Sept. 29
TEXAS:
Widow's torture detailed at trial
She was beaten unconscious, abducted from her home and set ablaze in an
Atascosa County cemetery, and as flames began consuming her, 81-year-old
Elizabeth Tate started screaming, a prosecutor said Tuesday in his opening
statement in the capital murder trial of Paul Michael Hernandez.
Assistant District Attorney David Lunan described the gruesome scene to
jurors in the 1st day of testimony in the trial that prosecutors hope will
culminate with a conviction for the 2nd of 3 defendants charged with
Tate's Dec. 7, 2001, fiery death.
"They pulled her out of the trunk of her car, but first they poked her to
see if she was still alive. Then they doused her with gasoline and lit it
with a match," Lunan told jurors.
As she screamed, Hernandez and one his accomplices beat Tate with a stick,
Lunan added.
The graphic description was part of the opening statement that also
revealed for the first time how 3 suspects allegedly plotted to steal the
widow's late-model Lincoln Town Car.
However, jurors heard a different story from lead defense attorney Karen
Amos, who, with fellow attorney Suzanne Kramer, is representing the
20-year-old defendant. Amos told jurors they would hear evidence that
Hernandez, who was 17 at the time, had no idea that Tate was in her South
Bexar County home when he and 2 other young men knocked on the door around
dawn that day.
"Paul Michael Hernandez had been good friends with Angel Vasquez," she
said, referring to one of the accomplices.
"On Dec. 7, 2001, Paul went to visit Angel and that was the 1st time he
met Richard Alderete, and on that day there was a horrible crime that
ended the life of a fine, elderly lady named Elizabeth Tate," she added.
Amos went on to tell jurors the plot to steal Tate's car originally was
hatched just a few days earlier by Vasquez, Alderete and a 4th man, who
told the pair the car would fetch $10,000 to $15,000.
"Paul Michael Hernandez agreed to go and be a lookout," Amos said. "He was
told no one would be there. There were no weapons. Paul Michael Hernandez
started out that day to be a lookout for the theft of a car."
Vasquez, now 21, pleaded guilty to capital murder on Feb. 6 and was
sentenced to life in prison following a plea agreement in which
prosecutors agreed to waive the death penalty. The earliest that Vasquez
would be eligible for parole is in 40 years.
Alderete, now 20, is awaiting trial. He remains in the Bexar County Jail
in lieu of posting $1 million bond.
The trial, before 186th District Judge Tessa Herr, resumes today. If
convicted, Hernandez faces a possible death penalty.
After opening statements, prosecutors put on a dozen witnesses who
testified Tate's still smoldering body was discovered in a field of
mesquite trees and cactus at the Leal Cemetery about five miles south of
Pleasanton.
At one point, as photographs of the crime scene were shown on a large
projection screen, the defendant began sniffling and crying and slumped
forward over the defense table.
(source: San Antonio Express-News)
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Ex-Prosecutor Says Graves' Defense Told About Evidence---Executed Prison
Guard Testified He Acted Alone In 6-Person Murder
In Glaveston, defense attorneys did not receive a condemned inmate's
statement exonerating his fellow defendant, they testified Tuesday during
a hearing ordered by a federal appeals court.
Testimony by former prison guard Robert Earl Carter, who was executed in
2000 for murdering his 4-year-old son and five others, was the only
evidence placing Anthony Charles Graves at the crime scene. Graves,
convicted of capital murder in 1994 for killing the 6 people in Burleson
County, has been on death row for 9 years.
Lydia Clay-Jackson and Calvin Garvie, Graves' attorneys, testified they
never were informed that Carter had told prosecutors that he alone
committed the murders of the Somerville family members. His statement
exonerating his fellow defendant came amid hours of questioning the night
before he took the witness stand and implicated Graves in the crime.
However, lawyers for the state countered that Carter told authorities
during the same night of questioning that his wife and Graves had taken
part in the slayings.
A former district attorney testified that nine years after a capital
murder conviction he "pieced together" a memory of turning over crucial
evidence to the defense attorneys who say it was kept from them during the
trial. Charles Sebesta testified during a hearing to determine whether
Graves deserves a new trial.
