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

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 28



TEXAS----impending execuion

Robert Perez Scheduled For Execution


Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott offers the following information about
Robert Martinez Perez, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007.

Perez was convicted and sentenced to death for the capital murder of
Robert Rivas and Jose Travieso. A summary of the evidence presented at
trial follows.

FACTS OF THE CRIME

In the mid-1990s, the Mexican Mafia, or "La Eme," in San Antonio was in a
state of flux. The organization's president, Herbert Huerta, was sentenced
to life in federal prison, so he named Diane "Laura" Guzman as general of
the San Antonio division. Luis "Blue" Adames challenged the appointment,
naming himself as the new president. The organization split in 2, with
each faction determined to assassinate the alleged traitors in the other
group. Huerta's supporters included Robert Perez, Robert Herrera, and
Frank Estrada,

In April 1994, Perez, Herrera and Estrada spotted Adames's car in San
Antonio. They went home to arm themselves and then returned to the area,
looking for Adames. They intended to kill him. Instead, they found Adames'
supporters  both Jose and Jesse Travieso and Robert Rivas. A barrage of
gunshots followed, and Perez's group killed Rivas and Jose Travieso, and
wounded Jesse Travieso. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

December 11, 1997  A Bexar County grand jury indicted Robert Perez for the
capital murder of Robert Rivas and Jose Travieso

. May 21, 1999  After a change of venue to Dallas County, a jury found
Perez guilty of capital murder and following a separate punishment
hearing, the court assessed a sentence of death.

September 19, 2001  Perez's conviction and death sentence were affirmed on
direct appeal by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

February 15, 2001  Perez filed an application for writ of habeas corpus in
the state trial court. April 30, 2003  The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
denied habeas relief.

October 14, 2003  Perez filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in a
Dallas U.S. District Court.

June 24, 2005  The federal district court denied habeas relief on all of
Perez's claims.

March 23, 2006  The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Perez
permission to appeal and affirmed the district courts denial of habeas
relief.

June 2, 2006  Perez sought certiorari review in the U.S. Supreme Court.

October 2, 2006  The Supreme Court denied certiorari review.

October 19, 2006  The trial court entered an order setting the execution
date for March 6, 2007.

PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY

The Mexican Mafia has a violent and extensive criminal history; during the
early 1990s, it virtually had a stranglehold on San Antonio. In 1996,
Perez and Robert Herrera, Perez's right-hand man, controlled the gang.
Just months after Travieso and Rivas were murdered, Adames was murdered.
Perez not only ordered the hit, he had planned it. Additionally, Perez
ordered the murders of several other people. Emilio Barrera Alejandro died
as a result of 13 gunshot wounds, 11 to the head and 2 to the chest.
Earnest Ybarra died as a result of 12 gunshot wounds. Adam Tenorio was
killed because he disobeyed an order not to discuss the West French Place
murders. He died as a result of 11 stab wounds. Robert De Los Santos was
killed for the same reason as Tenorio. He died as a result of blunt force
trauma and strangulation. Daniel Moreno was killed as an example to other
members, having failed to perform some task he had volunteered to do. He
died as a result of 2 gunshot wounds, one to the face and one to the
chest. Elijilio De La Garza ("Chico") died as a result of 11 gunshot
wounds, including 5 to the head. De La Garza was the one who said that
Perez had ordered the killings at West French Place. Presumably, he was
killed for this reason.

The West French Place murders mentioned above were, at the time, the most
violent and bloody in San Antonio's history. While at least 2 former
members of the Mexican Mafia disputed that Perez ordered the murders, both
acknowledged that Perez had ordered the hijacking. It was thought that
large amounts of both cocaine and cash would be found in the targeted
apartment. Those who participated went armed with shotguns. All 5 people
found in the apartment were bound with duct tape. Then, for reasons still
unclear, all 5 were shot and killed. Only 5 pounds of marijuana and $300
in cash were confiscated.

