Nov. 10
TEXAS----new execution date
Robert Salazar Jr. has been given an execution date of March 22, 2006; the
date should be considered serious.
(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)
*****************************
Attorneys, friends saw no hint of death row inmate's escape
In the hours before death row inmate Charles Victor Thompson brazenly
escaped from a Houston jail last week, neither his friends nor his
attorneys said they had any idea he was plotting to break out.
Around 11 a.m. Thursday, the day of his escape, Thompson's attorney,
Terrence Gaiser, met with Thompson's friend, local anti-death penalty
activist David Atwood, and 2 other activists from Germany, to discuss his
case.
They said they were unaware Thompson had called another lawyer, James
Rytting, that same morning and invited him to the Harris County Jail to
discuss an appeal. A week before, Thompson had been resentenced to death
for the 1998 shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend, Dennise Hayslip, 39, of
Tomball, and her new boyfriend, Darren Keith Cain, 30, of nearby Spring.
Thompson first called Rytting on the Monday before his escape, pushing for
a meeting because he might be moved back to death row in Livingston by the
end of the week, Rytting said.
Thompson called him again Wednesday. Rytting said he met with Thompson for
about 20 minutes Thursday afternoon in what he called a routine visit.
"We had what I consider to be a normal, intelligent initial visit about
the constitutional and procedural issues in his case, and that was it," he
said.
"I went by the (deputies) booth on the second floor and stated that I was
through with Mr. Thompson," he said. "I can't recall if someone
acknowledged what I said or not."
But after Rytting left the meeting room, Thompson slipped out of his
handcuffs and orange prison jumpsuit, left a room that was supposed to be
locked and waved a fake ID badge as he talked his way past at least four
deputies and out the front door.
"He certainly held back from me and others he was even thinking about
doing this. I'm just happy nobody was hurt in his capture," said Atwood,
founder of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
Thompson was returned to the Harris County Jail on Monday evening
following his capture in Shreveport, La., on Sunday.
On Tuesday, Thompson, 35, wearing handcuffs and leg irons, was arraigned
in a Houston court on the escape charge. He'll stay in the county jail
until that charge is resolved and will be denied visitors, phone calls and
mail.
One of Thompson's last visitors before his escape was Petra E. Herrmann,
founder and chairwoman of the German anti-death penalty group Alive e.V.
She said there wasn't anything from her visit last Wednesday that made her
think Thompson was planning to escape.
"It was a very normal visit," said Herrmann, whom authorities questioned
about the escape. "He assured me that he was doing well."
Atwood said he talked with Thompson, whom he's known for several years,
two days before his escape by telephone, and the inmate seemed to be in
good spirits.
"Our conversation was about his case, where do we go from here," he said.
Thompson would have spent nearly all day Thursday, the day of his escape,
alone in his cell, having eaten breakfast and lunch before he met with
Rytting, said Lt. John Martin, a spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff's
Department.
Martin said investigators will talk with Thompson to see if he's willing
to give more details about his escape, including if anybody helped him and
how he ended up in Shreveport.
"I would be curious as to why he did it. It was probably desperation
because he got the death penalty a 2nd time," Atwood said.
(source: Associated Press)
*********************
Texas Court Clears Way for New Yates Trial
The state's highest criminal court on Wednesday upheld a lower court
ruling that threw out Andrea Yates' murder convictions for drowning her
children in a bathtub in 2001.
Harris County Assistant District Attorney Alan Curry said the case will be
retried or a plea bargain considered. Jurors rejected Yates' insanity
defense in 2002 and found her guilty of 2 capital murder charges for the
deaths of 3 of her 5 children.
A lower court ruling in January had thrown out the convictions because of
erroneous testimony that prosecutors used to suggest that Yates had gotten
the idea for the killings from an episode of the television show "Law &
Order." The episode was found later not to exist.
Curry said if the case goes back to trial, he is confident Yates will be
convicted again. She was sentenced to life in prison.
"Andrea Yates knew precisely what she was doing," Curry said. "She knew
that it was wrong."
