[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., FLA., OHIO, ARIZ., USA
Sept. 9 TEXAS: Forensic testing backlog at issue in RGV courts Gabriel Keith Escalante has been incarcerated in Hidalgo County for 18 months. His chances of making the $1.25 million bond on charges of capital murder of multiple persons are slim to none. And as he sits behind bars, a serious question remains unanswered. Will the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office seek the death penalty against the 40-year-old Edinburg man on accusations that he, along with his girlfriend, 41-year-old Irene Navejar, beat 53-year-old Alejandro Salinas Sr. to death and suffocated the man’s mother, 73-year-old Oliva Salinas, on April 23, 2018. The answer depends on what the analysts at the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Weslaco Crime Lab find when those officials test forensic evidence in the case. As of Aug. 21, the crime lab hadn’t even started. At a court hearing in Escalante’s case last Thursday, Hidalgo County Assistant District Attorney Andrew Almaguer could only tell Judge Linda Reyna Yáñez that the DPS crime lab told him that officials there would begin analysis on several items. That’s a problem for Escalante’s defense attorney, O. Rene Flores. “There currently exists an epidemic of delay with forensic analyses of evidence at the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Lab — the crime lab of choice for prosecutions in Hidalgo County, Texas,” he said in a motion filed on Aug. 21, the day DPS notified the state testing would begin on several pieces of evidence in the case. “Several announcements have been made by the State in the instant case, effectively placing the accused and this Court on notice that there is a chronic delay in the forensic analysis of evidence across the board in criminal cases in Hidalgo County.” The state, through Almaguer, didn’t disagree. Neither did the judge, Yáñez. “This is an issue for many cases,” she said, while listening to Flores’ argument. But Flores suggested a solution: send the samples to a private lab since forensic testing is “backlogged” at the DPS crime lab in Weslaco. Yáñez is considering the motion, but agreed to give Almaguer until Sept. 16 to provide her with a status of where DPS is at with the forensic analysis. Escalante wasn’t the only defendant at the Hidalgo County Courthouse this week where delays in evidence testing at the crime lab impacted their cases. Take 23-year-old Alamo resident Alex Arevalo, who has admitted to shooting and killing 41-year-old McAllen resident Nicolas Anthony Bazan on June 19, 2017. Court records indicate he agreed to a plea agreement on March 27 to a charge of murder, escaping a capital murder charge. The state in this case said it would recommend a 45-year prison sentence, court records indicate. He was scheduled to receive his sentence Wednesday morning. But he didn’t. Flores also represents Arevalo and said that case has fallen victim to the “crime lab epidemic.” Arevalo’s sentencing was rescheduled until Nov. 6. The spector of the DPS crime lab backup also raised its head on Thursday afternoon during a hearing for 25-year-old Mission resident Guadalupe Garcia Vela, who is accused of gunning down Yvette Garza and Natalie Hernandez on Dec. 20, 2015 during a botched drug deal. Vela has been in jail since January 2016. Nereyda Morales-Martinez and Regina “Regi” Richardson, Vela’s attorneys, said during a pre-trial hearing that DPS began testing cannisters found at the crime scene in early August. The crime happened more than three years ago. Vela’s jury trial, which was scheduled for late September, was canceled in part to wait for the forensic analysis of the cannisters. There was also a delay due to additional ballistic testing that may be conducted in the case due to a request made by the defense on Thursday to test the service weapon of a police officer who may have had a relationship with one of the victims. PROCEDURAL DISMISSAL In the early morning hours of April 11, 2018, after 38-year-old Brownsville resident Robert Galvan finished cutting hair at the Mr. Flawless barbershop and having some beers at a friend’s house, he took a ride that sent him right back to state prison. The Brownsville Police Department arrested Galvan, who was on probation for a violent assault against his former girlfriend, and charged him with murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for killing 54-year-old Horacio Eguia and seriously injuring 43-year-old Brian Scott during an argument over gas money in the 200 block of East 10th Street. From the moment police began interrogating Galvan, the man maintained that he acted in self defense when he used a pair of scissors from his barber kit to slash Eguia and Scott, who he claimed were the agressors. Galvan told police that the men offered to give him a ride to a residence and once at the location, demanded gas money. Galvan claims they jumped him, but Scott, who survived, told investigators t
