas' highest court for criminal cases.
Neither party in Williams' case can comment publicly because of a gag
order imposed by Gilmore.
Prosecutors' objection to the jury-selection method is the latest in a
series of procedural disputes that have delayed the trial for more than a
month and increased tension between the judge and prosecutors.
Dispute over disclosure
The dispute began when prosecutors refused Gilmore's order that they
disclose the information used in deciding to seek a death sentence.
To penalize them for disobeying her order, Gilmore planned to tell jurors,
if Williams was convicted, about the prosecution's refusal and allow them
to take it into consideration, along with the defense argument that
Williams was singled out because he is black.
A three-judge 5th Circuit panel overruled Gilmore on Jan. 12 in a strongly
worded opinion, saying she had exceeded her authority in ordering the
prosecution to disclose how it reached the death-penalty decision.
The panel agreed with prosecutors that the information was confidential
and that her order infringed on the executive branch's prerogatives. The
judges ordered Gilmore to begin the trial within 30 days.
Washington appealed that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is
expected to decide whether to hear the case when its Feb. 12 session
begins.
Gilmore delayed the trial until then, but prosecutors asked her to begin
it by Feb. 11. They reminded her that the 5th Circuit had invited them to
file a motion forcing her to start it if she failed to do so within 30
days.
Panel may decide again
On Friday, she adopted Washington's proposal for dual juries.
The 2 judges issuing the stay over the weekend were Edith H. Jones and
Rhesa H. Barksdale. They were on the panel that overruled Gilmore earlier,
which may indicate that the same panel will decide the issue again.
Williams is accused of ignoring the plight of more than 74 illegal
immigrants who screamed and pounded on the walls of his sealed trailer as
he drove them northward from Harlingen toward Houston.
The abandoned trailer was found with 17 bodies inside on May 14, 2003, at
a Victoria truck stop. 2 more people died in a hospital.
(source: Houston Chronicle)
***********************
Both Sides Rest
A man's life will soon be in the hands of a jury, now that both sides in
the capital murder trial for Justen Grant Hall have rested.
If Hall is convicted of capital murder he faces the death penalty or life
in prison. after 2 weeks of testimony, the jury will begin deliberating
tomorrow after they hear closing arguments.
The state says Hall strangled Melanie Billhartz and dumped her body in the
desert back in October of 2002. The defense says another man, Ted
Murgatroy, killed her. Today another man who was with them that night
testified as a rebuttal witness for the state. He says Hall told him he
wanted to kill Melanie and he tried to convince him not to. He also says
Hall confessed to dumping her body in the desert. The defense argues
police didn't look thoroughly into other leads after they talked to Hall.
The jury also heard from a gang expert today who says Hall's tattoos
signify he is a member of the "Aryan Circle," a white supremacist gang. He
also says Hall was the district captain of the gang, and would be more
likely to order a murder. Closing arguments begin tomorrow morning in the
34th District Court.
(source: KTSM News)
******************************
Thomas Trial Testing the Top Dollar
The triple capital murder trial of the man who confessed to gruesomely
murdering his estranged wife and 2 children back in march will soon be
getting underway. Now, the judge in the case has voiced his concern for
safety and the Grayson County Sheriff's Office is speaking up about this
costly trial.
21-year-old Andre Thomas will be tried for 3 counts of capital murder but
just 1 of the counts will be tried when testimony begins February 15th.
If Thomas is found guilty by reason of insanity, the punishment could
sentence Thomas to his death.
The capital murder trial of Andre Thomas could take up to 6 weeks
something Sheriff Keith Gary isn't prepared to handle.
"A high profile sensitive trial requires a certain amount of security,"
says Grayson County Sheriff Keith Gary.
Grayson County Judge James Fry's requested 5 off-duty officers to be
present to maintain security inside the court and watch over Thomas.
Sheriff Gary says, "I can handle small situations or short-term court
trials. I can handle those out of my existing funds but when you get into
something like this; I just don't have the money."
That's why Sheriff Gary informed County Commissioners he would need about
$38,000 because overtime is not considered into the $9.5 million budget.
A fair trial and not funding is the focus of lawyers trying the case.
