May 19
TEXAS: 3 men held in slaying of officer----All suspects could face death penalty if they're convicted 3 San Antonio men were arrested Thursday and charged with capital murder in the shooting death of off-duty Beeville police officer Gregory Stewart. Working from an anonymous tip, San Antonio police and the U.S. Marshal's Service arrested Vincent Jessamy, 18; Marcus Anthony Acevedo, 19; and Jeremy Miera, 18. On May 7, Stewart and a friend came out of a San Antonio bar at closing time and were walking to a restaurant when a white Ford Explorer pulled up and a young man jumped out. Holding a .38-caliber pistol on Stewart and demanding his wallet, the shooter grew agitated when Stewart hesitated, police said. Witnesses told investigators there were 2 clicks, possibly misfires, before the robber fired three times, hitting Stewart in the stomach and arm. After Stewart was down, his friend handed over his own wallet and then tried to hold Stewart's wounds closed until emergency personnel arrived. Police believe the same men who shot Stewart were involved in a crime spree earlier that night that included the robbery of a 15-year-old girl and the killing of Juan Antonio Cerda, 45. Cerda was found dead in the driver's seat of a 1986 Plymouth Voyager with multiple gunshot wounds about 15 minutes before Stewart was shot. Witnesses told police they had seen a white Explorer at all 3 crime scenes. Stewart died from complications Monday at San Antonio's University Hospital. Initially, doctors at University Hospital had been cautiously optimistic about Stewart's condition and he had been moved out of intensive care to recover, Beeville Police Chief Joe Salinas said Thursday. He is survived by his 4-year-old son, Charlie. Beeville police, most of whom will be at Stewart's funeral today in Boerne, still are reeling. "The patrol officers that worked with him are taking it really hard," Salinas said. "He is the sort of person you wanted to be around. If you picked on him, he blushed. He was fun to be with, I guarantee. That's why he is so well-liked." All 3 suspects could face the death penalty if convicted, according to a statement from the San Antonio Police Department. Salinas said all 3 men should be held accountable if they took Stewart's life. "Of course we believe in the judicial system," he said. "We hope that the punishment fits the crime." (source: Corpus Christi Caller-Times) ****************** Jury says murder suspect competent to stand trial A 28-year-old Mexican citizen is competent to stand trial on a charge of capital murder, a jury found Wednesday afternoon. Jose Israel Tejeda is charged with the stabbing death of Juana Marques on Dec. 18, 2004. The competency hearing was held to determine whether Tejeda is able to assist in his own defense. Testimony ended Wednesday morning and closing arguments followed after lunch. It took the jury only a few minutes to reach its conclusion, according to court records. Tejeda is accused of stabbing Marquez, his 41-year-old neighbor, 27 times during a burglary of her home at 2601 Plover St. Several items were taken from the home, and the woman's pickup was found abandoned at a convenience store on Ben Wilson Street in Victoria, according to police. Tejeda was arrested January 2005 at a San Antonio apartment complex. He has remained in the Victoria County jail since. Paperwork was filed last year saying that District Attorney Dexter Eaves intends to seek the death penalty. (source: Victoria Advocate) ****************** see: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/201201354?ltl=1148064756 ************************ Police Chief Speaks Out About Capital Murder Trial For the 1st time since the Theodore Berry capital murder trial, the chief of police reacts to the sentence and defends the officers involved. On Tuesday, 44-year-old Berry was sentenced to life in prison for the shooting death of Police Officer Angel Andrew Barcena. Since the death of Barcena, no changes have been made in regards to policy or protocol in the department. He said it was Berry who was responsible for the incident. Chief Richard Wiles said Berry should have paid with his life. "I'm very disappointed. I certainly think if there's any case for the death penalty this was certainly it," said Wiles. Wiles said the system failed in the sentencing phase and in other ways. "The system failed his previous victims, it failed Barcena and his family and it failed this department," said Wiles. But others might say the department failed. The defense in the capital murder trial of Theodore Berry raised questions about the level of force used when responding to a domestic violence call at Berry's house in September 2004. The defense tried to show