(source: All American Patriots)

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

Harris County man executed for 1982 shooting deaths


Donald Miller offered no final words before being put to death by lethal
injection Tuesday evening.

Miller, 44, a native of Harris County, was convicted in 1982 for the
murders of Michael Dennis Mozingo and Kenneth White that same year.

Mozingo was shot in the head after Miller committed an aggravated robbery
of the man, also shooting White in the head shortly after in February
1982. The bodies of both were found by a fisherman along a road near Lake
Houston. Miller was only 19 when he committed the murders and was on
parole for vehicle theft.

Neither victims nor inmate had friends or family in attendance.

Miller was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m.

Prosecutors described the victims as traveling salesmen from North
Carolina, selling furniture from the back of an 18-wheeler. Their
bullet-riddled bodies were found by a fisherman near Lake Houston.

Miller, who was tried only for Mozingos murder, was the sixth condemned
inmate executed this year in Texas, the nations most active capital
punishment state. Five more convicted murderers are set to die next month,
including 2 next week.

Miller arrived on death row in 1982, making him among the longest serving
of almost 400 Texas prisoners awaiting lethal injection.

"Very disappointing," said Bert Graham, one of the Harris County district
attorneys who prosecuted Miller for capital murder. "It's 25 years he's
been living and Mr. Mozingo has been gone for 25 years and his family
hasnt had the opportunity to share that 25 years with him."

Mozingo was carrying at least $5,000 in cash. The furniture taken from his
truck was valued at some $40,000.

The U.S. Supreme Court in October refused to review Miller's case. Millers
attorneys filed a late appeal in the state courts, arguing prosecutors
improperly suppressed evidence and the trial judge refused to force them
to give it to defense lawyers.

"It might have influenced one of the jurors to not give a death sentence,"
said James Rytting, Miller's lawyer. "The trial court made some really
horrific rulings."

But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals disagreed Monday and dismissed the
appeal. A similar appeal already had been rejected by the federal courts
and Rytting said he planned no additional appeals. He made no clemency
petition to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and the governor,
characterizing those as futile.

Miller declined to speak with reporters in the weeks preceding his
scheduled execution. In a letter to the Houston Chronicle, however, Miller
said he was "connected to this case just not to the degree portrayed at
trial."

Court records show Miller and companions Danny Woods and Eddie Segura
lured the furniture salesmen to Segura's house for a delivery Feb. 2,
1982. When the pair arrived, they were confronted by Miller, armed with a
handgun, and Woods, who pulled out a shotgun.

The 2 men were robbed, gagged and bound with electrical tape, then were
taken to an area near Lake Houston in northeast Harris County.

Testimony showed Miller shot Mozingo in the head, firing at least 5 times
and continuing to fire even after the bullets in his pistol ran out. Woods
shotgun was fired with such force the wood stock broke.

Miller was arrested about 2 weeks after the slayings. He said he was
involved in the robbery but not the shootings.

Segura pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery charges, was sentenced to two
25-year prison terms and was the key prosecution witness against Miller.
He was released in October under mandatory supervision, a form of
probation. Woods pleaded guilty to murder, received two life terms but did
not testify. Hes next eligible for parole in April 2008.

A federal judge threw out Miller's death sentence in 2004, ruling
prosecutors improperly withheld evidence. But the following year, a panel
of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to reverse the lower
court ruling.

(source: Huntsville Item)

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

Detectives Found Evidence 2 Years After Whitaker Killings - At Bottom Of
Lake Conroe

The lead detective who worked the 2003 Whitaker family killings testified
in the 2nd day of Thomas "Bart" Whitaker's murder trial that police found
Bart's missing cell phone almost 2 years after the deaths of his mother
and younger brother  in a bag at the bottom of Lake Conroe.

The bag contained key evidence that helped investigators understand how
the murder plot was carried out, and that also tied Bart Whitaker and a
co-defendant to the murders, according to Assistant Fort Bend County
District Attorney Fred Felcmans opening statement in the case on Monday.