Yates' attorney, George Parnham, said that although he wants to avoid
another trial for his client, he doubts he and prosecutors can reach a
plea agreement that addresses Yates' mental health needs. Yates has been
treated for years for severe depression and other disorders that require
anti-psychotic drugs.
"We will examine all possibilities and hopefully arrive at a resolution
that could prevent Andrea from going through the torment of being
subjected to the evidence of this case. We all know how horrendous it was
to hear this evidence," he said.
Russell Yates, who stood by his wife throughout the trial but later
divorced her, said she never should have been tried for their children's
deaths.
"I think everyone would lose again if they brought her back to trial," he
said. "Although, if she does go back to trial she could be found not
guilty by reason of insanity."
Russell Yates said he visits his former wife once a month in prison. He
said she belongs in a state hospital, where "the primary emphasis is on
care and not security."
The lower court, the First Court of Appeals in Houston, agreed with Yates'
attorney that erroneous testimony from forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz
could have swayed jurors who otherwise might have found Yates was insane.
Dietz, who consulted for "Law & Order," testified that shortly before the
killings occurred, an episode ran about a woman who drowned her children
and was found innocent by reason of insanity. But it turned out that no
such "Law & Order" episode existed.
On June 20, 2001, Yates drowned her 5 children one by one, then called
police to her Houston home and showed them the bodies of Noah, 7, John, 5,
Paul, 3, Luke, 2, and 6-month-old Mary.
Yates, 41, pleaded insanity, and according to testimony at the trial, she
was overwhelmed by motherhood, considered herself a bad mother, suffered
postpartum depression, had attempted suicide and had been hospitalized for
depression.
5 mental health experts testified she did not know right from wrong or
that she thought drowning her children was right. Dietz was the only
mental health expert to testify for the prosecution and the only one who
testified she knew right from wrong.
(source: Los Angeles Times)
***************************
Ruling may open door to plea deal or new trial for Yates----Court rejects
prosecutors' bid to reinstate her convictions for drowning kids
Prosecutors will pursue a new trial and a plea agreement is possible in
the case of Andrea Yates after the state's highest criminal court refused
to reinstate the capital murder convictions in the drowning of her
children.
However, Yates' defense attorney George Parnham said Wednesday he doubts
he will reach an agreement with prosecutors.
The Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday let stand a lower court's
decision to overturn the convictions. The 1st Texas Court of Appeals in
January ruled that testimony from the state's expert witness, about a
television episode that never existed, may have affected the jury's
judgment.
Yates' capital murder trial in 2002 drew international attention after she
drowned her children and brought to light issues of mental illness and
postpartum depression in women.
Alan Curry, an assistant Harris County district attorney who handled the
appeal, raised the possibility of a plea bargain in the case, although his
office will prepare for another trial.
"I don't know that I can say 'yes' or 'no' to" the chance of a plea
bargain being worked out, Curry said. "It's something that could be on the
table but obviously it would have to be something that we could accept and
that George Parnham and Andrea Yates' other lawyers would accept."
On the morning of June 20, 2001, Yates called 911. Officers came to the
home and found she had drowned her children - Noah, 7; John, 5; Paul, 3;
Luke, 2; and Mary, 6 months - in the bathtub. She was charged only in the
deaths of Noah, John and Mary.
The 1st Court of Appeals used the testimony from the expert witness as a
reason to overturn Yates' capital murder convictions and grant her a new
trial. Wednesday's decision by the Austin-based court upholds the
appellate court's January decision calling for a new trial.
A double-edged sword
During a news conference, Parnham said Wednesday's ruling was like a
double-edged sword for Yates, who remains under psychiatric care at the
Skyview prison unit in Rusk.
Parnham said the court's ruling was good news in that Yates would receive
a new trial. But on the other hand, a trial will be traumatic for Yates'
fragile psyche and her having to relive her children's deaths.
Parnham said Yates, 41, is more rational now than she was during the
killings and at times grasps her present situation. She daily thinks of
her children and their deaths. Evidence at the trial - photographs,
diapers and other material - will make her relive the killings, he said.