the jury that Barcena, who had been on the job for a month, and his partner made mistakes. "To say that they should have done it a different way, I can sit back and second guess what should have happened, but it was certainly not unreasonable what the officers did," said Wiles. Another issue that was brought up in the trial: not only was Barcena a rookie, his partner, Officer Danny Delgado, had only two years of experience on the force. Wiles admitted Delgado wasn't Barcena's assigned field training officer, or FTO, but Delgado's 2 years did qualify him as an FTO. "To say that Officer Delgado wouldn't be the proper FTO is wrong. He certainly would have been," said Wiles. Wiles also admitted that young officers were going to be paired off from time to time because, just like any other employee, they need time off. When asked if the department learned anything from Barcena's death, Wiles said an independent investigation determined there were no policy or training issues that caused the incident. Wiles said what caused the incident was the actions of one person. "The person responsible for that incident was Mr. Berry. He didn't have to have a weapon. He didn't have to been drinking all night. He didn't have to shoot at those officers." (source: KFOX TV News) ILLINOIS: Judge: Police torture report should be released A Cook County judge today ruled that details of an investigation into allegations of police torture in Chicago should be released, but one of the report's authors says it will not be available for at least another 2 weeks. In a written ruling, Chief Criminal Courts Judge Paul Biebel ordered the release of a report created by two special prosecutors he appointed in 2002 to investigate the alleged torture of 192 black men in interrogation rooms during the 1970s and 1980s. Noting that he ordered the probe "because of an 'open sore' on the civic body of the City of Chicago which has festered for many years," Biebel wrote, "The interests of justice require the full publishing of the Special Prosecutor's Report." That report, Biebel continued, should include materials gathered by a grand jury that investigated alleged wrongdoing by former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge and other officers. Burge was fired in 1993 for allegedly mistreating a murder suspect. Attorneys for police had objected to releasing the grand jury records, citing privacy concerns. But Biebel today wrote, "This court opts on the side of public disclosure and finds the public's right to be informed of the results of this exhaustive investigation outweighs the privacy rights of the individual officers." Joseph Roddy, one of the lawyers for the officers, said after the court hearing he would consider petitioning the Illinois Supreme Court to block the release. Special prosecutor Edward Egan, one of the authors of the report, said the document was unlikely to be released before a June 2 status hearing. Egan said the authors needed to know the scope of judge's ruling and will now organize the document into its final form. Earlier in the day, community activists and others opposed to the death penalty protested outside the Criminal Courts Building in Chicago, urging Biebel to release the report. "I want to see that report. I want to see it released," said Gloria Faye Collier, one of the demonstrators. "I want to see Burge and those police officers indicted." The rally, organized by the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, followed the release this morning of a statement by a United Nations anti-torture panel criticizing the 4-year investigation into allegations of police brutality in Chicago as not going far enough. The special prosecutors appointed by Biebel looked into allegations that investigators under Burge routinely used torture - including electric shock, Russian roulette, beatings and near suffocation with typewriter covers - to force confessions from suspects. Unfurling a banner saying "Burge = Torture," about 20 people demonstrated outside the courthouse at 26th Street and California Avenue. The protesters also carried signs reading, "No Justice, No Peace," "No Racist Police" and "Justice Delayed is Justice Denied." Another showed a picture of Burge behind bars with the caption, "Policeman torturer." "What gives (Burge) the right or anyone under his command the right to treat people that way? This is the land of freedom," protester Mary Hibbit said. Gloria Johnson, spokeswoman for Campaign to End the Death Penalty, said the releasing the report is important because it would have an impact on a number of criminal prosecutions that have gone through the system. "It will give us a chance to ask for a retrial and get (these men) exonerated," Johnson