June 30
TEXAS:
Houston-area man sent to death row for fatal shooting in $8 robbery loses
federal appeal
A federal appeals court has rejected an appeal from a Harris County man
sentenced to die for fatally shooting a 36-year-old Houston-area man during an
$8 robbery nearly 16 years ago.
Attorneys for 34-year-old Juan Martin Garcia contend he had poor legal help
during his trial in 2000 and that he's mentally impaired and ineligible for the
death penalty. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Friday rejected the
arguments.
Evidence showed 36-year-old Hugo Solano was shot three times in the head while
he was in his van at his Harris County apartment complex.
When Garcia was pulled over for a traffic stop 11 days after the slaying, a gun
fell to his car's floorboard as he got out. It was matched to the weapon used
in Solano's murder.
(source: Associated Press)
**********************
4 Texas Death Row Inmates Lose Appeals
2 Texas death row inmates lost appeals Monday before the U.S. Supreme Court and
a federal appeals court rejected the appeals of 2 others.
The Supreme Court refused Monday to review an appeal from Manuel Garza, Jr.,
33, who was sent to death row for the shooting death of a San Antonio police
officer in 2001.
Evidence showed Officer John Riojas was trying to arrest Garza on several
outstanding warrants when Garza tried to flee.
The officer was shot with his own gun as he struggled with Garza.
The Supreme Court also rejected the appeal of a Nicaraguan man sent to death
row for shooting a customer to death during a robbery at a Houston-area dry
cleaning store.
Bernardo Tercero, 36, contended he was younger than 18 at the time of the
slaying, making him ineligible for the death penalty.
Prison records show Tercero gunned down Robert Berger during a struggle more
than 17 years ago while Berger's 3-year-old daughter stood nearby.
Tercero and a companion then fled with 2 cash registers.
Tercero wound up in Nicaragua and was returned to Texas to face trial.
Tercero has conflicting birth certificates and insisted the accurate one showed
he was younger than 18 at the time of the shooting.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an appeal from Juan Martin
Garcia, 34, who was sentenced to death for the shooting death of a 36-year-old
Houston-area man during a robbery nearly 16 years ago that authorities said
netted him $8.
His attorneys contend that he's mentally impaired and ineligible for the death
penalty.
Hugo Solano was shot 3 times in the head while he was in his van at his Harris
County apartment complex.
When Garcia was pulled over in a traffic stop 11 days later, a gun fell to his
car's floorboard as he got out that matched the weapon used in Solano's murder.
The 5th Court also rejected the appeal of Randall Wayne Mays, 54, who was
sentenced to death for a shootout that left 2 Henderson County sheriff's
deputies dead 7 years ago. The former welder and oilfield worker argued he had
deficient legal help at his 2008 trial.
The court also rejected contentions that sentencing Mays to death was
unconstitutionally cruel because he's mentally ill.
Mays was convicted in the death of sheriff's Deputy Tony Ogburn.
The shooting left a 2nd officer, Paul Habelt, dead and a 3rd deputy wounded.
The shootings occurred after Mays barricaded himself in his house in Payne
Springs, about 55 miles southeast of Dallas.
(source: KWTX news)
PENNSYLVANIA----new execution date
Execution scheduled for Washington County man
Gov. Tom Corbett today signed an execution warrant for a Washington County man
who was convicted in the 2003 beating, strangulation and stabbing of a widow
during a robbery in her Upper St. Clair home, his office announced.
The execution of Patrick Stollar, 36, is scheduled for Aug. 20, according to
the governor's office. He is incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution
at Greene.
Stollar had been convicted of 1st-degree murder in the June 4, 2003, death of
Jean Heck, 78. Heck hired him and a crew to help with yard work a few days
before she was killed.
Before a jury found him guilty in 40 minutes, the prosecutor said in February
2008, "By far and away the most damning evidence was Patrick Stollar's
confession" to Allegheny County homicide detectives 2 days after the slaying.
In the recording, Stollar is heard saying, "I drove to [Mrs. Heck's] house with
nothing less than the intention to take her life."
(source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
USA:
Rally outside Supreme Court calls for end to death penalty in US
People with a sign reading "38 years of blood on our hands" calling for an end
to the death penalty as the anniversary of Gregg v. Georgia neared stood
outside the US Supreme Court building on the last day of its session.
People with signs called for an end to the death penalty as the anniversary of
Gregg v. Georgia neared. A person dressed as a Bible also stood outside the US
Supreme Court building on the last day of its session.
(source: demotix.com)
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