[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 2


TEXAS:

Retrial of truck driver in deadly smuggling case to begin


An invalid verdict has given federal prosecutors a 2d chance to try a
truck driver on all the charges he faced for his role in the nation's
deadliest human smuggling attempt, including those that carry the death
penalty.

A jury last year convicted Tyrone Williams on 38 counts in the deaths of
19 illegal immigrants that were crammed into his airtight tractor-trailer
during the May 2003 smuggling attempt. Williams had faced the death
penalty in the case but avoided it because the jury couldn't agree on what
role Williams played in the crime. The jury deadlocked on 20 other counts.

But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the decision, saying
the verdict didn't count because the jury failed to specify his role in
the deadly smuggling attempt.

Jury selection in Williams' retrial was set to begin on Tuesday with an
initial jury pool of about 250 people. The process could last up to 2weeks
- potential jurors will be questioned individually because of the possible
death sentence.

The trial will be overseen by a new judge, Lee Rosenthal. The 5th Circuit
removed U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore from the case because of the
case's "extraordinary history" and a busy docket.

Prosecutors and Gilmore had a contentious relationship in the 1t trial.
Several rulings by Gilmore that went against prosecutors were overturned
on appeal.

Williams is the only 1of 14 people charged in the case who is facing the
death penalty. He was indicted on 58 transporting, harboring and
conspiracy counts, 20 of which are eligible for the death penalty.

The U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment before the start of the
retrial.

At a recent court hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Rodriguez
described the immigrants in the tractor-trailer as "hostages" who were
being "tortured."

Authorities have said Williams was part of a smuggling ring that tried to
transport more than 70 illegal immigrants from Mexico, Central America and
the Dominican Republic in his airtight tractor-trailer.

As they traveled from South Texas to Houston, they began to succumb to the
rising heat inside the trailer, which authorities estimate climbed to 173
degrees.

Survivors have said people inside took off their sweat-drenched clothes
for relief and crowded around holes they punched in the truck so they
could breathe. They also kicked out a signal light to try to get the
attention of passing motorists.

Williams, a Jamaican citizen who lived in Schenectady, N.Y., abandoned the
trailer at a truck stop near Victoria, about 100 miles southwest of
Houston.

Seventeen immigrants, including a 5-year-old boy, were found dead in the
trailer and two died later. They all died from dehydration, overheating
and suffocation.

"He knowingly and intentionally refused to open the doors to the trailer,"
Rodriguez said. "His refusal to open the doors was (an) act of violence."

Williams' attorney, Craig Washington, has said his client was guilty of
transporting the immigrants, but that other members of the smuggling ring
were responsible for the deaths because they loaded the trailer with too
many people.

Washington has argued his client is being singled out for harsher
punishment because he is black. Before the 1st trial, Washington appealed
the race issue to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case.

Washington told the court in pre-trial hearings that he wanted to question
potential jurors on their attitudes about race. Rosenthal agreed to that
but warned Washington not to refer to the case as "racially based
selective prosecution."

Rodriguez said Williams faces a possible death sentence because he alone
could have freed the immigrants. Federal law allows capital punishment in
smuggling cases that result in death.

"Only Williams was able to prevent the deaths," he said.

Douglas McNabb, a Houston attorney who specializes in federal criminal
defense, said he was surprised the appeals court overturned the verdict
from the 1t trial and was critical of the retrial, which will proceed
while the case is being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I think the government is being mean spirited," McNabb said. "He was
probably going to be sentenced to life because of the convictions on some
of the counts and in the federal system life is life. There is no parole."

So far, seven people have been sentenced to prison in the case.
Sentencings for 3 others are pending. Charges against 2 were dismissed and
one man remains a fugitive.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Jourdanton murder trial set to start


In Jourdanton, jury selection begins today in the murder trial of the
former mayor's estranged husband, James Franklin Reece, who is accused of
fatally beating 73-year-old Bernice Evans with a "hammer-like object" 2
years ago.

Reece, 39, initially told authorities he killed his neighbor, but he now
contends former Mayor Tammy Clark coerced him to confess to the slaying.
The oil rig worker accused Clark of taking part in the crime.

Clark, who has denied the allegation, has not been charged with any
wrongdoing, although public pressure following her implication in the
crime forced her to resign as mayor a year ago this month.

Reece's attorney, William Baskette of San Antonio, said his client, who is
free on bond, was falsely led to believe the mayor would protect him if he
accepted blame for Evans' death.

"He did not take part in the violence," Baskette said after being hired as
Reece's attorney last year. "But he did take part in the disposal of the
body."

Evans was killed early Nov. 14, 2004, when she confronted Reece about loud
noises coming from the couple's yard, according to authorities. That's
when, police said, Reece repeatedly hit her in the head, killing her.
Evans' body was then dumped in a wooded area off County Road 438, about a
quarter-mile east of Jourdanton.

Clark, 38, later was among neighbors that reported Evans missing, telling
a police officer she was concerned because she hadn't seen her neighbor
walk her dogs.

An avid dog lover, Evans was known for her Chihuahuas and caring for stray
dogs.

Police found bloody footprints on the couple's porch and retrieved a
blanket suspected of being used to dispose of Evans' body.

Aside from who actually killed Evans, Reece also has given conflicting
statements on what the noise was about that night. Initially, he said it
was a result of him unloading some scrap PVC pipe, but he later claimed it
was because he and Clark were arguing.

His statements about the former mayor's possible involvement did lead
authorities to investigate Clark.

In September 2005, authorities obtained a search warrant for samples of
her hair and her footprints.

Clark has claimed she was asleep when Evans was killed and didn't learn
about the crime until she later found blood on the porch. She told police
that when she questioned her husband, he admitted to the slaying.

Clark said Reece told her he heard voices in his head telling him to hit
Evans, but Reece denies he made that statement, according to an affidavit
filed to obtain the September 2005 search warrant.

The mayor also claimed Reece had not taken his medication for a bipolar
condition that night.

Among the witnesses slated for the trial is Clark's brother, Thomas Bahn,
who told authorities he remembers being awakened early that morning by
"sounds of fighting, shouting and arguing between Evans, Reece and others
unknown."

(source: San Antonio Express-News)