[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA., OHIO
Oct. 10 TEXAS: With a wide variety of headlines dominating both global and domestic news, it is easy to overlook that today is World Day to Abolish the Death Penalty. It is clear that since the early 1980s, the majority of the world's nations have become better educated about the inherent flaws of every death penalty system in the world, and have committed themselves to the defense, protection and advocacy of human rights and human dignity. Sadly, the US is not one of these nations. We continue to embrace an archaic, barbaric, racist and mistake-prone system in which we justify hanging, gassing, electrocuting, shooting and chemically poisoning some convicted felons in the perverted notion of "justice". Texas itself leads the entire free world in executions since we resumed the practice in 1982. As we go to the polls next year, we would do well to hold our politicians accountable to all human rights issues, and ideally support someone who at the very least is willing to help make America a death penalty-free nation. Rick Halperin, Amnesty International (source: Dallas Morning News) *** Journalist talks about reconciling faith and career of covering executions Michael Graczyk, a parishioner at a Catholic church in Montgomery County, Texas, has personally witnessed more than 400 executions of Texas inmates in death penalty cases in his career as a journalist. An Associated Press reporter since 1983, Graczyk retired last year and still freelances for AP, continuing to witness executions, including 9 scheduled through the end of this year. "When you walk into the death chamber, you check your emotions at the door. I usually check my emotions at the prison gate," he said. "I've gotten to know many of the inmates through interviews. I also have sentiments for the families of the victims, who have to wait 10 or 20 years for the punishment to be carried out." Since Catholic teaching is pro-life, from conception to natural death, Graczyk reconciles the two parts of himself with a Scripture passage. "I look to the biblical passage 'render unto Caesar what is Caesar's.' Since this is the government doing these, I can remain faithful to the teachings of the church," Graczyk told the Texas Catholic Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. "The Catholic Church many times has been alone in its protection of life from conception to natural death. Liberals opposed to capital punishment are often times in favor of abortion. Conservatives are against abortion, but then favor the death penalty," he said. Executions used to be front-page news and network TV news regularly covered them, but now they are relegated to inside pages or a few seconds of a sound bite. "Back in the 1980s, it used to be a really big deal and significant media event. Executions should never be considered routine, but there does seem to be a public acceptance of it," he said. Hundreds of protesters would show up, many times for midnight candlelight vigils that included both pro-death penalty and anti-penalty protesters. "Some of those were Sam Houston University students who came from down the road in Huntsville. Now maybe there is a core group of protesters ranging from 1 to 2 dozen who show up in the heat, rain or cold," he said. But studies have not been able to conclude whether capital punishment is a deterrent for others not to commit crime. "I've interviewed hundreds of inmates and none of them said that capital punishment would have prevented them from crime," he said. 2 of the 9 scheduled for execution by the end of the year are part of the group of prisoners who escaped in 2000 and were convicted of fatally shooting a 31-year-old police officer on Christmas Eve in Irving. One of the toughest cases Graczyk remembers covering is the dragging death of an African American man, James Byrd Jr., killed 21 years ago in a hate crime on a secluded road outside Jasper. 2 white men were executed in the case, John William King, executed this past spring, and Lawrence Russell Brewer was put to death in 2011. A 3rd participant, Shawn Allen Berry, was sentenced to life in prison. "Emotionally, the Jasper cases were real tough. We went to Jasper, saw the 3 guys arrested, went to the asphalt road where it happened and there was still blood," he said. He also recalled covering the execution of the 1st woman on death row since the Civil War. Karla Faye Tucker was given a lethal injection in 1998 for killing 2 people with a pickax during a burglary. But Graczyk said he doesn't see any strong enough movement to stop executions in Texas. "It remains a hot topic, but there is no appetite in the Texas Legislature to stop it. The U.S. Supreme Court may shut it down again like they did in the 1960s until executions were resumed a decade later," he said. In 1964, judicial challenges to capital punishment resulted in a de facto
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA., MO., OKLA., NEV., USA
January 30 TEXASimpending execution 30 years after killing a Houston police officer, Robert Jennings is set for executionJennings is expected to be put to death on Wednesday for the 1988 murder of Elston Howard. His sentence has been complicated by constantly evolving death penalty law — changes his lawyers are citing in a last-ditch attempt to stay his execution. Robert Jennings has been on Texas’ death row for nearly 30 years. On Wednesday, the 61-year-old is set to die in the nation’s 1st execution of 2019. Jennings was sentenced to death in the 1988 murder of Houston police officer Elston Howard. According to court records, Jennings walked into an adult book store to rob it, and Howard was there arresting the store clerk for a municipal violation. The clerk testified that Howard had no time to even reach for his gun before Jennings shot him multiple times, killing him. The lengthy stretch of time between Jennings' 1989 sentencing and his scheduled execution shines a light on the complications that can arise during the appeals process in the face of constantly evolving death penalty law. In their current attempt to halt Jennings' execution, his lawyers are zeroing in on changes in how death