August 16 TEXAS: HPD finds evidence from 3 death row cases The investigation into problems at the Houston Police Department's crime lab has revealed more unsettling discoveries -- this time involving death row cases. Dozens of boxes of evidence were found in the HPD property room last year during the investigation into problems at the HPD crime lab. Investigators have been combing over each piece of evidence -- 700,000 so far -- and they recently found evidence linked to the capital murder cases. The findings may have come too late for one person already executed. Ponchai Wilkerson was sent to death row for a 1990 murder during a jewelry store robbery. The evidence was a car baby seat. It's relation to the case isn't clear. Wilkerson's attorneys didn't request the evidence during the trial. District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said that at least in the Wilkerson case, the evidence may not have made any impact. "It appears that it is very tangential. In fact, nonessential to any given matter in Mr. Wilkerson's case, which is good from our standpoint," he said. Wilkerson made quite a name for himself while on death row. He took a female guard hostage a month before his execution. The day Wilkerson was executed in 2000, prison guards had to use mace on him to get him to the execution chamber. Just before he was given a lethal dose of drugs, Wilkerson spit out a key. Evidence also turned up in the 1987 case of Warren Rivers. He lured an 11-year-old boy to his home, sexually assaulted him, mutilated him with a broomstick and stabbed him to death. The evidence found in that case is clothing, a towel and a knife. The 3rd case of evidence involves Robert Campbell. He kidnapped Alexandra Rendon from a gas station in 1991, raped her, then shot her to death. The evidence is a cigarette butt which defense attorneys had asked for during the appeals process. Chief Hurtt is meeting with Mayor Bill White and other HPD officials are meeting with the District Attorney do discuss the latest developments. The problems at HPD were first brought to light in an exclusive 11 News Defenders investigation that led to the closing of the lab. (source: KHOU News) NORTH CAROLINA: Jury deliberates in tailgate killing of Marine, friend In Raleigh, jurors completed their first day of deliberations Tuesday in the case of a man accused of killing a Marine and his childhood friend during a fight outside a North Carolina State University football game. Timothy Wayne Johnson is charged with 1st-degree murder in the deaths of Chicago businessman Kevin McCann and 2nd Lt. Brett Harman, a Chicago native stationed at Camp Lejeune. McCann and Harman, both 23, tangled with Johnson and his younger brother, Tony, outside the Wolfpack home opener Sept. 4, 2004. Prosecutors say Timothy Johnson shot the 2 at point-blank range. Johnson, testifying in his own defense, acknowledged firing his gun, but said he did it to scare away the men and protect his brother, not to kill anyone. Tony Johnson, who will be tried later on 1st-degree murder charges, argued with the victims shortly before the shootings. Judge Osmond Smith told the jurors they can find Timothy Johnson not guilty or convict him of 1st-degree murder, 2nd-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter. The jury must consider each killing separately. The panel began its deliberations about 10:45 a.m. Tuesday and recessed for the day about 5:15 p.m. During deliberations, they asked to see several exhibits, including transcripts of 911 calls; calls Johnson made from the jail; and reports from psychiatrists. Defense attorney Joe Cheshire said his client is not the person whom prosecutors portrayed in court. "However people portray Tim, he's a young man who made a terrible mistake," Cheshire said Tuesday. "He's scared to death and he's humble about it. He's a nice kid." Harman's girlfriend of the last seven years, Zora Popovic, said Harman and McCann were wonderful people. "We have to be here to represent them because they can't represent themselves," she said. In closing statements Monday, prosecutors said Timothy Johnson had time to form the intent to kill McCann and Harman, a necessary element for a first-degree murder conviction. Wake County Assistant District Attorney Jeff Cruden told the jury that Harman and McCann did nothing to cause their own deaths. Instead, he argued that Johnson acted with malice, premeditation and deliberation. "When he knew that his brother was down on the ground and he decided to pull that gun, he deliberated," Cruden said. "If you can think about it, you deliberated." Defense lawyers argued for a conviction on voluntary manslaughter, saying the victims were drinking alcohol and eager to fight. "Those men - as fine as my boys, maybe better - contributed to what happened out there that day," Cheshire said. "They are not blameless." Johnson could be sentenced to life in prison or execution if convicted of at least 1 1st-degree murder charge. (source: Associated Press) CALIFORNIA: Heavy drinking, outrage, man testifies -- He's accused of killing transgender teenager The man accused of strangling a Newark transgender teenager nearly 3 years ago testified Monday that he had been drinking heavily the night Gwen Araujo was killed and had not questioned her gender before she died. Michael Magidson, 25, said that he had anal sex with Araujo -- who called herself Lida -- about one week before a party nearly 3 years ago where it was revealed that the 17-year-old was biologically male. That revelation prompted a savage attack, during which Araujo was beaten, kneed in the head, tied up and strangled. "Lida was a woman," said Magidson, who was testifying for the 1st time at his retrial on murder charges. "I had no reason to think otherwise." The question of whether Magidson knew or suspected Araujo was transgender before the attack is a key point in the case. Prosecutors have characterized the killing as a cold, premeditated murder, while Magidson's attorney has painted it as manslaughter, a crime of passion committed by young men confronted with questions about their own sexuality. Magidson did not testify at the 1st trial, which ended in June 2004 with the jury deadlocked on charges against him and 2 other men, Jose Merel and Jason Cazares, both 25. A 4th man, Jaron Nabors, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and testified against the others. The case, and the mistrial, outraged the transgender community. Nabors testified that Magidson and the others had had several conversations before the night Araujo died about Araujo's gender. Merel, meanwhile, reluctantly told jurors earlier this month that Magidson had strangled Araujo. Magidson -- who wore a dark suit Monday in the Hayward courtroom and spoke in a manner-of-fact tone -- said he had been drinking beer and shots of hard alcohol for hours before the Oct. 3, 2002, party where Araujo was killed. When Merel began asking the teen that night whether she was male or female, Magidson said he thought it was a joke. "I thought it was mean, but I thought it was kind of funny," Magidson said. "They were going back and forth," he said. "She was saying, 'Oh my God, Jose, how can you ask me that? You already know.' She was kind of playing along." Then, Magidson said, "It got to a point where you'd have to be blind not to see (Jose) was really upset." The court session then ended for the day. Magidson will continue testifying again today. *************** Defendant says prosecution witness admitted killing Araujo A man accused of killing a Newark transgender teen after learning she was biologically male denied today that he strangled Gwen Araujo, and said the prosecution's key witness admitted that he was the killer. Michael Magidson, 25, of Fremont, testified in his retrial that Jaron Nabors, one of four men arrested in the killing of the 17-year-old Araujo in October 2002, told him that he had strangled Araujo after a struggle at a party. Magidson said that after he, Nabors and Jose Merel had struck Araujo with fists, a frying pan and 5-pound weights, he went to clean up and left Nabors with the bleeding Araujo. When he returned, he said, he asked Nabors how she was. "He said, 'Shes dead, I killed her,'" Magidson said. Nabors, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in exchange for his testimony against Magidson, Merel and a 3rd man, Jason Cazares, testified earlier in the retrial that Magidson had strangled Araujo before the men drove to a remote part of the Eldorado National Forest and dumped her body. Magidson did not testify at the 1st trial, which ended in June 2004 with the jury deadlocked on charges against him and the 2 others. Dressed in a suit and with his parents watching in the Hayward courtroom, Magidson described today the chaos in the home as he and his friends revealed the biological gender of Araujo, who called herself Lida to the men. "I pinned Lida down," said Magidson, who previously had oral sex with her. "I was on top. Lida was on her back. Somehow I used at least one arm, maybe my whole body, to pull her legs up." One of the other men pulled her underwear aside, revealing her male genitalia, he said. "I was shocked," he said. "I think my mind went blank at that point." After Nabors admitted to strangling Araujo with a rope, Magidson said, the men decided to move the body to a pickup truck, and he said he saw Nabors strike Araujo with a shovel to make sure she was dead. Magidson's testimony will continue this afternoon. (source for both: San Francisco Chronicle)