"We're going to trial on the case of the death of the little girl Leah. If
the sentence isn't what we think appropriate we have another case
available to try if necessary," says Grayson County District Attorney, Joe
Brown.
"We have given the state notice that he was insane at the time that the
crimes were allegedly committed," says R.J. Hagood, Thomas's attorney.
<>P> If Thomas is found guilty, they must then consider 2 points: if he
could be a future danger or if there were mitigating circumstances.
All 12-must agree with both points to give Thomas the death penalty.
If just 1 person disagrees, Thomas could spend the rest of his life in
prison.
(source: KTEN News)
*******************
West Texas DA quits, pleads guilty to weapons charge
A West Texas district attorney accused of using drugs and illegally
possessing guns resigned Tuesday then pleaded guilty to a weapons charge
in a deal that dropped the drug charges and cut his prison time, a
prosecutor said.
Rick Roach, 55, entered the plea agreement in an Amarillo court after
resigning as district attorney for 5 counties.
At the time of his Jan. 11 arrest in the Gray County Courthouse in Pampa,
he was in court with two guns in his briefcase, prosecutors said.
According to search warrants, there were drugs and more than 30 weapons --
semiautomatic handguns, rifles and shotguns -- in his office and home.
"I felt this was the best count for him to plead to federally," prosecutor
Christy Drake said.
Roach's attorney, Bill Kelly, said it was a good deal.
"I can't say we're satisfied, but it's certainly acceptable," he said.
Roach, who had just begun his second term, pleaded guilty to a charge of
being an addict in possession of a firearm, Drake said.
He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The drug charges
could have brought an additional 41 years and $2.25 million in fines. No
sentencing date was set. Roach is free until sentencing.
The dropped charges were possession of methamphetamine, possession of
cocaine with intent to deliver, and possession of methamphetamine with
intent to deliver.
(source: Associated Press)
******************
Trial in double murder begins----Jury selection starts in capital case
against Swift
Individual jury selection began Monday in the capital murder trial of
Christopher Jay Swift.
Swift, 30, is accused of murdering his wife and mother-in-law in April
2003. Denton County District Attorney Bruce Isaacks elected to seek the
death penalty in the case, which mandates a more detailed questioning of
potential jurors for the trial. Assistant District Attorney Lee Ann
Breeding said it could take as long as a month to select the jury.
Swift remains in Denton County Jail in lieu of $750,000 bail and could not
be reached for comment.
His attorney, Denton lawyer Derek Adame, said that no jurors were seated
Monday.
In a capital murder trial, attorneys normally choose 12 jurors and 2
alternates.
Adame said that he will mount an insanity defense on behalf of Swift, but
he would not elaborate.
"We do intend to offer evidence in support of that defense," Adame said.
He said he expects the trial to last 10 to 14 days once the jury is
seated.
Irving police found Amy Sabeh-Swift, 27, dead in the couples home at
Irving View RV Park April 30. She was 8 months pregnant.
When Lake Dallas police attempted to notify Sandra Stevens Sabeh, 61, of
her daughters death later that day, they found her dead in her trailer at
Kingswood Mobile Home Park in Lake Dallas.
The couples 5-year-old son called Irving police from a motel where Swift
had rented a room and then abandoned the little boy, police said. The
child told officers his father had murdered his mother. Officers found the
woman dead.
The little boy is living with relatives.
Police found Swift in Dallas a few hours later and took him into custody.
Autopsies showed Sabeh-Swift, an aide at the Denton State School, died of
strangulation and stabbing and that her mother died of strangulation.
The murders happened in two different counties and each county at first
indicted Swift for murder. But Dallas County handed its case to Denton
County, and the case was indicted as a capital murder here. Trying the 2
murders as 1 crime with 2 victims allowed pursuit of the capital murder
charge.
If convicted, Swift could face death by lethal injection.
The last Denton County death penalty sentence was in August 2002, when
jurors recommended death as punishment for drug dealer Steven Michael
Woods Jr. in the slayings of two people in The Colony.
Woods, 24, was convicted in connection with the May 2001 shooting and
slashing deaths of 21-year-old Ronald Whitehead of Dallas and 19-year-old
Bethena Brosz of Denton. In that case, Woods lured Whitehead to a secluded
spot near a golf course with the promise of a drug deal. Brosz was with
Whitehead and prosecutors said she was killed because she was a witness.
