April 15 TEXAS: State seeks death penalty in capital murder case An Angelina County state prosecutor said Tuesday that the state is seeking the death penalty for a Lufkin man accused of shooting and killing his pregnant girlfriend at the couple's home more than a year ago. Art Bauereiss, an assistant prosecutor in the Angelina County District Attorney's Office who is handling the case, did not comment further on the state's decision. Darrel D'juan Ivey, 21, who is being held in Angelina County Jail, is expected to be tried for capital murder July 7, which is also his birthday. He is accused of shooting Claudia Rodriguez, 20, in the head Feb. 13, 2007, resulting in her and her unborn child's death. She was 6 months pregnant. Ivey's defense attorney, Charles Meyers of Lufkin, was not immediately available for comment Tuesday. According to police, Ivey called 911 and requested emergency help after he said Rodriguez, his live-in girlfriend, had shot herself in an apparent suicide attempt. The 2 had been living together in a house off Lakeview near Kurth Drive. When officers arrived they found Rodriguez lying on the living room floor with a gunshot wound above her left eye. A 9mm pistol was recovered near her body, and police determined Ivey to be the shooter, LPD spokesman Lt. David Young said in a previous interview. Police arrested Ivey and later charged him with 2 counts of capital murder after Rodriguez and her unborn child died at a local hospital. Under Texas law, capital murder applies to the intentional killing of two or more people, killing a child under the age of 5 and killing someone while committing another specified felony offense. Police have also charged Ivey with possession of ecstasy and cocaine, which were allegedly found inside the home during the investigation. At the time, Ivey was attending classes at a state prison guard training academy in Woodville. He had enrolled in the program 13 days prior to the shooting incident. He is being held in jail on a $500,000 bond. Texas is 1 of 38 states to administer a form of the death penalty to inmates convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Last year the highest court of criminal appeals in Texas placed an indefinite halt on death row executions until the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether a form of lethal injection is constituted cruel and unusual punishment barred under the Eighth Amendment. The ruling came Oct. 2 after the court stayed the lethal injection of Heliberto Chi, a 28-year-old Honduran man who was scheduled to be put to death that week, according to a report by The New York Times. Chi was convicted of killing the manager of a men's story in Arlington in 2001. The last person Texas put to death was Michael Wayne Richards on Sept. 25. Richards was convicted in 1986 of sexually assaulting, shooting, killing and robbing a 53-year-old woman in Hockley. Angelina County currently has 2 offenders on death row: David Lee Lewis, 42, and Harvey Earvin, 50. (source: Lufkin Daily News) ****************** Hearing held for couple facing death penalty A man and woman facing the death penalty in connection with the beating death of a 2-year-old last September appeared Monday for pretrial hearings in a Bowie County courtroom. Neil Patrick Dewitts lawyer, Jeff Harrelson, will be assisted by Texarkana attorney Sean Rommel. In cases in which the state is seeking the death penalty, at least 2 lawyers must make up the defense team. Finding attorneys certified and willing to do so has been an issue in the case. Latoya Smiths attorney, Craig Henry, is in Florida and did not appear at her hearing. (source: Texarkana Gazette) ********************* Final defendant in deadly Victoria smuggling faces life One after one they crowded into the back of a trailer, their biggest fear detection hundreds or thousands of dollars wasted in a vain attempt to slip into the United States. Comfort was never part of the bargain, but the journey north on a sweltering spring day in May 2003 wasn't supposed to go like this, with ferocious heat and no air to breathe or water to drink. When truck driver Tyrone Williams finally pulled his rig over at a Victoria truck stop, 19 of the estimated 75 occupants were dead. Prosecutors called it a "rolling chamber of death" and have spent the past five years holding everyone in the human smuggling operation accountable. The final postscript was written Monday when Octavio Torres Ortega, 42, pleaded guilty to one conspiracy count. A sentence will be imposed in September. He could get life in prison. Next month marks the fifth anniversary of the worst smuggling disaster in U.S. history. "The 19 people that died should be remembered, and all this signifies is, hopefully, that justice has taken one more step toward addressing this horrible