penalty juries weigh "mitigating evidence"— factors that can lessen the severity of the punishment that are largely based on the defendant's background, like an abusive childhood or intellectual disability. An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court points out that, at the time of Jennings' trial, Texas juries were not told they could opt for a sentence of life in prison rather than death if they believed the defendant’s background or character warranted mercy — a key aspect of death penalty trials now. Rather, the so-called "special issue" questions Texas juries were required to answer after finding someone guilty of capital murder asked them to determine whether the murder was deliberate or provoked — and whether the defendant was a potential future danger. At the punishment portion of Jennings 1989 murder trial, where the jury was supposed to answer those questions, the prosecution brought up Jennings’ long rap sheet — he had been to prison multiple times for aggravated robbery, and had been released on parole only 2 months before Howard’s murder, according to court records. In his confession to police after his arrest, he also confessed to several other robberies in the 2-month span. Meanwhile, Jennings’ lawyers only brought forth a Harris County jail chaplain, who said Jennings wasn’t “incorrigible,” in reference to potential danger posed. The jury also heard Jennings’ recorded confession, where he admitted he had been drinking and using drugs and expressed remorse for the shooting. But days before the trial, the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in an unrelated case that a death penalty jury must be specifically directed to determine whether mitigating evidence warrants sparing the defendant from execution. In an attempt to address the ruling at the last minute, Jennings’ jurors were told after closing arguments to consider any mitigating evidence already introduced and, if they found it appropriate, to answer against the death penalty in one of the already-existing questions. The jury was unconvinced, and Jennings was sentenced to death. It wasn’t until more than a decade later that the Supreme Court again took up the issue and determined that telling a jury to weigh mitigating evidence by overwriting an existing special issue is not constitutional. Jennings’ lawyers have argued that the jury’s inability to properly weigh his drug use and how remorseful he was for Howard’s death warrants him a new trial with the new special issue questions, which now include a question on mitigating evidence. They’ve also said if the trial counsel had known to raise other mitigating evidence, including mental deficits and a troubling childhood, the jury would have reached a different conclusion. “It gets extremely complicated because the law evolves and then the question is: Do new decisions get applied retroactively?” Randy Schaffer, one of Jennings’ lawyers, told The Texas Tribune. But not every death sentence handed down before juries were instructed to consider mitigating factors was tossed after the Supreme Court ruling. Rather, the nation's highest court said it depended on the nature of the evidence presented at trial. So far, the courts have ultimately said Jennings’ remorse doesn’t make the cut — though he did get one execution date taken off the calendar as a Texas court took up the issue in 2016. Jennings’ lawyers have argued against the court decisions by pointing to dozens of other capital murder cases that got new sentencing trials after the Supreme Court rulings. Specifically, they point to the case of Arthur Williams, another man who was sentenced to death for the murder of a Houston police officer under the old punishment
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA., TENN., S.DAK., CALIF., USA
June 20 TEXASimpending execution Texas assures court it can carry out aging death row inmate's execution The Lone Star State is confident it can kill Danny Bible. Earlier this month, the aging Houston serial killer filed a last-minute lawsuit arguing that his veins are so bad and his health problems so severe that he can't be put to death - or it'll turn into a painfully botched procedure. But the state of Texas begged to differ, touting its long history of successful executions. "Texas is the most prolific death-penalty state in the nation," the state wrote in a Friday afternoon court filing. "Bible provides no example of a Texas execution, performed under the current protocol, gone horribly awry because of vein failure." Officials say that a Florida killer's screams of "murderers!" during his execution were not caused by the drugs used for the lethal injection. The 66-year-old 4-time killer, who is set for execution on June 27, pointed to bloody botched procedures in other states. In February, a lethal injection team in Alabama spent hours poking Doyle Hamm before calling off his execution. The year before that, Ohio found itself in a similar place with condemned killer Alva Campbell. But that hasn't happened here, the state pointed out in its response. "Texas is not Ohio or Alabama, and the court should give little consideration to isolated examples of problematic executions in other states when it has numerous uneventful Texas executions upon which to base its opinions," state attorneys wrote. "Bible has not managed to present even a single instance of defendants failing to successfully access a vein during an execution." The state raised a number of other points, alleging that the condemned killer should have raised the issue sooner and pointing out that prison medical staffers have managed to draw blood for medical testing over the past year. But Bible's lawyers fired back in a Monday court filing, calling out the state's "inflammatory rhetoric" they deemed "devoid of any viable argument." "Defendants' response is most notable for the things absent from it," attorneys Jeremy Schepers, Nadia Wood and Margaret Schmucker wrote, noting that the state doesn't dispute Bible's host of medical conditions ranging from edema to obesity to Parkinson's disease. The state also "attempts to obfuscate" the "real issue" as to whether its execution procedures represent a