[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 8


TEXAS:

Judge removes attorney


Judge Charles Sandoval, of the 380th District Court, removed 25-year-old
Kosoul Chanthakoummane's court-appointed attorney because of lack of
qualification guidelines on capital murder cases, court officials said.

Attorney David Kleckner, of Dallas, who met with Chanthakoummane for
almost an hour after he was arrested Tuesday night for the capital murder
of 40-year-old real estate agent Sarah Anne Walker, was dropped Thursday
by Sandoval.

Lt. John Norton, of the Collin County Sheriff's Office, said Friday they
are waiting to see if Chanthakoummane will hire his own attorney in the
next couple days. If not, the court will appoint another attorney for him.

According to the Texas Fair Defense Act, judges are required to appoint 2
attorneys as 1st and 2nd chair counsel to a defendant facing the death
penalty. Both attorneys have to meet several criteria regarding experience
in trying death penalty cases.

The 1st chair attorney appointed to a death penalty case must have at
least 5 years of experience litigating "serious felony matters" and
experience in 1 capital case, tried cases to a verdict as lead defense
counsel in a significant number of felony cases, trial experience in the
use of mental health or forensic expert witnesses, and participated in
continuing education courses or training in criminal defense in death
penalty cases within the previous year. They also must have completed a
minimum of 12 hours of training over the previous 2 years.

The 2nd chair attorney appointed to death penalty cases must have at least
two years experience in representing defendants with felonies and
completed an eight-hour minimum of continuing legal education courses or
training related to criminal defense in death penalty cases over the
previous 2 years.

The specific reasons for Kleckner's removal from the case are not known.
Attempts were made to reach Kleckner but he could not be reached by
presstime.

Police obtained a capital murder arrest and search warrant Tuesday for
Chanthakoummane from the 219th District Court and arrested him at 11 p.m.
Tuesday in north Dallas. Norton said he is being held in the Collin County
Detention Center on a charge of capital murder and a $1 million bond.

McKinney police Capt. Randy Roland said they were able to obtain the
warrant by presenting forensic evidence and information obtained from
witnesses who recognized Chanthakoummane from a composite drawing.

Documents obtained from the 219th District Court show Assistant District
Attorney Christopher Milner filed a motion to seal the affidavits for the
search and arrest warrants.

Roland described the evidence against Chanthakoummane as a "composite of a
lot of things."

"There's forensic evidence at the scene, witness statements that have
drawn to a tee what he looks like and additional witness statements from
people who knew the suspect and knew his name," Roland said. "Then [we]
looked at his criminal history. All of those pieces started to funnel in
one direction and we're absolutely confident that he committed this
crime."

He declined to discuss specific details about the forensic evidence over
concerns that defense attorneys might try to move the trial out of Collin
County.

"If we move the trial to Amarillo or El Paso, there's going to be a huge
amount of cost to bring this guy to justice and we're going to get a
different jury pool," Roland said.

Chanthakoummane also has a parole violation felony filed against him by
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Parole Division after he was
released on Feb. 19, 2006, by the North Carolina Department of Corrections
on a "post-released supervision" where he moved his supervision to Texas
so he could live with his sister in Carrollton.

Chanthakoummane is charged with the capital murder of Walker, who was
found dead on July 8 lying face down in the kitchen of a model home in the
5700 block of Conch Train, where she worked as a real estate sales
representative for D.R. Horton. Dr. William Rohr, Collin County medical
examiner, said Walker was stabbed 27 times with a sharp-bladed instrument,
with wounds on her upper body, arms and hands, some of which were
defensive wounds indicating she tried to fight off her attacker.

(source: McKinney Courier-Gazette)

***************

Accused gang member on trial----Victim was killed in '05 amid alleged drug
deal


Leaving his sister's house near Victoria one night in May 2005, Javier
Garcia Lara thought he was meeting men to complete a drug deal in Corpus
Christi, prosecutors said Thursday during a capital murder trial for the
man accused of killing him.

Instead, prosecutors told jurors in opening statements that Sebastian N.
Mejia, allegedly a member of a Texas prison gang, shot Lara inside his
rental car near Robstown for cooperating with authorities and dating a
gang member's sister.

In the 1st day of testimony, prosecutors called former gang members who
portrayed the gang as a ruthless group that killed at will. Prosecutor
James Gardner said Mejia killed 26-year-old Lara to prove loyalty.

Defense attorney Hector Rene Gonzalez said in his opening statement that
his client is innocent, all evidence against him is circumstantial and
there are conflicting reports of who was responsible for Lara's death.

"Not once did investigators find one piece of evidence that my client was
in this car, the rental car, Gonzalez said. "(Gang members) are crossing
the line to set up Sebastian Mejia to escape from the wrath of justice."

Gonzalez said outside of court that Mejia, 27, was never in the gang and
another man in the group shot Lara.