tragedy," lead prosecutor Daniel Rodriguez said after Monday's hearing. Torres, who is named in all but 2 charges of a 60-count indictment, admitted a role in illegal crossings from Mexico into the United States and in arranging transportation to a drop house in Harlingen. He fled to Mexico after the incident and was apprehended at his home in San Luis Potosi after U.S. authorities obtained a provisional arrest warrant. Defense lawyer Steven J. Rozan said he will seek to persuade U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore to minimize Torres' time behind bars because he was not a leader in the smuggling scheme. "This is a complex case that has gone through several trials, and I am very keenly and poignantly aware of some inconsistent testimony between various material witnesses," he said. "His role assessment will control, to a great degree, the actual amount of time he will get." In all, 14 people were charged. Williams was target No. 1, prosecutors said, because he could have prevented the loss of life. In an unprecedented move, federal prosecutors sought the death penalty for him. After one mistrial, a jury decided on a life sentence. Cries for help unanswered The dead, who succumbed to heat exhaustion, ranged in age from 5 to 91. The truck contained immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. All were headed for Houston on U.S. 77 on a day when the high temperature reached 90 degrees, close to a record high for the date. The fatal trip started at a safe house in Harlingen. The passengers went there after making their way across the border from Mexico individually, said Eduardo Ibarrola, Mexico's consul general in Houston. Then they were loaded onto the truck trailer, which was equipped with refrigeration equipment that was not working or not turned on. A few hours later, as the heat began to take a toll, the human cargo desperately tried to get help. They stripped off their clothes and tore at the insulation lining the locked trailer. They managed to punch a small hole in the rear and tried to signal passing motorists with a bandana. One driver called Kingsville police, but the call was not taken seriously. One of those trapped used a cell phone to call 911 and beg for help. But the dispatcher apparently could not make sense of the call. Williams drove on, ignoring the banging and shouting coming from the rear, telling a female companion to "shut the (expletive) up" when she begged him to stop. Finally, at about 2 a.m., he stopped in Victoria, opened the trailer and was stunned by what he saw. He quickly unhitched the trailer and drove on to Houston, leaving behind a tableau of misery that shocked authorities when they arrived at the truck stop. 'Unprecedented' Smuggling cases are all too routine for federal prosecutors along the southern border. But this was different, not only for the sheer number of dead but because of the indifference they said was shown by the driver paid to bring them to Houston. "This is by all counts a smuggling tragedy of unprecedented proportions," said Mike Shelby, then local U.S. attorney. "We're going to prosecute the entire organization." Though Shelby died before prosecutions were completed, all those believed to be involved in the operation were charged. One was acquitted, and charges were dropped against another. Two defendants were released after time served. 2 are awaiting punishment and are expected to be sent to prison. The others were sent to prison. The leader of the operation, Karla Patricia Chavez Joya, received a sentence of 17 years and 5 months. She had taken over the smuggling ring when her husband was imprisoned. "If I could give my life to save the lives of those people, I would do it," she said at her sentencing. "I ask for forgiveness from the families of those people." Most of the victims were returned to their native land for burial. Father Miguel Solorzano, now pastor of the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in north Houston, recalled helping with services for some of them before their bodies were flown to Mexico. Solorzano does not advocate crossing the border illegally but said a legal method of entry is needed for guest workers. "I wish there was immigration reform so people wouldn't have to pay for smugglers, and those who want to work in U.S. could get a temporary work visa," the priest said, "and cross with dignity as a human being and not in this humiliating and dangerous way to be smuggled in a truck and die. It is terrible. Even children died." THE CONSPIRATORS Tyrone Mapletoft Williams Jr.: The truck driver was convicted of ignoring the plight of an estimated 100 illegal immigrants stuffed into a sealed trailer he towed; found guilty on 58 smuggling counts, 20 of which carried a possible death sentence; was the only one of 14 defendants