"Could you imagine sitting in a courtroom reliving the tragedy that
happened to your kids and knowing that you are on trial for causing that
tragedy?" Parnham said.
The new trial, he said, is a victory, but it is "tempered by what Andrea
is on the precipice of going through."
The court's ruling also means that prosecutors will not be able to seek
the death penalty against Yates because the jury in her 1st trial did not
sentence her to death, said Wendell Odom, Yates' other attorney. It would
be double jeopardy to seek the death penalty against her again, he said.
Yates' ex-husband said she never should have been tried for their
children's deaths.
"I think everyone would lose again if they brought her back to trial,"
Russell Yates told the Associated Press. "Although, if she does go back to
trial she could be found not guilty by reason of insanity. To me, any way
I look at it, it's good for her."
Russell Yates, who stood by his wife throughout the trial but later
divorced her, said he continues to visit her once a month in prison,
including last weekend. He said she is doing well and has been fairly
stable for the last year. He said his ex-wife belongs in a state hospital,
where "the primary emphasis is on care and not security."
Committed to a prison mental health unit, Andrea Yates is monitored daily
by doctors. She has attempted suicide once since she was convicted,
Parnham said.
Parnham said the best thing for Yates would be to leave "the penitentiary
system, to be in a place where she is cared for mentally and physically
... ."
2 capital murder charges against Yates remain in the books. It is possible
the district attorney's office could prosecute Yates on those charges and
seek the death penalty.
Yates was sentenced to life in prison in 2002 on three capital murder
charges, but the 1st Court of Appeals ruled her trial was unfair because
of testimony from California psychiatrist Park Dietz, the prosecution's
sole mental-health expert.
TV episode never aired
Dietz, who told jurors he had been a consultant on the NBC-TV series Law &
Order, said one episode portrayed a woman who drowned her children and was
found not guilty by reason of insanity. He said the episode aired shortly
before Yates drowned her children. Prosecutors told jurors that Yates
watched the program regularly.
Yates' attorneys had argued that she was insane at the time of the
drownings. Psychiatrists determined that Yates, who twice tried to commit
suicide in 1999 after giving birth to her 4th child, suffered from
schizophrenia and postpartum depression. She said Satan made her drown her
children.
To prove an insanity defense in Texas, Yates' attorneys would have to
prove she was mentally ill and did not know her actions were wrong.
Prosecutors contended Yates knew right from wrong because she called
emergency 911 to summon police to her home after she drowned the children.
After Yates was convicted, it was learned that no such episode of Law &
Order existed. Dietz insisted he made an honest mistake. Jurors were told
of the error before deciding on a life sentence for Yates.
The appeals court ruled that state District Judge Belinda Hill erred when
she refused to declare a mistrial based on the erroneous testimony
(source: Houston Chronicle)
***************
Anti-death penalty group defends visits with escapee
The German anti-death penalty group has revealed details of its visits
with death row inmate Charles Thompson in the days before his escape from
the Harris County jail.
The group, which calls itself ALIVE, devotes an entire Web site page to
Thompson, the case that sent him to death row and even offers his drawings
for sale.
Members were interviewed by Harris County investigators after Thompson
walked out of the jail in street clothes by fooling four different
deputies. Members of ALIVE were among the last to visit Thompson before
his escape, but they were later cleared of any role in helping Thompson.
The following account of their visits is posted on their Web site:
"In July 2005 the board of ALIVE had decided that another board member and
I would participate at the annual NCADP conference in Austin, Texas. So we
planned a two weeks trip from Oct. 28 to Nov. 4, 2005. Besides going to
the conference we planned to visit prisoners in Texas, especially the ones
we are campaigning for.
Within this trip we also wanted to see Charles Thompson, whom I know since
about 5 years and who became through letters and visits a friend of mine
over the years.
A few weeks prior to the trip the start of the new sentencing trial for
Charles was set for the 24th of October 2005.
We visited Charles in County Jail Houston on October 25th. To support him
we attended his trial on October 26th. The trial ended with a 2nd death
sentence on October 28th.