Police discovered Lara dead at the wheel of a silver Mitsubishi with one
gunshot wound to the right temple at County Roads 75 and 52.

More testimony is due today. Mejia remained in the Nueces County Jail on
Thursday and is not eligible to be released on bond because of a pending
assault charge in Victoria. If convicted on the capital murder charge,
prosecutors plan to seek a penalty of life in prison.

(source: Corpus Christi Caller-Times)

*****************

Parents indicted in infant's death in San Marcos----Gonzaleses charged
with injury to a child but won't face death penalty


The couple charged with the death of their 2-month-old daughter in San
Marcos were indicted Thursday on charges of injury to a child, as opposed
to the charges that prompted their March arrest, capital murder.

The Hays County grand jury concluded that Cipriano Gonzales IV and Esther
Gonzales did "intentionally or knowingly cause serious bodily injury" to
their daughter Cynthea Gonzales by striking her "with or against an object
unknown to the Grand Jury."

The Gonzaleses, who moved back to Michigan, have maintained their
innocence in their daughter's death.

If convicted, the Gonzaleses could face sentences of five to 99 years for
the March 11 death. The couple was arrested on capital murder charges that
could carry the death penalty, but the new charge removes that
possibility.

To explain the death, investigators sought 2 separate autopsy reports,
which came back with conflicting results. The first autopsy, done by then-
Travis County Medical Examiner Roberto Bayardo, found Cynthea had a skull
fracture "a few days old" and fractured ribs that had begun to heal. He
concluded that the infant's cause of death could not be determined.

Investigators requested a second autopsy. In his initial report, Tarrant
County Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani said that the baby's death was
caused by "severe trauma to her head," and that she had the types of
injuries "commonly associated with intentional trauma," or child abuse.
The Gonzaleses, both 24, told police they had taken Cynthea to Central
Texas Medical Center after she stopped breathing.

The case shows how difficult it can be to distinguish ordinary childhood
injuries from child abuse, medical experts say.

"It can be not a simple thing to sort out," said Dr. Pat Crocker, chief of
emergency medicine at Brackenridge Hospital and Children's Hospital of
Austin, speaking in general about the issue.

Patterns of injuries such as fractures and burns can indicate child abuse,
and fractures in infants and children who are not yet walking can also be
suspicious, Crocker said.

"Rib fractures are very unusual in children because their ribs are so
flexible," Crocker said. "It takes a lot of force to break a child's rib."

Hays County assistant district attorney Wesley Mau said the delay in
seeking an indictment was necessary to make sure investigators had the
evidence they needed.

"It has been drawn out, but I don't think I would have done it any more
quickly if I had it to do it over again," Mau said. "We want to get it
right."

The Gonzaleses, who moved to San Marcos from Michigan shortly before
Cynthea's death, have returned to Michigan after being released from jail
on bail. They must return to San Marcos for their arraignment, on a date
yet to be determined.

"The Gonzaleses will come back (to San Marcos) and we'll go from there,"
said Leslie Halasz, a lawyer for Cipriano Gonzales IV. Esther Gonzales's
lawyer, Kenneth Houp Jr., was not immediately available for comment
Thursday.

San Marcos police investigators said they are still searching for friends,
co-workers and neighbors of the Gonzales family in Michigan or Texas who
may be able to help them find out how Cynthea died.

Investigators ask anyone with information to call (512) 753-2300.

"We believe that anybody who knows this baby's history from the time it
was born until the time it died can tell us more about this case," Police
Chief Howard E. Williams said. "If anybody knows anything, we need to know
it."

(source: Austin American-Statesman)

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2 men are in jail after amputee's ordeal, death


A late rent check likely is the reason behind the death of Barney Ross
Goodman, a double amputee, Liberty County sheriff's officials said
Thursday.

The check amounted to only a few hundred dollars, officers said. Cousins
Kenneth Dollery, 22, and Hollis B. Buckley, 21, are accused of beating
Goodman with a baseball bat Sept. 1 and then, while he was still alive,
dumping him off the San Jacinto River bridge, investigators said.
Goodman's prosthetic legs also went into the river, officials said.

However, despite being badly beaten, Goodman, 57, managed to use his arms
to crawl up to the road to get help.

He later died at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, but not before he
described his attackers, officials said.

Dollery and Buckley now face capital murder charges after giving
statements, Liberty County Sheriff Greg Arthur said in a telephone
conversation.

A 20-hour-long day of investigation ended when sheriff's deputies, with
Baytown police assistance, arrested Dollery and Buckley at a Baytown
trailer park at 3 a.m. Thursday.

"There is absolutely no reason to do something like that," Arthur said of
the killing. "(Goodman) couldn't do anything to them."

Goodman rented a room from Buckley's mother, Arthur said, and the
investigation indicated he was tardy on his monthly rent payments.

Arthur said Goodman reportedly agreed to get in the cousins' truck and was
then driven to an ATM in Baytown, where he withdrew cash. Arthur said the
bank's drive-through surveillance camera taped the 3 inside the truck cab.