said. "It's wrong. It's criminal to keep our children behind bars when they're innocent." The UN Committee Against Torture today called on the U.S. to ensure punishment for law enforcement officials who mistreated suspects. It noted the more-than-$5.5 million investigation into allegations of police brutality was "limited" and had not yet led to any prosecutions. (source: Chicago Tribune) FLORIDA: New Book Reveals Judicial Flaws in Notorious Triple-Murder Trial Liberty Press announces the release of the new book "Danger Road: A true crime story of murder and redemption," which chronicles the true story of 3 drug dealers who were brutally murdered in 1983 on Danger Road in the Florida Everglades. Lured into a phony drug deal each victim hoped would be his big retirement score, they allegedly found themselves at the business end of a gun wielded by a Miami-Dade police officer. But police and prosecutors say Officer Gilbert Fernandez, Jr. and his crew weren't there to arrest the drug dealers. They were there to execute them and steal their 8 kilos of cocaine. "Danger Road" details the transformation of Fernandez, a former Mr. Florida bodybuilding champion, black-belt karate instructor and alleged violent mob hit man, who by many accounts had turned his life around during the intervening years between the 1983 murders and his triple-murder indictment in 1990. The man once named "Miami's Meanest Cop" no longer abused and intimidated people like he did when he was a police officer; he was now a loving father who lived to convert people to Christianity. In spite of this radical transformation, Fernandez found himself on trial for his life in 1991. "Danger Road" is the story of that trial, told by the defense attorney who represented him, John P. Contini. Using archival newspaper articles, trial transcripts and interviews with trial participants and the defendant, "Danger Road" exposes the behind-the-scenes machinations of our legal system. The book reveals details about the judge and prosecutors who were unconvinced by Fernandez's transformation, and were hell-bent to send him to the chair. Because of this bias and the leaking of prejudicial material to the media, Contini felt it was clear that some important people wanted to see Fernandez executed. They were even willing to immunize 4 convicted felons, one who claimed to be a participant in the murders and others who were major narco traffickers. "Jim Lewis and his team of prosecutors had no physical evidence, yet they were obsessed with winning at all costs. The prosecutor's duty is to seek justice, not convictions, but in pursuit of the electric chair, these prosecutors gave blanket immunity to narco traffickers and a killer. There's no question they essentially purchased the testimony of these felons in their insatiable thirst for the death penalty. You could almost see them salivating over the thought of putting him in "Old Sparky," Florida's electric chair," Contini said. One of Contini's goals when writing the book was to cause readers to take another look at the way our society dispenses justice. But "Danger Road" also has a more personal side. The book gives readers a unique insider perspective on Contini's role as a defense attorney in a highly publicized capital murder case. Additionally, the story sheds light on the defendant, who from all appearances had become a completely different person by the time of his trial. Ultimately, after reading the story and the actual letters from the defendant to Contini (included in the book) it's left to the reader to decide whether Fernandez's transformation is real. The release of "Danger Road" marks the first of several books based on John Contini's cases that publisher Liberty Press plans to publish. Contini will be the guest of Liberty Press in booth 5247 at Book Expo DC in Washington, DC on May 19-21, 2006. Mr. Contini will be autographing copies of "Danger Road" in the Traditional Autographing Area at table 32 on Friday, May 19, between 4 and 5 p.m. For more information on "Danger Road: A true crime story of murder and redemption," visit http://www.DangerRoadTheBook.com. To view archival TV news footage and newspaper articles from the 1991 Fernandez trial, visit http://www.DangerRoadTheBook.com/releases.html For more information on John Contini, visit http://www.JPContini.com. Interview Contact: Melinda Banks 1 (866) 78BOOKS Fax: (208) 439-5462 Info at LibertyPressPublishing.com Liberty Press 303 Park Avenue South, Suite 1288 New York, NY 10010-3657 1 (866) 78BOOKS (source: Heliographica News (This release was distributed on behalf of the above organization by Heliographica- services for authors and publishers, http://www.heliographica.com )