(source: Denton Record-Chronicle)
******************
Capital murder trial postponed - a juror became ill
The capital murder trial of Asel Abdygapparova, accused of participating
in the 2001 slaying of Rosa Maria Rosado, was postponed today because a
juror became ill.
The state is seeking the death penalty against Abdygapparova, 30, of
Kazakhstan.
The victim, a 37-year-old single mother from the Southeast Side, was
abducted from a bus stop and taken to a motel where she was sexually
assaulted and strangled. Rosado's nude body was unearthed from a shallow
grave near Loop 1604 and La Cantera Parkway in April 2001.
Abdygapparova, who led police to the body, is the 3rd defendant to stand
trial in the killing. Co-defendants, Ramon Hernandez, and Santos Minjares,
were each convicted of capital murder. Both are on death row.
Opening statements were set to begin this morning, but the trial was
delayed after a juror complained he had a fever and sore throat.
Judge Mary Roman, 175th District Court, told the juror to go to the doctor
so that the trial might proceed on Thursday.
(source: San Antonio Express-News)
*************************
A MORE SENSITIVE SYSTEM----Justice for the mentally ill; County judges
consider a court where offenders with medical conditions get specialized
treatment
Robert Blair is a model probationer - as long as he takes his medication.
During the past decade, the 29-year-old restaurant worker has transformed
himself from a troubled teenager who "heard voices" into a gainfully
employed citizen who lives by himself and makes monthly child-support
payments.
"I feel like I'm blending in with society," Blair said, smiling after a
recent court appearance. "I feel like I'm on top of the world."
Harris County's felony judges are considering the creation of a so-called
mental health court, with the hope of producing more success stories like
Blair, who, by most accounts, has prospered under court supervision.
Similar to the drug court created here in 2003, a mental health court
would be designed to channel specialized medical treatment and legal
consideration to those with such conditions as schizophrenia, bipolar
disorder and psychotic episodes.
With the amount of prison and jail space dwindling statewide, court
officials are exploring alternatives that may save money and reduce crime.
The drug- and mental health-court concepts stem from a belief that time
and treatment expended upfront can save countless dollars and problems
years down the line.
The county's 22 felony court judges agreed this month to examine ways to
expand the currently limited and informal mental health program into one
that would involve independent funding and designated staff.
State legislators are considering the judges' request for $236,000, which
could fund a full-time court coordinator and a mental health expert.
Ideally, the program could be operating as early as September, said state
District Judge Jan Krocker.
"We need to give appropriate treatment for people who are sick, and these
people are just sick," Krocker said. "They are not going to make their
probation if they don't get extra encouragement and extra supervision. If
we can help all these people on probation, they won't have to go to jail."
Blair was sentenced to 10 years' probation for biting his niece on the leg
in 1995. He is among a handful of probationers here who have experienced
the benefits of a mental health court setting.
In recent years, Krocker has been meeting individually with Blair and
other probationers from her court who have mental illness. Such courtroom
hearings are rare for most probationers, who usually see a judge if they
violate their probation.
Blair's case is similar to many others in the criminal justice system,
where studies show that 10 % to 30 % of defendants nationally have some
form of mental illness.
Blair recalled experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations as a
teenager, according to court records. His grandparents, who raised him,
told him that his uncle "went through the same thing." They never took him
for professional care, court records show.
After his arrest for biting his niece, Blair was diagnosed for the first
time with schizophrenia, compounded by moderate drug and alcohol use,
according to court records.
In less than a year of treatment, doctors concluded he was healthy enough
to face the criminal charge. He pleaded guilty to injury to a child and
was sentenced to probation under Krocker's supervision.
Several metropolitan counties in Texas, including Dallas and Tarrant, are
starting to operate their own versions of mental health courts. There are
slight differences among the programs, but all aim to bring more knowledge
of mental illness into the courtroom.
"A lot of judges have no clue about mental illness, and they wonder why
someone continues to be late or cannot show up for court or has trouble
getting a job," said Dee Kifowit, director of the Texas Council on
Offenders with Mental Impairments. "The person in charge (of mental health
courts) understands and recognizes the dilemmas facing the mentally ill
person."