Later, Goodman apparently was clubbed in the head and had $600 taken from
him, the sheriff said.

"They showed some remorse," he said of the two after they were arrested.

"But I'd have to speculate if it was for getting caught or for doing the
crime. I don't know."

After being driven into Liberty County and abandoned on the river bank,
Goodman spent eight to 10 hours crawling up to County Road 2090, where a
passing motorist spotted him, officials said.

Dollery and Buckley were being held without bond Thursday in the Liberty
County Jail.

If convicted, they face the death penalty or life in prison.

Outside of misdemeanors, such as driving with a suspended license, neither
cousin had a serious criminal past.

(source: The Beaumont Enterprise)

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Shoddy legal work matter of life, death


If the legal services Toby C. Wilkinson of Greenville performed on behalf
of recently executed death row inmate Justin Chaz Fuller are
representative of the work he does, he should be removed from the list of
attorneys the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals uses to assign appellate
cases.

Wilkinson is not a rookie in the legal profession. He has been licensed to
practice law in Texas since shortly after his graduation from Pepperdine
School of Law in 1980.

His less-than-stellar appellate work at taxpayer expense warrants review
by the State Bar of Texas.

There will not be any more appeals for Fuller. He received a lethal
injection Aug. 24 for the abduction, robbery and shooting death of
21-year-old Donald Whittington III of Tyler.

Fuller acknowledged being near the crime scene but denied he fired the
fatal shots.

The appellate work Wilkinson filed for Fuller leaves a lot to be desired
and raises the question of whether Fuller received "competent counsel" as
mandated by state law.

A review of Wilkinson's work by Express-News legal affairs reporter Maro
Robbins found Wilkinson's legal writings filled with gibberish, as if
someone had been typing with their fingers wrongly positioned on the
keyboard.

Robbins also found incoherent repetitions, disjointed arguments and
descriptions of a crime that involved one of Wilkinson's other clients.

The type of work Wilkinson submitted in Fuller's case would have brought
serious repercussions to a 1st-year law student. In this case, however,
there have been no formal complaints - only an $18,000 bill to the
taxpayers for services rendered.

The work Wilkinson performed in the case of another death row inmate,
Daniel Clate Acker, is no better. Acker made a smart move in asking a
California lawyer to represent him as his appeal moves to federal court.

It's unconscionable that the courts would allow the work Wilkinson
submitted to go unchallenged, especially in cases where defendants' lives
are at stake.

It makes you wonder if anyone is reading the petitions being filed on
behalf of death row inmates - including some of the lawyers submitting
them.

(source: Editorial, San Antonio Express-News)

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BOTTOM LINE ON THE DEATH PENALTY


With the execution of Derrick Frazier on August 31, 2006, Texas has
carried out 375 executions by lethal injection since the death penalty was
resumed by the state in 1982. Seven more executions are currently
scheduled through the end of the year. Most people would agree that Texas
knows how to kill its unwanted citizens like no other state in the Union.

Most people would also agree that the state's criminal justice system is
anything but perfect. It is a well-documented fact that innocent people
have been sent to death row, and there is strong evidence that a number of
innocent people have actually been executed. Recently the cases of Ruben
Cantu, Cameron Todd Willingham and Carlos DeLuna have surfaced thanks to
excellent investigative reporting by the Houston Chronicle and Chicago
Tribune.

Specific problems with the Texas criminal justice system have been well
documented, including:

* Ineffecive legal assistance for people who can't afford their own
private attorneys

* Police and prosecutorial misconduct

* Racism in the selection of jurors and in the punishment phase of a trial

* Inaccurate testing by crime laboratories

* Inaccurate testimony by eyewitnesses and by "experts" called by
prosecutors

* False confessions

By any measure, Texas is not any better off by carrying out these
executions. They have not made us safer. They have not reduced the crime
rate. In fact, they continue a cycle of violence that can only be bad for
the citizens of the state. And looking at the cost of executions versus
life in prison, it is clear that the death penalty has cost the taxpayers
of the state millions of dollars that could better be used for true crime
prevention measures such as improved educational programs, child
protective services, mental health services, drug and alcohol
rehabilitation programs and gang prevention programs.

Let's face the facts. The Texas politicians who support the death penalty
are doing a grave disservice to the citizens of the state. Their arguments
that the death penalty is needed to protect society, reduce violent crime,
or bring "justice" to victims are blatant falsehoods. The death penalty is
a politically motivated form of vengeance, pure and simple. And vengeance
is not a good societal value.

I believe that the citizens of Texas will one day reject the death
penalty. They will look back on this time in Texas history as a "dark age"
when the state was incapable of solving its crime problem using civilized
methods. The "bottom line" is that we can have a safer society, a better
society, without the death penalty.

(source: Letter to the Editor, David Atwood, Texas Coalition to Abolish
the Death Penalty)