substantial risk of harm to a man in Bible's medical condition. That particular claim, defense lawyers argue, the state didn't really refute. This isn't the first time a Texas death row prisoner has fought his sentence by questioning the lethal injection process. But other recent cases focused on the possibility that the drugs themselves would cause suffering, a claim that could more generally apply to any death row prisoner. Bible's argument focuses more narrowly on the possibility that he, specifically, is unfit to execute. Instead, his lawyers have suggested alternative methods such as a firing squad or nitrogen gas in order to decrease the risk of suffering. Bible was initially sent to death row in 2003, more than 2 decades after the crime that landed him there. A former drifter, Bible's lengthy string of violence dates back to at least 1979. That May, a passerby found the bloodied, half-naked body of Inez Deaton along the slope of a Houston bayou. She'd been stabbed 11 times with an ice pick before her killer posed her corpse by the water. For nearly 2 decades, Deaton's slaying went unsolved - but Bible's violent streak continued. In the years that followed, Bible terrorized women in the Midwest, once setting his girlfriend's car on fire because he didn't like her haircut. After he returned to Texas and settled west of Fort Worth, he murdered his sister-in-law Tracy Powers and her infant son Justin. Then, he killed Powers' roommate, Pam Hudgins, and left her body hanging from a roadside fence. Following those killings, he fled to Montana, where he kidnapped a woman and raped an 11-year-old girl, according to court records. Eventually, he was caught and in 1984 he pleaded guilty to Hudgins' murder. He was sentenced to 25 years for the killing and 20 years for a Harris County robbery. He was released on parole 8 years later, under a since-repealed mandatory supervision law. While still on parole, he raped and molested multiple young relatives, including a 5-year-old. Then in 1998, he raped Tera Robinson in a Louisiana motel room before stuffing her into a duffel bag when he became enraged that he couldn't maintain an erection. The woman broke free and called for help. Bible was eventually caught in Florida, and freely admitted to his crimes under questioning. Weeks after he was sentenced, Bible narrowly escaped death during a head-on-collision on the way to death row. The officer behind the wheel of the prison transport vehicle, 40-year-old
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA., OHIO
Feb. 3 TEXASimpending execution He's Fighting to Save His Family's Killer. The Killer: His Own Son Bart Whitaker set to be executed Feb. 22 for killing his mom and brother, but dad isn't giving up on him "My wife and son were murdered by a masked gunman, and my other son and I were left for dead, but survived." Those are the words of Kent Whitaker on his website, detailing the horrific crime that tore his life apart in December 2003. But, he adds, things soon got worse: The son who'd survived, Thomas "Bart" Whitaker, was later arrested and convicted for planning the attack with 2 friends, and he now awaits a Feb. 22 execution on Texas' death row. The Washington Post documents the elder Whitaker's rage in the hours just after the shootings, which had taken place as the 4 family members arrived home from a dinner out. As he stewed in his hospital bed, recovering from the bullet that had come within inches of his heart, Whitaker first vowed to "inflict pain" on the shooter, then started thinking on his faith and how God wouldn't want him to go down a path of vengeance. And so he decided then to forgive, "no matter who was responsible" - a promise made before finding out that Bart, in his early 20s, had helped mastermind the attack. Even though Whitaker and his extended family pleaded with the DA not to pursue the death penalty, prosecutors painted Bart as a sociopath who wanted his parents' money; he was convicted of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder and sentenced to die. The case of the now 38-year-old, who's been on good behavior behind bars and is about to earn his master's degree, underscores how victims should be folded into the process of doling out justice, Whitaker says. "This isn't just a case of a dad who is ignoring the truth about his son," he says. "Believe me, I'm aware of what his choices have cost me." The Whitakers have filed a petition with Texas' parole and pardons board to commute Bart's sentence to life in prison. (source: newser.com) *** Man charged in deadly assault of son's mother headed to trial in Denton County The jury trial for Ricardo Alfonso Lara-Martinez begins Monday, more than three years after he was accused of murdering his young son's mother at a local business office. The trial, which begins at 9 a.m., will be in Judge Bruce McFarling's 362nd Judicial District Court. FBI agents returned Lara-Martinez to Denton in June after he had been in custody in Mexico since February 2016. He's specifically charged in the murder of his son's mother, Maria Isabel Romero Medina, who was found dead Dec. 13, 2014, at Sanchez Insurance and Tax Services, E. McKinney St. He remains in Denton County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail. Lara-Martinez's lawyer, Denton attorney Derek Adame, maintains the woman's death was an accident. "We're optimistic," he said. "Lara-Martinez's position is this was accidental, and we're hoping that's what the evidence will show. We don't believe he was guilty, and we don't believe the state will be able to prove that." Police said Medina died Dec. 12, 2014, as a result of a deliberate assault. She suffered numerous injuries, including a fractured skull. The cause of death included strangulation, according to Lara-Martinez's arrest affidavit. Lara-Martinez and Medina had been in a custody battle for the boy, Ricardo Alekzander Lara, who was 4 years old at the time of her death. Police said it was a point of contention between the parents. "The manner in which the victim was murdered is indicative of a direct reaction to a strong emotional response, frequently seen in and known to happen in child custody cases," the affidavit