Bart Whitaker, 26, is accused of hatching a plot that resulted in the Dec.
10, 2003 shooting deaths of his mother, Patricia Whitaker, and younger
brother, Kevin Whitaker, as the 2 entered their Sugar Land home after a
night out at a restaurant. Bart and his father, Kent Whitaker, also were
shot as they entered the house, but both survived.

Police have said they believe Bart Whitaker's roommate at the time,
23-year-old Chris Brashear, was hiding in the house with a gun, waiting
for the family to arrive. They have said they also believe Brashear
purposely shot Bart in the shoulder, in an attempt to make investigators
believe the family had surprised a burglar. Steven Champagne, 24, is
alleged to have waited a block away in a getaway car in which Brashear
escaped.

Both Bart Whitaker and Brashear were charged with capital murder in the
case, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Bart, against Kent
Whitaker's wishes. Champagne has cooperated with police and prosecutors,
and struck a deal in which he is expected to plead guilty to murder in
return for a 15-year prison sentence.

It was Champagne who led detectives to the bag in Lake Conroe, according
to testimony by Sugar Land Police Det. Marshall Slot, lead investigator on
the case.

In his opening statement during the first day of the trial, Felcman said
after Brashear, Champagne and Whitaker were arrested in the fall of 2005,
Champagne began cooperating with police.

Champagne told investigators the 3 men drove from Whitaker's townhouse in
Willis, with Whitaker and Brashear driving in Whitakers Chevy Yukon, and
Champagne following in a Toyota. They switched license plates on the
Toyota before getting to Sugar Land, according to Felcmans opening remarks
to the 400th District jury hearing the case.

Bart Whitaker had called his mother on the day of the murders and told her
he was coming to town and hoped to celebrate his pending graduation from
Sam Houston State University. The family went out to a Pappadeaux's
restaurant, then returned home.

Kent Whitaker testified on Monday that his youngest son, Kevin, had driven
back from the restaurant, had his keys with him and went to the door of
the family's home first, followed by Patricia Whitaker and then Kent. Bart
told the others he needed to retrieve his cell phone, which he said hed
left charging in his Yukon.

According to Kent Whitaker's testimony, Kevin, and then Patricia, were
each shot as they entered the home. Kent also walked inside and, like the
others, was shot in the chest, but he survived.

Felcman said in his opening statement that investigators learned that
after the murders, Brashear ran to the car where Champagne was waiting,
and the two drove off. On a trip back to Bart Whitakers Willis townhouse,
they stopped once to change the license plates back on the Toyota. Once at
the townhouse, they cleaned out the Toyota with a vacuum cleaner, then
took a number of items, placed them in a bag and dumped the bag in Lake
Conroe.

Detective Slot testified on Tuesday that Champagne was able to lead police
to the spot where, almost 2 years before, he and Brashear had thrown the
bag in the water. Divers with the Texas Department of Public Safety
recovered it.

Felcman said in his opening arguments that the bag contained a vacuum
cleaner, license plates, a pry bar with paint chips on it, some money that
had been burned, and a water bottle with Chris Brashear's DNA on it.
According to Slot's testimony, Bart Whitaker's cell phone also was in the
bag.

Felcman told the jury on Monday that the pry bar paint chips match paint
on a gun safe on the 2nd floor of the Whitaker's Sugar Land home, which
police found had been broken open prior to the murders. Investigators
believe a 9mm Glock pistol was taken from the gun safe and used to kill
Patricia and Kevin Whitaker.

Slot testified the investigators believe the suspect who shot the
Whitakers pulled drawers out to make it appear as though a burglary had
taken place, but the only thing missing appeared to be an envelope of cash
that had been in a closet in Kent Whitaker's bedroom. Felcman did not say
so directly, but it appears the missing money could have been what police
found burned in the bag in Lake Conroe.

Slot also testified Tuesday that Fort Bend County Sheriff's Deputy Keith
Pikett, a dog trainer with well-known tracking bloodhounds, was called to
the crime scene on the night of the murders.

