June 27
TEXAS:
Guy's death sentence is overturned
Following a 3-day evidentiary hearing in Lubbock, federal Judge Sam
Cummings overturned Joe Lee Guy's death sentence Friday and ordered the
case back to state court for resentencing in Plainview - leaving the
capital murder conviction intact.
District Attorney Terry McEachern, who prosecuted Guy, said the next step
in the convoluted 10-year-old case is for Guy to be returned to 242nd
Judge Ed Self's court, where he would likely be sentenced to life in
prison for his role in the 1993 shooting death of North Columbia Street
grocer Larry Howell - assuming the state attorney general's office doesn4t
appeal Cummings' ruling.
Guy's 2 accomplices - Plainviewans Thomas Howard and Ronald Springer -
each received life sentences. All 3 defendants were tried separately. In
January, McEachern, Self, retired sheriff Charles Tue and current Sheriff
David Mull signed a petition seeking executive clemency for the
32-year-old Guy. The parole board unanimously voted to commute the
sentence to life in prison, with no chance for parole for 40 years.
However, Governor Rick Perry did not act on the commutation
recommendation, apparently waiting for the outcome of the evidentiary
hearing, which had been recessed from its beginning last October.
More than 30 witnesses testified at the hearings, which centered on the
defense contention that trial attorney Rick Wardroup of Lubbock did not
call enough witnesses in the sentencing phase of Guy's trial and that the
investigator used in the case had a conflict of interest that led him to
do a perfunctory investigation that resulted in only four witnesses being
called on Guy's behalf.
The investigator - Frank SoRelle - was accused of ingratiating himself
with Howell's elderly mother after learning she was quite wealthy.
Although SoRelle denied the accusation, he received upwards of $750,000 in
cash, jewelry and property that Mrs. Howell left him in her will.
She recovered from a gunshot wound to the abdomen suffered in the shooting
and died of natural causes in 1995.
During last week's evidentiary hearing, Wardroup testified that he had
trusted SoRelle to handle the job and did not adequately supervise him.
McEachern said the request for executive clemency basically stemmed from
SoRelle not really doing "his job in trying to find mitigating evidence"
that might have caused jurors to return a lesser sentence.
Commenting on the reversal of the death penalty, McEachern said Friday
that Guy would probably be returned to prison until the state attorney
general decides whether or not to appeal the reversal.
"I have no problem with a life sentence," he said. "I'll be glad when a
conclusion is brought. I think everyone will."
Guy's mother, Gloria, said late Saturday, "I went through treatment and
promised God that I would stay clean and sober and asked God to get Joe
off death row. I stayed clean and sober and God did what I asked.
"I thank everybody for everything they did -- in and out of the
courtroom."
(source: Plainview Daily Herald)
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Yogurt shop murder appeals rely on high court decision
In 1991, Texas' capital city was faced with its most chilling and
sensational crime since sniper Charles Whitman went up the University of
Texas tower and shot dozens of people.
4 teenage girls were slain in an Austin yogurt shop, each bound, gagged
and shot in the head. With police chasing thousands of leads, it was 10
years before a suspect even went on trial.
Now lawyers for the 2 men convicted of capital murder in the case say
their verdicts should be overturned. They point to a recent Supreme Court
ruling that upheld criminal defendants' constitutional rights to
cross-examine witnesses against them.
Robert Springsteen IV and Michael Scott were convicted based on
confessions that also implicated each other. Statements from both men were
introduced at each other's trials, but defense attorneys say the fact that
they were not allowed to cross-examine violated their clients' Sixth
Amendment rights.
Springsteen was sent to death row. Scott is serving life in prison.
"It's time the state of Texas and Travis County follow the law and give
them a fair trial," said Mary Kay Sicola, who is representing Springsteen
before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Without the confessions, prosecutors had virtually no case because a crime
scene fire had destroyed physical evidence. Both men exercised their Fifth
Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid testifying, but their
confessions were still used against each other.
"I don't see how (the courts) can not reverse this case," said lawyer
Ariel Payan, who argued Scott's case before the 3rd District Court of
Appeals this month.
Travis County prosecutors say the trials were fair and the convictions
should be upheld.
"Our position is they're misreading the Sixth Amendment," said Assistant
District Attorney Bryan Case.
Killed during the robbery of the I Can't Believe It's Yogurt store were
Eliza Hope Thomas, 17; Amy Ayers, 13; and sisters Jennifer and Sarah
Harbison, ages 17 and 15.
Springsteen, who had moved to Charleston, W.Va., and Scott were arrested
in 1999 after police began rechecking old leads.