states. Lara-Martinez fled to Mexico with his son shortly after police found Medina's badly beaten body at her workplace. After an Amber Alert had been issued for the boy, a man came forward to Denton police and said he had driven Lara-Martinez and his son to Mexico, according to earlier reports. Investigators obtained an arrest warrant for a murder charge as the search for Lara-Martinez continued. In early 2015, a Denton County grand jury indicted Martinez on the charge. The following year, a Mexican judge granted Lara-Martinez's extradition to the country. Police found him with his son in Mexico in February 2016 and returned the now 7-year-old boy to Texas. Then, in June 2017, Denton police investigators took custody of Lara-Martinez at DFW International Airport. Police said when he returned, he admitted to killing the woman. Other trials rescheduled Several other high-profile cases that were originally slated for Monday trials have been rescheduled. The jury trial for Earl Leroy Thompson Jr., who was arrested in June in connection with a sexual assault and attempted sexual assaults near the University of North Texas campus, is now set for April 30 in Judge Brody Shanklin's 211th Judicial District Court.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA., OHIO
Oct. 5 TEXAS: Irving killer who shot his baby girl, 3-year-old son wins death row reprieve An Irving father sentenced to death for the revenge killing of his children after their mother left him has been granted a new punishment trial. Hector Rolando Medina, 38, shot 3-year-old Javier and 8-month-old Diana in the head and the neck after his girlfriend left him in March 2007. He then shot himself in the neck outside his Irving home. Medina was convicted of capital murder in 2008 and sent to death row, after defense attorney Donna Winfield didn't call a single witness or present closing arguments during the punishment phase of the trial. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld a lower court's ruling that Medina should be granted a new punishment trial because of his defense attorney's "deficient performance." The Dallas County district attorney's office will decide whether to again seek the death penalty against Medina. The automatic sentence for capital murder in Texas is life without the possibility of parole. "These cases are very expensive and very time-consuming," said First Assistant District Attorney Michael Snipes. "Those two factors have to be taken into consideration, not only in this case but in every case where a defendant is death penalty-eligible." The district attorney's office is seeking the death penalty against Antonio Cochran, who is accused of kidnapping and killing 18-year-old Zoe Hastings in 2015. Justice Michael Keasler wrote in a concurring opinion that granting Medina a new punishment trial gives the convicted child killer "a 2nd bite at the apple." Keasler expressed "profound disgust" at Winfield's handling of the punishment phase of the trial, saying that the attorney "intentionally torpedoed" the case. There was a six-week break after Medina was convicted before the punishment phase began. Winfield asked for more time to bring expert witnesses to the courthouse, but the judge denied the request. In response, Winfield refused to call any witnesses or rest her case during punishment. She was thrown in jail for being in contempt of court. During a hearing requesting a new trial after Medina was sentenced, Winfield said, "I wasn't going to put on a disjointed defense of Mr. Medina. ... That wasn't fair to him or to the jury." Justice Sharon Keller wrote in a dissenting opinion that Medina's defense attorney had "fully participated in the state's punishment case, including cross-examining witnesses." Prosecutors say Medina killed his children as revenge after his longtime girlfriend left him. Elia Martinez-Bermudez testified that Medina would hold her down and force her to have sex with him. He begged her to come back after she left him in January 2007. When she did, he threatened to kill her, the children and himself if she ever left him again. In March 2007, Medina borrowed a friend's gun and a box of bullets and then refused to let Martinez-Bermudez see her children when she asked. Later that day, he shot Javier and Diana and then himself. Diana "had a tombstone before she could talk," prosecutor Felicia Oliphant said during the trial. "Is there anything sadder than that?" (source: Dallas Morning News) *** Convicted murderer Randall Mays found competent to be executed A Henderson County man found guilty of capital murder in the shooting death of two East Texas sheriff deputies, has been found competent to be executed. Randall Mays was convicted of killing Henderson County Sheriff Deputy Tony Ogburn and Paul Habelt and seriously injuring Deputy Kevin Harris in May of 2007. The ruling of competency was made by visiting Judge Joe Clayton, of Tyler and a date has not been set for Mays' execution. Prior to the imminent execution scheduled for March 18, 2015, Mays filed a motion regarding competency to be executed. According to court documents, Mays was examined by several doctors. What the court ultimately determined was that Mays' mental illness does not deprive him of his understanding. The court's findings were detailed in documents filed in Henderson County: After consideration of all the credible evidence, the Court has concluded that Randall Mays has failed to meet his burden by a preponderance of the evidence, and the Court rules as follows: While Randall Mays does have some form of mental illness, it does not deprive him of the rational understanding of the connection between his crime and the punishment received. "Since Mr. Mays has been sitting on death row, he has not been diagnosed, treated or received prescribed medications for any mental illness or obsession that has any bearing on this inquiry," the court found. During Mays' trial, jurors heard more than a week of testimony. It took jurors just under three hours to hand down Randall Mays' death sentence for the murder of Ogburn and Habelt. Mays was sentenced by Judge Carter Terrance to the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA.