Slot said the dog was given "scent swabs" taken from various places
including the Glock pistol found in the Whitaker home and believed to be
the murder weapon. At that point, the dogs "trailed" to Bart Whitaker's
Yukon, still parked on the street outside his parents' house after the
shooting.

Slot also testified that after Brashear and Champagne's arrests, the
detective obtained scent swabs from both men. He said Deputy Pikett later
set up a "scent lineup" with his bloodhounds on Jan. 9, 2004, in which the
dogs were shown scent swabs from the Glock pistol believed to have been
the murder weapon, and from a pillow case found at the crime scene. Both
dogs "matched up" the swabs to another scent swab obtained from Brashear,
Slot said.

The trial, being heard before 400th District Judge Clifford Vacek, is
scheduled to continue Wednesday morning.

(source: Fort Bend Now)

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

Death Sentence Upheld for Roach-----Roach Appeal Denied


The death penalty stands for Tony Roach. Roach was arrested in Oklahoma in
1999 and sentenced to death for the murder of 37-year-old Ronnie Dawn
Hewitt in 1998. Roach confessed to killing.

According to the conviction, Roach entered the victims home through by
prying open a window, then hid in her bathroom before attacking her. Then,
when the victim was dead, Roach sexually assaulted the body. He then tried
to cover up the crime by setting the house on fire.

Today, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected issues raised by
Roach's lawyers including a challenge to the Texas death penalty.

(source: KFDA News)

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

Murderer denied Federal appeal


In Amarillo, a Federal Appeals Court has denied the appeal of a South
Carolina man convicted in the 1998 murder of an Amarillo woman.

Tony Roach was convicted of strangling Ronnie Dawn Hewitt, and then
setting her apartment on fire trying to destroy evidence after
burglarizing it.

His lawyers raised ten issues before the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals
in New Orleans, including a challenge to the Texas death penalty.

That court rejected all of them.

Some of the items stolen were recovered from pawnshops here in Amarillo
and in Guymon, Oklahoma.

Law officers from Oklahoma were questioning Roach for an unrelated case
when he confessed to killing Hewitt.

(source: KVII News)

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

Woman's Shouting Disrupts Capital Murder Trial


In San Antonio, a woman's emotional outburst in a courtroom brought Joseph
Gamboa's capital murder trial to a temporary standstill Tuesday afternoon.

The woman disrupted prosecutors who were showing graphic autopsy photos of
a victim, Ram Ayala.

The woman shouted, "You did all this for $200?"

The woman was apparently a friend of the victim, officials said.

Spectators were warned that the photos were graphic prior to their
viewing.

The judge denied a defense motion for a mistrial but did instruct the jury
concerning the outburst.

"That person who shouted whatever they did was not a witness and was not
under oath." said Judge Bert Richardson of the 389th District Court to the
jury. "You are not to consider what they said in any form or fashion. Just
completely disregard whatever they had to say."

Ayala, who owned the Taco Land Tavern, was shot and killed during a
robbery at the bar at 103 W. Grayson on June 23, 2005.

A bartender was also shot to death.

Prosecutors accuse Gamboa of the killings and recommend he receive the
death penalty.

Prosecutors rested their case late Tuesday afternoon and defense will take
their turn on Wednesday morning.

(source: KSAT News)

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

Murder trial costs tap Randall funds


Paying for court-appointed attorneys has cost Randall County more than
expected.

Randall County commissioners had to approve a $65,000 transfer from
insurance and bonds to fund court-appointed attorneys after the defense
for Francisco "Frank" Chacon in a murder trial used more than $153,000.

The county budgeted $175,000 this year for court-appointed attorneys, but
has already spent $234,000, said Randall County Auditor Karon Kantor.

Randall County Judge Ernie Houdashell said the county has no choice when
it comes to paying legal fees for those deemed indigent.

"These guys are up on murder charges. They don't have any resources. The
taxpayer has to provide an attorney," Houdashell said.