The hearing was ordered by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, partly
in response to efforts by student participants in the Texas Innocence
Network based at the University of Houston Law Center.
The victims, relatives of Carter's girlfriend, were stabbed and shot to
death in 1992. They included 4 children between 4 and 9 years old. Their
home was set on fire to conceal the crime.
Sebesta, the former Burleson County district attorney, acknowledged
Tuesday in the hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Froeschner that
he previously could not recall whether he told Graves' lawyers about
Carter's statement.
He said in the Houston Chronicle's Wednesday editions that, after reading
trial transcripts, he was able last year to "piece together" a
recollection of bumping into Garvie during the trial and telling him about
Carter's statement.
Froeschener was to hear closing arguments on Wednesday.
(source: The Associated Press)
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Defense told about evidence, ex-DA says----Graves' lawyers testify they
didn't know co-defendant said he acted alone
A former district attorney testified Tuesday that 9 years after a capital
murder conviction he "pieced together" a memory of turning over crucial
evidence to defense attorneys who say it was kept from them during the
trial.
Charles Sebesta testified during a hearing to determine whether Anthony
Graves, who has been on death row for 9 years, deserves a new trial.
Graves' attorneys, Lydia Clay-Jackson and Calvin Garvie, testified they
never were informed that admitted killer Robert Carter had told
prosecutors that he alone committed the murders of 6 members of a
Somerville family. His statement exonerating his fellow defendant came
amid hours of questioning the night before he took the witness stand and
implicated Graves in the crime.
But lawyers for the state countered that during the same night of
questioning, Carter told authorities his wife and Graves had taken part in
the slayings.
Carter's testimony was the only evidence placing Graves at the crime
scene.
Graves and Carter were condemned to death for the 1992 stabbing and
shooting murders of 6 members of a Somerville family, including 4 children
between 4 and 9 years old. The home was set on fire to conceal the crime.
The victims were the family of Carter's girlfriend.
In his last statement before his May 31, 2000, execution, Carter insisted
Graves was innocent.
In Tuesday's hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Froeschner,
Sebesta, the former Burleson County district attorney, acknowledged that
he previously could not recall whether he told Graves' lawyers about
Carter's statement.
He said that last year, after reading trial transcripts, he was able to
"piece together" a recollection of bumping into Garvie during the trial
and telling him about Carter's statement.
The Galveston hearing was ordered by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of
Appeals, partly in response to efforts by student participants in the
Texas Innocence Network based at the University of Houston Law Center.
Froeschener will hear closing statements today.
(source: Houston Chronicle)
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Death penalty not sought for man accused of immigrant deaths
A member of an alleged human smuggling gang accused in the death of 19
undocumented immigrants will not face the death penalty.
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft filed notice Wednesday that he will
not seek the execution of 24-year-old Fredy Giovanni Garcia Tobar, of
Guatemala, the Houston Chronicle reported in its online edition Wednesday.
Of the other 13 people indicted in connection with what has been called
the nation's deadliest smuggling attempt, Ashcroft is seeking the death
penalty in only one case, truck driver Tyrone Williams. He is the 1st
accused smuggler in the United States to face execution.
Authorities say Garcia took Williams to a hotel, where the truck driver
accepted $7,500 in cash before at least 74 immigrants were loaded into his
trailer. Police discovered the abandoned trailer in May 2003 at a truck
stop near Victoria. Nineteen immigrants died of dehydration, hyperthermia
and suffocation.
Garcia's attorney, Nemecio Lopez, has said that his client lacks the
mental capacity to understand trial proceedings, and a psychiatric
examination has been ordered for Garcia.
If he is ruled competent to stand trial, Garcia will be tried Nov. 29 with
3 others. Williams' trial is scheduled for Jan. 5.
4 others have pleaded guilty, and 4 are awaiting trial in Mexico on
immigrant smuggling charges. Another is awaiting a trial date.
(source: Associated Press)