May 19 TEXAS: Court lifts reprieve for Nicaraguan man on Texas death row The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday lifted a reprieve it gave a Nicaraguan man a day before he was to be executed 2 years ago for killing a Houston high school teacher during a 1997 robbery. The state's highest criminal appeals court had halted the scheduled August 2015 lethal injection of Bernardo Tercero, 40, after his attorneys contended Harris County prosecutors unknowingly presented false testimony at his trial in 2000 for the death of Robert Berger, 38. Wednesday's ruling affirms the findings of Tercero's trial court that last year held a hearing on the claim and determined the testimony was proper. Berger was at a Houston dry cleaners in March 1997 with his 3-year-old daughter when Tercero came in to rob the store, records show. Berger was fatally shot and the store was robbed of about $400. Prosecutors said Tercero was in the U.S. illegally at the time. Tercero, now 40, argued the shooting was acciental. He testified Berger confronted him and tried to thwart the robbery, and the gun went off as they struggled. He was arrested in Hidalgo County near the Texas-Mexico border more than 2 years after the slaying. A 2nd man sought in the case never has been found. In another case, the appeals court Wednesday denied an appeal from Bartholomew Granger, condemned for the slaying of a 79-year-old woman during a 2012 shooting rampage outside the Jefferson County Courthouse. Attorneys for Granger, 46, raised 10 challenges to his 2013 conviction and death sentence. 5 issues foused on claims his trial attorneys were deficient, 4 raised questions about the constitutionaltiy of the death penalty in Texas and the last contended he was denied his right to an impartial jury. He was convicted of fatally shooting Minnie Ray Sebolt, a bystander walking outside the courthouse in downtown Beaumont. Granger admitted he opend fire on his daughter outside the courthouse after she testified against him a sexual assault case. His daughter and her mother were among 3 people wounded. In a 3rd case, the appeals court refused an appeal from Charles Raby, 47, who was sent to death row in 1994 for killing 72-year-old Edna Mae Franklin. The court said the appeal focusing on DNA testing was improperly filed and did not rule on the merits of the argument. In 2015, the court upheld a lower court finding that results of new DNA tests didn't cast doubt on Raby's conviction for Frankling's stabbing death. The appeals court also sent back to trial in Bastrop County the case of Rodney Reed to review claims that new evidence was improperly withheld and to show prosecutors presented false and misleading testimony at his trial, where he was convicted and sentenced to die for the 1996 rape and strangling of 19-year-old Stacy Stites. Her body was found off the side of a road about 35 miles southeast of Austin. Last month, the appeals court refused to allow additional DNA testing of evidence in the case, saying the request was meant to "to unreasonably delay the execution of his sentence or the administration of justice." (source: Associated Press) FLORIDA: Matthew Caylor granted new sentencing hearing Matthew Caylor, the man convicted of strangling a 13-year-old then hiding her body under the bed of a Panama City motel, has been granted a new sentencing hearing after the Supreme Court of Florida threw out his original death sentence. In a move that was expected, the Supreme Court of Florida has ruled that Matthew Caylor is eligible for a new penalty phase. Caylor killed Melinda Hinson, 13, in a Panama City Motel in July of 2008 after raping her. In an opinion released Thursday, Justices ruled 6-0 that because Caylor's death sentence in 2009 wasn't unanimous (it was 8-4) that he was entitled to a new penalty phase. Caylor, who is now 41, is the man who murdered Melinda Hinson, 13, at the Valu-Lodge Motel in Panama City on July 8, 2008. Caylor used a telephone cord in the motel room to strangle Hinson after he raped her. He hid her body underneath the bed in the motel room then took off. Hinson's body was discovered 2 days later. Caylor's case is just the latest death penalty case to get a new sentencing phase. Last year the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that all death sentences from juries must be unanimous and that a judge can't impose a death penalty without it. So all of the convicts on death row are filing appeals of their sentences if the jury recommendation for death wasn't unanimous. So far, no new sentencing hearings in any of the cases have occurred. They're scheduled to happen within the next few months. If the recommendation for death isn't unanimous, all of the killers will more than likely be sentenced to life in prison without parole. But that determination won't be made until the new sentencing phases take place. (source: WJHG news)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA., OHIO, KY.