Springsteen's confession was secretly recorded during a pre-arrest
interview with police. Scott talked with investigators for nearly 20
hours. His statements were recorded, and he signed a written version of
his comments.
They were tried separately for Ayers' murder, and their lawyers fought
unsuccessfully to keep the statements out of court. Both men accused
police of coercing the confessions.
Their appeals took on new energy in March, when the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled 9-0 to overturn an assault conviction in a Washington state case.
In that case, police in Olympia, Wash., had used a statement from a man's
wife to show that her story did not match his, but his lawyers did not get
to cross-examine her. The court ruled that violated the Sixth Amendment
guarantee that "in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the
right ... to be confronted with the witnesses against him."
One legal expert called the Crawford v. Washington decision the most
important criminal law procedural case in 20 years, one that could affect
prosecutions across Texas.
"It's going to be hard to imagine how Crawford is not going to have a
fairly serious impact on co-defendant testimony introduced in a capital
murder trial," said Bill Allison, a law professor at the University of
Texas.
Since the Supreme Court decision, Texas appeals courts have ruled on
similar cases. A Dallas robbery conviction was overturned after
prosecutors entered as evidence a statement from a co-defendant who was
not available to be cross-examined. A Fort Worth appeals court made a
similar ruling in a sexual assault case.
At Springsteen's trial, jurors heard part of Scott's statement, but the
judge allowed prosecutors to use only portions in which Scott implicated
himself. In Scott's trial, Springsteen's statement was presented by a
police officer. It did not mention Scott by name, said Case, the
prosecutor. Payan, Scott's attorney, said using the statements at all
would cause the jury to think the defendants accused each other.
But Case said the statements merely corroborated details in the
confessions. Because the testimony about Springsteen's statement didn't
directly accuse Scott, Scott didn't have the right to cross-examine
Springsteen, Case said.
"It gave validity to Scott's own confession," Case said. "That's different
than accusing somebody of something."
(source: Associated Press)
*******************************
Forensic Center Opening In Tyler
A new forensic center, scheduled to open in Smith County this week, could
reduce the amount East Texas entities spend on autopsy costs, area
officials said. Currently, most of Smith County's autopsies are conducted
at the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas, requiring
transportation from East Texas.
The July 1 opening of The Southeast Texas Forensic Center Inc. at 11980
Texas Highway 155 in Smith County will offer another alternative, said
Richard Skinner, forensic administrator.
There is no other facility between Beaumont and Dallas and the Oklahoma
and Louisiana state lines, he said.
"It is a situation of need," Skinner said. "We are willing to go in and
make this investment at no expense to the county - no expense to any of
these counties - we are doing it on our own."
The facility will include a 20-by-30 cooler, which can house more than 20
bodies at a time, or, in the event of a disaster, could hold up to 40
bodies, he said.
"It is a center of an area that is in need," he said, adding the facility
is capable of expansion and is being remodeled. It will operate on a
per-case basis, Skinner said.
The number of autopsies the center receives, he said, will depend on those
in the area that use the center.
The average turnaround time on definite cases, Skinner said, is three to
five days. A situation that requires toxicology tests, which are sent to a
forensic lab, takes about 2 to 3 weeks, he said.
He said East Texas officials he has met with about the center are
interested in knowing about the their turnaround time, adding on average
it is taking about 3 to 6 months to get reports.
"The problem with that is until a justice of the peace receives that
report, he cannot sign a death certificate," and everything stops for the
family, Skinner said.
"Our turnaround time is probably our biggest asset," he said.
The Dallas facility, Skinner said, is overwhelmed.
The Southeast Texas Forensic Center Inc. has facilities in Beaumont and
Conroe, and privatized the Jefferson County Morgue, he said.
The company employees three forensic pathologists, 7 secretaries and a
forensic administrator, and the number of employees will increase with the
opening of the facility in Tyler, Skinner said. Dr. Delbert VanDusen,
formerly chief deputy medical examiner for Harris County, will serve as
the lead pathologist in Smith County, he said.
LOCATION, SAVING COST
"Smith County is a logical place because it is a center of the area in
need - we service all the way to Nacogdoches to the Oklahoma line," he
said, adding, "Plus, this is becoming a regional medical center."
In Texas, a justice of the peace operates as a coroner, and rural counties
use a justice of the peace to order an autopsy, rather than a medical
examiner.
The number of autopsies the forensic center performs, he said, will depend
on the number of counties that switch their business to the center.
Skinner said he is receiving "extremely good response" from East Texas
justices of the peace.
Skinner said he has made presentations in Gregg, Upshur, Harrison,
Cherokee and Panola counties, and has contacted about 28 other Northeast
Texas counties by letter.