After coming back from Austin we saw Charles another 2 times, that was on
November 1st and 2nd. During these visits Charles was like he was always,
we spoke mostly about our trip through Texas. Nothing was unusual; nothing
gave even the slightest hint that he was planning an escape.
About half an hour before leaving to the last planned visit with Charles
at the evening of November 3rd we heard about his escape.
As stated before - we did not know anything about his plan to escape and
also we did not assist him in any way in this escape. ALIVE is working in
lawful ways solely!
The campaign for Charles goes on, his escape has not changed our support
for him and has also not changed the bond of friendship between him and
me."
Petra E. Herrmann -- Chairwoman ALIVE e.V.
(source: KHOU News)
*********************
Gonzalez could face second trial for the killing of police informant
Juan Antonio Gonzalez could stand trial a second time for the murder of a
police informant, or Hidalgo County prosecutors may decide to pursue other
pending charges against him.
Gonzalez, 22, is facing 2 capital murder charges and an aggravated assault
with a deadly weapon charge. He is set for a status hearing Monday in
Judge Aida Salinas Flores 398th State District Court, where prosecutors
will announce which case they will try next. If found guilty of capital
murder, Gonzalez will receive a life prison term. Prosecutors are not
seeking the death penalty.
Gonzalezs first capital murder trial for Alfonso Cruz Leos shooting death
ended in a mistrial Tuesday because jurors could not reach a unanimous
verdict. Flores said 11 out of the 12 jurors, after deliberating several
hours, believed Gonzalez is guilty.
In the trial that began Oct. 31, prosecutors had argued Gonzalez, also
known as "Cancos" participated in shooting Leos, 52, 5 times in front of
his home July 10, 2004, in retaliation for a tip to authorities from Leos
that led to Carlos "La Bota" Milton Hernandezs arrest 2 days earlier.
Another man, Juan Carlos "Miran" Vasquez, is charged in connection with
Leos murder, and a third man has yet to be identified.
Gonzalez, along with Vasquez, Hernandez and several other men, is also
facing a capital murder charge in connection with the Aug. 17, 2004
shooting of Antonio Lopez in a home on Friendly Drive in Mission. Hidalgo
County Sheriff Officers allege Lopez was murdered because he would not
turn over several pounds of marijuana to Hernandez, according to a
probable cause affidavit attached to Gonzalezs arrest warrant.
In both cases, prosecutors are trying Gonzalez under the law of parties,
which allows jurors to find him guilty of capital murder if they believe
he acted with the intent to promote or assist others in the murders.
Law enforcement agents testified Gonzalez, Vasquez, Hernandez were
involved in a pseudocop ring responsible for a number of Mission area home
invasions.
(source: The Monitor)
**************
Lubbock Man Sentenced To Death To Be Re-tried
A Lubbock man sentenced to death in 2000 could soon be taken off of death
row.
Joe Garza, Jr., 27, was convicted of strangling 71-year-old Silbiano
Rangel and sentenced to death.
The State of Texas has refused all of Garza's appeals, but recently
federal judge Sam Cummings granted Garza a new "punishment hearing"
because Garza had "insufficient counsel" during his original sentencing.
Cummings ruled that defense attorneys Mark Snodgrass and Marvin Williams
didn't tell the jury enough about Garza`s troubled childhood.
The case now goes back to Lubbock County District Attorney Matt Powell,
who will decide to go after the death penalty again, or a life sentence.
The Texas Attorney General's office had an opportunity to appeal that
decision, but they filed their paperwork one day late.
Powell says the new hearing has to take place before mid-January.
(source: KAMC News)
**********************
Another Hearing for Rodney Reed
Nearly 7 1/2 years after he was convicted and sentenced to die, death row
inmate Rodney Reed is heading back to state district court in Bastrop Co.
for a hearing on Reed's claims that prosecutors hid from the court
evidence supporting his innocence. On Oct. 19, the Court of Criminal
Appeals ruled that evidence of prosecutorial misconduct submitted by
Reed's attorneys satisfies legal requirements necessary to remand the case
back to the trial court for further consideration.