April 19 TEXAS: Condemned inmate avoids execution with life sentence for Houston crime spree A North Carolina man who spent years on Texas' death row awaiting execution was sentenced Monday to 4 consecutive life sentences, a plea bargain that Harris County prosecutors hope will keep him behind bars for the rest of his life. Randolph Mansoor Greer, 43, was on death row until 2011, when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling that meant he and dozens of condemned inmates would get new sentencing hearings because of insufficient jury instructions. Those cases, called Penry retrials because of the Supreme Court case, have been winding their way through Houston's courts for years. Some have successfully been retried as death penalty cases, others have gotten plea bargains with elaborately structured pleas to ensure the former death row inmates are never free. Since Texas did not have a punishment of life in prison without parole when those crimes were committed, prosecutors and families of victims have worried that even a capital murder conviction in these cases might one day lead to parole. The decision to grant parole is made by prison officials with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice under the law at the time of the crime. On Monday, Greer was sentenced to 4 consecutive life sentences in a Texas prison after pleading guilty to capital murder and other crimes he committed during a 1991 spree in the Houston area, according to the Harris County District Attorneys Office. "26 years after committing a murderous crime spree, Mr. Greer has been resentenced to 4 consecutive life terms without parole," First Assistant Tom Berg said Tuesday. "Greer, now 43, has been incapacitated and will never again pose a threat to public safety." Prosecutors said his crime spree spanned 6 months. In separate incidents, he abducted and sexually assaulted 2 Houston area women who survived the attacks. He also robbed from a business, stole a car, and shot and killed Walter Chmiel, owner of the Alamo gun shop in Bellaire. Greer also committed a capital murder in North Carolina as well as sexual assaults, robberies and a home invasion. Prior to new sentencing, prosecutors consulted with survivors and the families of victims, Berg said. Defense attorneys Allen Tanner and Gerald Bourgue said it was a just result. "It was an agreement based on the fact that he was 18 at the time, and he's been a model inmate ever since then," Tanner said. "We think his prison record was helpful for him." Tanner also said mitigation experts combed through records and witnesses in North Carolina and Cleveland and were expected to testify about how Greer's troubled childhood led him to a life of crime. (source: Houston Chronicle) FLORIDA: Death penalty will be pursued against man accused of shooting Sanford mother, sonSuspect Allen Cashe faces 1st-degree murder charges The death penalty will be pursued against Allen Cashe, who is accused of killing a mother and her son and shooting 4 other people, was indicted Monday on 1st-degree premeditated murder charges, according to the Seminole County State Attorney's Office. Cashe was indicted Monday on 1st-degree premeditated murder charges in connection with the deaths of Latina Herring, 35, and her 8-year-old son, Branden Christian. Officials on Tuesday filed a notice of intent to pursue the death penalty in that case. Cashe was also indicted on 4 counts of attempted 1st-degree murder with a firearm in connection with the shootings of Latina Herring's father, 60-year-old Bertis Herring; Latina Herring's youngest child, 7-year-old Brenden Christian; and 2 bystanders, Rakeya Jackson, 18, and Lazaro Paredes, 43. Sanford police released body camera footage of Cashe and Herring had been arguing about a set of keys hours before the double fatal shooting on March 27. Police encountered the couple twice before the shooting, but no arrests were made. Cashe left Herring's home in Sanford after the 2nd police encounter, then returned around 6:20 a.m. with an AK-47, police said. Cashe is accused of opening fire on the family as they were sleeping. Herring was shot 7 times and killed in her bedroom, police said. Her 2 sons were sleeping on the couch when they were shot 3 times, the report said. Bertis Gerard Herring was shot 5 times in another bedroom. Cashe is accused of shooting Jackson and Paredes as he was fleeing the area. Assistant State Attorney Dan Faggard and the lead Sanford Police Department investigator presented information to the Grand Jury before the indictment was returned late Monday afternoon. Cashe also faces charges of burglary of a dwelling with assault or battery with a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and shooting into a dwelling. Aramis Ayala used direct verbiage from anti-death penalty group, emails showState attorney consulted few
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA., OHIO
Oct. 13 TEXAS: Texas death row inmate Danny Bible loses at US Supreme Court The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday refused an appeal from Texas death row inmate Danny Paul Bible, who was convicted of the 1979 icepick slaying of a woman who went to his house in Houston to use a telephone and was found later stabbed 11 times, raped and dumped on the bank of a bayou. The high court offered no comment on its rejection. Bible, 65, does not yet have an execution date. Court records show Bible has confessed to 4 killings, including 20-year-old Inez Deaton, whose slaying went unsolved for nearly 2 decades. He wasn't tied to her death until 1998 when he was arrested in Fort Myers, Florida, for a Louisiana rape and told authorities about killing Deaton in Houston and a woman and her baby west of Fort Worth in North Texas. Bible previously served prison time after pleading guilty in 1984 in Palo Pinto County to killing another woman. Texas Department of Criminal Justice records show he arrived in prison with a 25-year sentence for that slaying plus 20 years for a robbery conviction in Harris County but was released in February 1992 to Montana. While out of prison on a form of parole known as mandatory supervision, Bible "lived a life of extreme violence," according to a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling earlier this year when Bible's appeal of his death sentence was rejected. It's that appeal that went to the Supreme Court. At his 2003 capital murder trial in Houston for Deaton's death, prosecutors provided evidence of robberies, thefts, assaults and abductions, including the rape of an 11-year-old girl in Montana and his confessions to repeated sexual assaults of young nieces from 1996 to 1998. Bible contended in his appeal that his lawyers, during the punishment phase of his capital murder trial in Houston, were deficient for not objecting to prosecutors' re-enacting a rape and how Bible tried to stuff his victim into a duffel bag. He also said in the appeal that he is disabled and in permanent pain after the prison van carrying him to death row in 2003 crashed, killing a corrections officer and the driver of another vehicle involved in the wreck. Bible's appeals attorney, Margaret Schmucker, said Tuesday that her next option could be to seek clemency from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, although Abbott and previous governors have little history of commuting death sentences to life in prison. Bible is "not a danger to anybody," Schmucker said. "He