"We want to provide the service needed at reasonable amount to the
counties but still at a rate we can make a profit," he said.
Smith County Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Mitch Shamburger said he is
excited about the center's opening, adding less transportation will likely
mean a cost savings to the county.
If a body is sent to Dallas, he said, a local funeral service takes it
there. Then, after the autopsy, someone picks it up, costing about $200 to
$300 for each person. Skinner said most transport services are about $1.50
a mile.
Travel costs, Shamburger said, would virtually be eliminated by using the
Southeast Texas Forensic Center. The justice of the peace said the
facility would mean more accessibility.
"When we send them to Dallas, there are many doctors who do the
autopsies," he said. "When we have a pathologist here, I have the freedom
to call Dr. VanDusen."
"It is going to be a cost savings all the way around," Precinct 2 Justice
of the Peace Bill Lemmert said. "We won't know how much until everything
goes into place."
Skinner said the facility will charge $1,500 per autopsy and will include
basic toxicology.
Smith County paid about $193,690 for autopsies and related costs,
including transportation, from Oct. 1, 2002, to Sept. 30, 2003, said Karen
Carter, first assistant county auditor. Records, she said, do not detail
the exact number of autopsies performed in the county during that period.
Smith County Judge Becky Dempsey said she is aware of on-going discussions
with area officials and those at the forensic center.
"The county's position is, any time we can have excellent services at cost
savings, the county is absolutely interested in looking at it," she said.
Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham said he has not yet been in
contact with the lab, but would look forward to learning more about the
lab and its services from the director.
(source: Tyler Morning Telegraph)
*********************----book review
A night of gunfire that still echoes----Book looks at nightclub murders
and how they changed Texas law
In Texas, the name Abdelkrim Belachheb stands ignominiously with those of
Charles Whitman and George Hennard, like bodies of Old West badmen on
public display in open pine-box caskets.
It's been most of 20 years since that summer night when Mr. Belachheb
walked into a North Dallas nightclub and killed 6 people, but longtime
Dallas residents and many Texans will likely remember his name. Shortly
after midnight on June 29, 1984, the Moroccan-born wig-wearing and
self-proclaimed ladies' man entered Ianni's Restaurant and Club with a
semiautomatic pistol and a sociopath's score to settle.
Gary M. Lavergne, a university researcher and author of A Sniper in the
Tower: The Charles Whitman Murders, has resurrected that night's horror
six dead, one wounded in his newest book, Worse Than Death: The Dallas
Nightclub Murders and the Texas Multiple Murder Law.
Worse Than Death is an engrossing, heavily footnoted (though inelegantly
written) account of how one twisted man changed lives and the Texas
criminal code. The murders in the club at Midway Road and LBJ Freeway
exposed the inconsistency in the state's capital punishment statutes.
Before the slayings, a mass murderer did not automatically face the death
penalty unless he killed during commission of another felony. Worse Than
Death is a graphic tale with bloody crime scene photos of the dead though
redacted and in black and white. Victims' portraits in happier times
provide a sad memorial to the mostly forgotten names of Mr. Belachheb's
victims: Janice Smith, Marcell Ford, Linda Lowe, Ligia Koslowski, Frank
Parker, Joe Minasi. More recognizable names, at least to Dallas residents,
also fill the pages of Worse Than Death: Dallas County District Court
Judge Gerry Holden Meier, a no-nonsense judge known to some as the Iron
Maiden, and later, Attila the Honey; Norm Kinne, one of the county's best
prosecutors who later in his career displayed a replica wooden shark fin,
an admirer's gift, in his office; Dallas homicide detective Bill Parker,
who arrested Mr. Belachheb two hours after the slayings; and defense
attorney Frank Jackson, a former professional football player.
Worse Than Death details how Mr. Belachheb came to the United States and
Texas, how he felt victimized by the world, what precipitated the slayings
and their place alongside mass murders by Charles Whitman, who in 1966
killed 15 people on the University of Texas at Austin campus, and George
Hennard, who killed 23 in a Killeen restaurant in 1991. But perhaps the
most startling revelation is that Mr. Belachheb, who remains in an
Amarillo prison, is eligible for parole on June 29, 2004, the 20th
anniversary of the slayings. According to his prison "datasheet," however,
his projected release date is 99 99 9999.
According to the author, that's computer code for "never."
[Freelance writer Dan R. Barber lives in Forney.]
Worse Than Death: The Dallas Nightclub Murders and the Texas Multiple
Murder Law----Gary M. Lavergne (University of North Texas Press, $26.95)
(source: Dallas Morning News)