Reed was convicted in May of 1998 for the rape and murder two years
earlier of 20-year-old Giddings resident Stacey Stites. Prosecutors argued
that Reed overcame Stites in the predawn hours of April 23, 1996, as she
drove from Giddings to Bastrop to work a shift at HEB. The state's theory
was based solely on DNA that matched Reed - no other physical evidence
linked Reed to the crime. Reed maintains his innocence, saying that he'd
been having an affair with Stites (who was then engaged to marry former
Giddings police officer Jimmy Fennell), which would explain the DNA
results. Reed's supporters say Fennell is a far more likely suspect - he
knew of Reed and Stites' relationship, they maintain, and was not happy
about it. (For more on the case, see "Who Killed Stacey Stites?" May 24,
2002.)
Although Reed's trial attorneys promised jurors evidence of the affair,
they failed to call witnesses who could confirm the relationship. Further,
according to appeals filed by Reed's Texas Defender Service attorneys, in
the years following Reed's conviction, the defense has uncovered
additional exculpatory evidence that prosecutors never made available to
Reed's trial defenders. Among the allegedly withheld information is the
testimony of a woman named Martha Barnett, who said she saw Stites (whom
she recognized from the HEB) and Fennell together around 5am on the
morning Stites was killed - which contradicts Fennell's assertion that he
was asleep when Stites left for work some time after 3am. Barnett repeated
the story to her attorney, former Lee Co. Attorney Steven Keng, before
Reed's trial began. According to an affidavit from Keng, he approached
Bastrop Co. District Attorney Charles Pennick (who, with a special
prosecutor from the Texas Attorney General's office, prosecuted Reed) to
relay Barnett's story, but Pennick, whom Keng had known for more than 20
years, wasn't interested. "He laughed and told me that he had all the
evidence he needed, and did not want to hear any more about the case,"
Keng wrote.
Based on the Barnett and Keng evidence - along with other evidence that
remains "under seal" with the CCA - the appellate court remanded Reed's
case back to Bastrop Co. District Court for an as-yet-unscheduled hearing.
"It's good news," says TDS attorney Morris Moon. "We've got a long way to
go, but this is a good first step."
(source: Austin Chronicle)
******************
House passes Texan's court security bill
The U.S. House has passed a bill sponsored by Representative Louie Gohmert
that proposes to increase punishments for crimes against judges, their
families and other court personnel.
The bill was approved by a vote of 375 to 45 after a couple of hours of
debate. Gohmert said in a statement he began working on the bill after a
man opened fire at the Smith County courthouse in Tyler with an assault
rifle. The man's ex-wife and a bystander who fired back were killed. The
bill would allow the death penalty to be assessed for the murder of
judges, law enforcement officers or their families. The bill has not yet
been considered by the Senate. Gohmert, a former state district and
appeals court judge, says he discussed the proposal with U.S. District
Judge Joan Lefkow of Chicago. Her husband and mother were shot to death in
February at her Chicago home by a man upset with her decision to dismiss
his medical malpractice lawsuit. (source: Associated Press)
********************
Fort Worth detective takes stand in murder trial
The 2nd day of testimony in Edward Lee Busby Jr.s capital murder trial got
underway Thursday with the cross-examination of a Fort Worth homicide
detective who investigated the murder of TCU professor Laura Lee Crane.
Busby and his co-defendant, Kathleen Latimer, are accused of kidnapping
Crane, 77, from the parking lot of a Tom Thumb grocery store on South
Hulen Street just after 11 a.m. on Jan. 30, 2004. Prosecutors say the two
forced Crane into the trunk of her 1999 Nissan Sentra, later suffocating
her by duct-taping her head.
They were found driving her car in Oklahoma City on Feb. 1. Cranes body
was found in a wooded area off Interstate 35 in Davis, Okla.
Prosecutors Greg Miller and Joe Shannon are seeking the death penalty
against Busby. Latimer is to be tried separately on a capital murder
charge.
Jack Strickland, Busbys attorney, tried Thursday to contrast Busbys
attitude toward investigators with that of his co-defendant. Busby claims
Latimer, whom he calls "Kitty," was calling the shots on the day of the
murder.