can't get out of a wheelchair by himself. He can't lift his arms. He can't do anything." He also has a Louisiana sentence of life without parole, she said. (source: Associated Press) *** Race shouldn't matter in sentencing, but it does In 1995, Duane Edward Buck was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend and her friend. During his sentencing hearing, the prosecution presented evidence of Buck's potential for recidivism, based on his criminal history, conduct, and demeanor. In defense, his court appointed attorney called a clinical psychologist, Dr. Walter Quijano, as an expert witness, who stated that he believed Buck's "black" race increased the likelihood of future dangerousness. Buck was subsequently sentenced to death and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence. On October 5, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court heard an oral argument on Buck's case. His new attorney, Christina A. Swarns, claims that his previous counsel was ineffective by knowingly calling an expert witness who testified that race was a factor in evaluating future dangerousness. Although the circumstances of Buck's conviction were not up for debate, his attorney asked the Justices to order "a new, fair sentencing hearing." Although the Justices described what happened during the sentencing phase of Buck's case as "indefensible" and "abysmal," they raised considerable concern that the outcome of his case wouldn???t be impacted, if a new sentencing hearing were granted. The circumstances surrounding Buck's arrest were aggravating. His crimes were gruesome, he wasn't remorseful, and he had committed various acts of domestic violence prior to the murders. However, his defense attorney maintained that, "putting an expert scientific validity to this pernicious idea that Mr. Buck would be more likely to commit criminal acts of violence because he's black" led to an arbitrary death sentence decision. Her argument centered on the fact that the expert witness' testimony directly impacted the jury's future dangerousness determination, which is the prerequisite for a death sentence in Texas. The attorney for the State, Scott A. Keller, did not defend the competency of Buck's public defender nor the racially bias statements made by the expert witness. Instead, he focused on the fact that the prosecutors did not use the expert witness' testimony to make their claims for capital
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA., OHIO
May 12 TEXAS: State, Lawyers Debate Identifying Execution Drug Supplier Revealing Texas' supplier of execution drugs could have a harmful effect on the provider and as a result leave the state empty-handed, a lawyer for the state suggested Wednesday during an appeals court hearing. State Deputy Solicitor General Matthew Frederick told a 3-judge panel on the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals that a "substantial risk" comes with naming the state's supplier. Specifically, he said, people who are against the death penalty might lash out against the supplier. "Pharmacies don't have security details," Frederick said. "Their only protection is anonymity." But 3 lawyers who have filed suit to release the identity of lethal injection drug suppliers say that no "substantial threat of physical harm" exists; therefore, the information legally cannot be withheld, their attorney, Philip Durst, argued. The appeals court had challenged attorneys for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the group of 3 lawyers - who have represented clients on death row - to differentiate between risks and threats when explaining what the harm is in identifying a compounding pharmacy that has provided the state with lethal injection drugs. The court did not offer a timeline for when it would make a ruling, but either party could appeal a future ruling to the Texas Supreme Court. The 3 lawyers sued the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in 2014 after the agency refused a request to identify the compounding pharmacy that supplies the state with lethal injection drugs. The attorneys - Maurie Levin, Naomi Terr and Hilary Sheard - had made the request through the state's Public Information Act. A state district court later that year ordered the prison agency to release the pharmacy's identity because it was public information, but the agency appealed. Since then, major pharmaceutical companies have refused to supply capital punishment states with the drugs needed to execute the condemned, forcing Texas to scramble and find alternative providers. In 2015, Texas made it legal to conceal the identity of parties that supply lethal injection drugs to the state. As a result, the attorneys are challenging the Department of Criminal Justice to release the identity of lethal injection drug suppliers from before the law went into effect last September. The 3 lawyers say that identifying lethal injection drug providers makes it easier to hold them accountable. But the state argues that releasing that information could lead to physical harm of its supplier. There may be risk, but there is no sign of an imminent threat, attorneys for both sides acknowledged before the appeals court. Justice Bob Pemberton pushed back Wednesday on the state's "substantial risk" characterization, saying that there is a difference between a risk and a threat, and that individuals such as former Gov. Rick Perry have been vocal about their position on capital punishment, which hasn't led to threats being realized. A pharmacy supplier is a soft target, though, Frederick responded. Also, Frederick referenced the 2013 revelation that the Woodlands Compounding Pharmacy supplied the state with execution drugs led to significant amounts hate mail and messages. As providers have been identified over the years, they have stopped making the drugs, according to multiple media reports. Equating people who oppose the death penalty to anti-abortion activists, Durst said that such activists generally protest peacefully. There's never been anything other than "How could you?" and other responses protected by the First Amendment, he said. The judges also asked how allowing the supplier's identity to remain secret because of safety concerns would not gut the state's Public Information Act. Frederick said that keeping the identity secret falls in line with the physical safety exemption from complying with a public information request. Durst said that labeling someone or something a threat should be based on concrete evidence. Theories from experts alone is not enough, he said. "It can't be that," Durst told the panel. Until a few years ago, major pharmaceutical companies provided execution drugs to death penalty states, Frederick said. As soon as smaller companies are identified, they might leave the market, he said. "They don't want to stick around long enough to see what happens," he said. After the larger companies dropped death penalty states as clients, Texas began seeking alternative providers to make the lethal drugs, but the federal government has weighed in on a couple of occasions. In April, the Food and Drug Administration barred the Texas Department of Criminal Justice from importing sodium thiopental, a drug used in executions. Last year, Texas and Arizona reportedly tried to import execution drugs from India but were unsuccessful. (source: Texas Tribune) FLORIDA: Death
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA., CALIF.