to face the death penalty in the botched smuggling scheme that left 19 people dead. Karla Patricia Chavez Joya: Leader of the smuggling operation; pleaded guilty to conspiracy and received 17 years and five months in prison; prosecutors appealed and are seeking a life sentence; she testified as a defense witness against 3 other smugglers but refused to testify against Williams for fear it would jeopardize her appeal. Abelardo Flores Jr.: Chavez Joya lieutenant who gave Williams $7,500 cash; pleaded guilty and testified against Williams in hopes of a lighter sentence; sentencing set for September. Fredy Giovanni Garcia Tobar: Convicted of conspiracy for taking Williams to meet the smugglers; found guilty of 39 counts; sentenced to 15 years in prison. Victor Sanchez Rodriguez: A leader of the group of smugglers associated with Chavez Joya; convicted of conspiracy among 18 counts; sentenced to 23 years, 4 months in prison. Emma Sapata Rodriguez: Wife of convicted accomplice Victor Sanchez Rodriguez; convicted of 15 counts including conspiracy; sentenced to 15 years in prison. Victor Jesus Rodriguez: Son of accused ringleader; convicted of bringing illegal immigrants to a safe house near Brownsville; sentenced to 20 years, 7 months in prison. Octavio Torres Ortega: Accused of leading a smaller group of smugglers working with Chavez Joya; allowed to remain in Mexico because he claimed Mexican citizenship; has pleaded guilty to conspiracy; awaiting sentencing. Rosa Maria Serratac: Convicted of providing a haven for smuggled immigrants in a San Benito house; serving a prison sentence of 12 years, 7 months. Norma Gonzlez Sanchez: Houston restaurant owner who arranged for Chavez Joya's organization to transport two illegal immigrants; pleaded guilty to conspiracy and sentenced to time served. Claudia Araceli Carrizales Gonzalez: Acquitted; was accused of running a sham restaurant used as a safe house and of being the "right arm" of Chavez Joya. Fatima Holloway: Accompanied Williams on the journey that ended in 19 deaths; testified against Williams, saying she yelled at him to let the immigrants out; pleaded guilty to conspiracy; released after only 3 days served because of the assistance and testimony she gave prosecutors. Juan Carlos Don Juan Gaytn: Pleaded guilty to harboring and transporting charges for assisting in a scheme to hold for ransom the child of a woman who survived the trailer ride; he was sentenced and released after serving 14 months. Erica Cardenas: Charges dropped; accused of assisting her husband, Juan Carlos Don Juan Gaytn, in the ransom scheme. (source: Houston Chronicle) **************** State seeks death penalty in capital murder case set for July An Angelina County state prosecutor said Tuesday that the state is seeking the death penalty for a Lufkin man accused of shooting and killing his pregnant girlfriend at the couple's home more than a year ago. Art Bauereiss, an assistant prosecutor in the Angelina County District Attorney's Office who is handling the case, did not comment further on the state's decision. Darrel D'juan Ivey, 21, who is being held in Angelina County Jail, is expected to be tried for capital murder July 7, which is also his birthday. He is accused of shooting Claudia Rodriguez, 20, in the head Feb. 13, 2007, resulting in her and her unborn child's death. She was 6 months pregnant. Ivey's defense attorney, Charles Meyers of Lufkin, was not immediately available for comment Tuesday. According to police, Ivey called 911 and requested emergency help after he said Rodriguez, his live-in girlfriend, had shot herself in an apparent suicide attempt. The 2 had been living together in a house off Lakeview near Kurth Drive. When officers arrived they found Rodriguez lying on the living room floor with a gunshot wound above her left eye. A 9mm pistol was recovered near her body, and police determined Ivey to be the shooter, LPD spokesman Lt. David Young said in a previous interview. Police arrested Ivey and later charged him with 2 counts of capital murder after Rodriguez and her unborn child died at a local hospital. Under Texas law, capital murder applies to the intentional killing of two or more people, killing a child under the age of 5 and killing someone while committing another specified felony offense. Police have also charged Ivey with possession of ecstasy and cocaine, which were allegedly found inside the home during the investigation. At the time, Ivey was attending classes at a state prison guard training academy in Woodville. He had enrolled in the program 13 days prior to the shooting incident. He is being held in jail on a $500,000 bond. (source: Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS
Rick Halperin Tue, 15 Apr 2008 22:50:24 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Rick Halperin