Busby led detectives to Cranes body on Feb. 3. In the meantime, Latimer
had "clammed up" on Fort Worth detectives as she sat in jail in Oklahoma
City, Latimer said.
"Is it fair to say that following your interview with Ms. Latimer she did
not offer to take you to the body of Mrs. Crane?" Strickland asked
Johnson.
"Correct," responded Cheryl Johnson, the detective.
Earlier, in a hearing out of the view of jurors, Johnson said she did not
believe she was getting a "full story" from either suspect about their
involvement.
During opening statements Wednesday, Miller said that 14 layers of two
different kinds of duct-tape were used to bind Cranes head. On Thursday,
jurors got to see that tape as well as the tape that bound the elderly
womans legs and hands.
The defense and prosecutors sparred briefly Wednesday afternoon over the
admission into evidence of a compact disc that was found inside the Nissan
Sentra. After a picture of the G-Unit rap album Beg for Mercy was shown to
the jury, Strickland asked the judge for assurances that the music would
not be played for the jury.
Strickland suggested that the crime already has racial overtones - a white
woman murdered by a black man - and the CD lyrics could contribute to that
environment.
Though they admitted they werent sure if they planned to play it,
prosecutors argued that the CD provides evidence as to Busbys state of
mind. In addition, they said, it was Busby who had brought the piece of
evidence into the trial with an "ill-advised" use of Cranes money.
"We didnt buy it. We found it in the car they were driving," Shannon said.
"The Cranes didnt put it there. Thats [Busbys] problem, not ours." After
arguing the point, an agreement was reached that the CD would not be
played for jurors at this point in the trial.
Johnson remained on the stand as of 10:30 a.m.
(source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
***********************
Prosecutor: Woman wrapped in duct tape, put in car trunk -- FW:
Ex-professor's spouse is first witness in man's murder trial
Laura Lee Crane's final day was a pretty routine one: a trip to the bank
and grocery shopping at a nearby store.
When the retired college professor failed to return home, her husband of
56 years called police.
"I realized something was wrong, and that's when I called 911," said Meade
Ballard Crane, the 1st witness Wednesday in the capital murder trial of
Edward Lee Busby Jr.
Mr. Busby, 33, of Fort Worth is accused of killing the 77-year-old woman
after abducting her from a South Hulen Street store parking lot.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Mr. Crane, 79, said he last saw his wife on the morning of Jan. 30, 2004,
when she left for the Tom Thumb 3 blocks from their Bellaire Drive home in
southwest Fort Worth.
Mr. Crane, whose testimony was videotaped, said he was expecting his wife
about 1 p.m.
After a nearly 3-hour wait, he reported her missing, he said.
During opening statements, prosecutors said Mrs. Crane was wrapped in 14
layers of duct tape and put in the trunk of her car.
2 different types of duct tape were used, prosecutors said.
"When they put Mrs. Crane in the trunk of her car, the trunk became her
coffin and the car itself became a funeral hearse," said Greg Miller, an
assistant Tarrant County district attorney.
He told jurors that Mr. Busby and a companion, Kathleen Latimer, abducted
Mrs. Crane, cashed a $175 check and used her credit cards. Ms. Latimer,
41, also of Fort Worth, is awaiting trial.
The 2 drove to Oklahoma with Mrs. Crane in the trunk of her car, he said.
Mrs. Crane was an assistant professor of education at Texas Christian
University. She was a former principal of Starpoint School at TCU, a
school for children with learning disabilities.
Her body was found along a service road of Interstate 35 in Murray County,
Okla., just north of the Texas border.
Mr. Busby, police said, led police to the body that was also wrapped in a
sheet taken from the motel where Mr. Busby and Ms. Latimer had stayed.
His attorneys, Steve Gordon and Jack Strickland, did not make an opening
statement.
Mrs. Crane's daughter, Allen Walker, said the trial is a heartbreaking
reminder of her mother's final hours and the search launched by her
disappearance.
"There is a lot of sadness, a lot of recollection and anger," Ms. Walker
said. "Justice for our family will be that no one ever has to suffer again
the way that my mother has suffered."
(source: Dallas Morning News)