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., FLA., OHIO, ARIZ., USA
Sept. 27 TEXAS: Letters to death row: Ines Aubert reveals why she writes to prisoners like Robert Pruett His story inspired a hit documentary and won him a raft of supporters. But long before Life and Death Row made him famous, convicted murderer Robert Pruett already had an anti-death penalty campaigner on his side - Ines Aubert. The Swiss mother-of-3, who began writing to the 35-year-old more than 12 years ago, said no one deserved the death penalty, and everyone needed human contact. The pair have met several times and Mrs Aubert is an avid anti-death penalty campaigner who has also written to 3 other inmates and even met their victims. Mrs Aubert, who has met Pruett several times, became his pen pal after becoming involved with Swiss organisation Lifespark which arranges pen pal-ships to US inmates on death row. The special needs teacher told news.com.au that she became involved in the organisation not only because she is against the death penalty but because she felt she wanted to give back to those who were so much worse off than herself. The 53-year-old also said she wanted a challenge when she began writing to Pruett and her focus wasn't just on the offenders, but in the best case and if possible, also meeting their victims and helping them heal. "Robert is very dear to me," she said. "His story is not unique as far as his bad childhood goes. There are so many who seem to never have had a real chance to succeed in life. Robert could easily have gone unnoticed by the world like most death row prisoners do. They live and die without anyone noticing it." Pruett was originally sentenced to life in prison, or 99 years, when he was just 15 years old, over the murder of neighbour Ray Yarborough, who was killed by his father. The then teenager was said to be present at the killing, but his father testified that he had no part in the killing, The Express reported. The gurney where death row prisoners are strapped down for lethal injection in Hunstville, Texas. Source: Supplied But it was the killing of prison guard Daniel Nagle in 1999 - attributed to Robert - that saw him given the death penalty, which was set for May last year. University student Kelly Hickman tried to get him a stay of execution as part of her volunteering work at the University of Houston's death row clinic, and it was her story which formed the basis of the BBC documentary. His supporters claim there is a lack of evidence. Mrs Aubert doesn't believe he deserves to die, and not only maintains a website for him, but passes on letters and emails, and is his window to the world. She said she's always had a strong interest in humanity, having volunteered with organisations for disabled people, and other causes since her teenage years. It was this interest which saw her get involved in Lifespark. "I feel very grateful for everything that worked out well in my life and for the gifts I was given," she said. "I grew up in a safe country and in a safe environment and family. I didn't meet most of the difficult situations our pen pals on death row tell us about," she said, adding she felt a lot of solidarity with those who weren???t so lucky. But it hasn'tt always been rosy with her pen pal. "When I got to know him, Robert had some racial ideologies that I actually found disgusting," she said. "So, I considered it a challenge to deal with a young man with opinions so different from mine. "Robert was 22 years old when I got to know him. He had just arrived on death row and so I could watch him grow into the man he is today. We had a lot of ups and downs, but we never stopped writing, very often and very regularly." She also visits his father who is also in prison, and sometimes his mother and brother Steven, who has a life sentence like his father, too. Mrs Aubert remains committed to the Lifespark project which she said was so important. "Our pen pals confirm every day how precious the pen pal-ships are to them," she said. "The analogy "window to the world" is often used. Through our letters we bring the world into their cells. Also, by recognising them as human beings and as worthy to be considered a friend we give them back some humanity." And she also realises if Pruett was in the real world, the pair wouldn't be friends and would have a very different relationship. "People can feel very close only through exchanging letters but I'm very aware that the relationship is not 'street-proof' meaning it will never have to pass the test in the free world," she said. "Would the inmates really choose us as their friends if they had a choice? I doubt it." She said forgiveness remains important and she has even met Pruett's victims, who while they don't agree with her, they remained constructive. "In the case of another pen pal of mine - he died of cancer 4 years ago - I met a woman who he had kidnapped and raped when she was a girl. She was h