Some mental health advocates are ambivalent about the specialized courts
developed across the country in the past decade. While they support
efforts to make the criminal justice system more sensitive, they worry
that legally required treatment could further strain an already limited
supply of treatment facilities.
"Where is the money going to come from to support those services?" asked
Oscar Morgan, the chief operating officer for the National Mental Health
Association in Washington, D.C. "And will money be drained off the
existing service for individuals who are in court and, by default, you
have to go to court to get the services you need?"
The criminal justice system covers the cost of probationers' treatment,
but upon successful completion of their supervision, the mentally ill must
navigate unfamiliar public bureaucracies to get access to the same
treatment and medication.
That transition is approaching for Blair, whose probation is scheduled to
end next year.
Today, he lives in a trailer in northeast Houston and rides the bus to a
nearby chain restaurant, where he has worked for several years. He often
visits his 6-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son on his days off. He
takes a variety of medications to address his problems and to reduce the
side effects.
Krocker hopes Blair can find and adjust to new treatment before he leaves
her supervision.
"Out of your whole probation time, this is some of the most important,"
she told Blair in court recently. "You've got to hang in there until these
new doctors get to know you and get to know your problems."
--
RESOURCES
THE CASE FOR A NEW COURT
Harris County's 22 felony court judges are considering the creation of a
mental health court.
- Purpose: To channel specialized medical treatment and legal
consideration to those suffering from such conditions as schizophrenia and
bipolar disorder.
- Concept: Upfront attention to offenders' mental health issues can save
countless dollars and prevent future crimes.
- Funding: The judges have asked the state for $236,000 to fund a
full-time court coordinator and a mental health expert.
(source: Houston Chronicle)
*************************
Rubio declared competent to choose new attorney ----Convicted child killer
says he still hears voices of children, devil
A man who was sentenced to death for strangling and decapitating his 3
children here told a psychologist that he is still haunted by their voices
almost 2 years later.
During a court-ordered competency exam on Friday, John Allen Rubio, 24,
told a psychologist that he still hallucinates and hears the tears and
voices of his dead children as well as taunts from the devil.
The exam was ordered last week to determine if Rubio was able to choose an
attorney to help him fight the death penalty.
According to a copy of the exam obtained Monday by The Brownsville Herald,
Rubio was found competent to choose an attorney, but he told a
psychologist that he still hears the voices of his children and the devil.
Rubio was arrested in March 2003 and later convicted of strangling and
decapitating his child and 2 others belonging to his common-law wife
Angela Camacho, 25.
At his own request, Rubio was given the death penalty, but he later
decided to fight the sentence.
Rubio told the psychologist on Friday that he still hears his children
crying and saying, "Daddy."
At other times, the Brownsville man said he sometimes hears the devil
making fun of him and telling him things to do.
According to the psychological exam, Rubio is taking Prozac, Thorazine and
another medication as treatment for depression.
Despite the hallucinations and voices, Dr. David Morn said Rubio was
competent to go through the appeals process, because he understands the
charges against him as well as his sentence and court proceedings.
Rubio appeared in the 138th state District Court Monday morning and chose
attorney Al Padilla to represent him through the appeals process.
Padilla told The Herald that the case would be heard at a court of appeals
in Austin.
"They could either affirm the conviction and sentence or affirm the
conviction and reduce the sentence or repeal the conviction and order a
new trial," he said.
First Assistant District Attorney John Blaylock said prosecutors will
fight the appeal to keep the death penalty.
"A jury of Cameron County has spoken. We're going to back up what they
said," Blaylock told The Herald.
Blaylock said Rubios appeal will go through both the state court of
appeals and federal court concurrently.
Defense attorneys, he said, have at least 30 days to prepare their legal
briefs for the case.
Although representatives from the Texas Attorney Generals Office will
represent Cameron County in federal court, Blaylock said local prosecutors
will appear at the initial oral arguments in state court.
A decision could be reached for the appeal by the end of the year, he
said.
Rubios common-law wife and co-defendant Angela Camacho is expected to go
to trial on May 13.
(source: Brownsville Herald)