Chacon was found guilty of first-degree murder in December and sentenced
to 25 years in prison for his part in the March 2003 slaying of Dustin
Pool. Pool's body was found buried under concrete beneath a Randall County
grain elevator after he was kidnapped, beaten and killed. Chacon is the
fourth man who has either been found guilty or pleaded guilty in
connection with Pool's murder.

Chacon filed a motion for a new trial, but it was denied this week. Walt
Weaver, an attorney appointed to represent Chacon, said he filed a notice
of appeal with the 7th Court of Appeals, but that it could take months
before an actual response is filed.

The county coffers will take another hit when Mark Edward Hanson goes to
trial Monday. Hanson is facing a murder charge for his alleged role in the
death of Donald Ray White, 28. White's body was found in January 2005
naked, bound and partially submerged in water near the southeast Amarillo
chipping site. Preliminary autopsy results showed White died of a gunshot
wound.

Hanson is also facing charges for an alleged assault against a corrections
officer while attempting to escape in October 2005. A month later Hanson
did escape from the Randall County Jail and faces charges for that episode
as well.

At least $17,750 has been spent on Hanson's defense to date, according to
court documents.

Selden Hale, the court-appointed attorney representing Hanson, said that
number will increase. Hale said investigators have been hired to help with
the case.

Hale said the defense is allowed to spend just as much as the prosecution
thanks to a 1985 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

"Finally, the Supreme Court has ordered equal protection under the law
when it comes to getting ready for a murder case," Hale said. "It started
off as a death penalty case ... after the bill started running up, they
(prosecutors) decided maybe they didn't want to try as a death penalty
case."

Hanson is scheduled to go to court Monday for the charge of assault on a
corrections officer. The murder trial and escape charges have yet to go to
court.

The cost of death penalty cases can have a chilling effect. Randall County
Criminal District Attorney James Farren said cost was one reason the death
penalty was not sought for Chacon.

"There's no telling what it would've cost," Farren said. "If the defense
had $180,000 worth of hours without the death penalty, by the time we
complete three weeks to six weeks of individual (jury selection), there's
no telling what it would've cost. This illustrates for you how expensive
these cases are to begin with."

Farren said county finances, along with the nature of the crime and
history of the alleged criminal, play a role in determining whether or not
to seek a death penalty.

"I've had some people upset with me - that cost should never be a factor.
That's just unrealistic," Farren said. "Let's say it costs $1 billion,
then everyone would agree we can't do that. It's not a question of whether
finances are a factor, it's a question of ... how expensive it has to be
before it becomes a factor."

(source: Amarillo Globe-News)

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

Cases illustrate need for innocence project


No system is fail-proof.

The increasing number of wrongful convictions being uncovered in Texas
indicates flaws in the state's criminal justice system.

During the past few years, 2 dozen Texas men have been exonerated by DNA
testing. 12 of them were prosecuted in Dallas.

The statistics are scary, and the situation is unconscionable.

It is time for the state to invest the resources and effort necessary to
review questionable convictions by creating an innocence commission.

It is not enough to release those prisoners who have been exonerated,
offer them monetary compensation and wish them a good life.

Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, and Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, have
introduced legislation to create such a commission.

Previous attempts have met with stiff resistance. The efforts resulted in
the formation of the governor's Criminal Justice Advisory Council, but its
aim is to review the system, not individual cases.

The Legislature also has funded innocence clinics at Texas law schools,
but those are not the innocence commission Thompson and Ellis seek.

According to the New York-based Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal
clinic and criminal justice resource center, 185 people in 32 states have
been cleared of their convictions through DNA testing.

California, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Illinois and North Carolina have
established innocence commissions in recent years as a result of the
attention those cases have focused on the impact that new and improved DNA
testing can have on criminal convictions.

Instead of worrying that this might be an attempt to make an end run on
the death penalty, opponents to the creation of an innocence commission
should focus on the need to ensure innocent people are not locked up
unjustly.

There are flaws in our criminal justice system; the exoneration of 24
convicted felons proves that.

Ignoring the problem won't make it go away.

(source: Editorial, San Antonio Expres-News)