April 30 TEXAS: Death penalty diminishes our humanity, undermines mercyBishop says God's gift of life is sacred, abandon culture of death Recently, Pope Francis captured international headlines by appealing to Christians - and particularly Catholic governmental officials - to take the "courageous and exemplary act" of ending the death penalty during the Holy Year of Mercy. The pontiff's plea reaffirmed Catholic doctrine that views capital punishment as a cruel and inhumane offense to the dignity of human life. What was noteworthy was Francis' call for Christian political leaders - especially those who profess a commitment to protecting and preserving human life - to acknowledge that commitment is not limited solely to birth, but throughout our entire lives until natural death. Francis' statement merely echoed the teachings of his predecessors. In particular, St. John Paul II's encyclical letter the Gospel of Life (1995) strongly emphasized that modern societies have the capacity to punish and isolate violent offenders by non-lethal means without resorting to killing them and denying them any hope of repentance. He argued that the instances where the use of the death penalty are justified "are very rare, if not practically nonexistent." In opposing capital punishment, neither the pope, nor the church, are oblivious to the suffering of the victims of heinous crimes. Nor do we dismiss the grief and anguish of their families. The deep pain, grief and suffering of those who have lost loved ones to violence cry out for our care and attention. They deserve our support, our deepest compassion and our voices in the call for justice. However, more killing is not the answer. The death penalty does not provide true healing for those who mourn, nor does it restore the loss of a loved one. It does not honor the victim's memory, nor does it provide justice or redeem our suffering. It is not justice nor is it redemptive. Instead, the death penalty only further erodes our society's respect for the sanctity of life. It coarsens our culture. It diminishes our humanity. It undermines our mercy. Our moral condemnation of capital punishment - along with abortion, war, euthanasia and human trafficking - are drawn from the single core tenet of our faith: that God's gift of life is sacred. That faith is not conditional, it is not what is merely politically expedient. Jesus - who was himself executed as a criminal by the state - taught us that life is sacred, and that all of us can pray for mercy and redemption for our sin through the promise of the Holy Spirit. We live in an age in which we are constantly confronted with the atrocity of suffering and violence - often against those of faith. Our moral opposition to evil in the world, and our credibility as witnesses to the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person, is demonstrated when we unite our voices in rejecting the use of the execution. This is especially critical in Texas, which is recognized around the world for the frequency at which we resort to capital punishment. So far this year the state has put 4 inmates to death. While we may be psychologically able to distance ourselves personally from the act of execution, we cannot escape that truth that in a democracy those executions are performed in our name. By ending the use of the death penalty we would urge Christian leaders - especially those who are guided by their faith - to heed Francis' call to abandon the culture of death in this state and embrace the culture of life. (source: The Most Rev. Placido Rodriguez, CMF, is the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Lubbock and leader of 135,894 Roman Catholics in the areaLubbock Avalanche-Journal) *** Appeals court lowers bail for capital murder defendant An intermediate appellate court in Waco has reduced the bail for an Arlington man charged in the July shooting death of a Crawford woman, ruling that a judge abused his discretion by setting bail at $5 million and refusing to reduce it. Attorneys for James Ray Brossett appealed his bail amount set by 54th State District Judge Matt Johnson and the judge's decision not to reduce it at a hearing in November. In a ruling made public Friday, Waco's 10th Court of Appeals reduced Brossett???s bond to $1 million and sent the matter back to Johnson's court so he can place terms and conditions on the bond should Brossett be able to secure his release from the McLennan County Jail. "We are pleased that the court of appeals granted our request and reduced our client's bond to a reasonable amount similar to the amounts set in other similar cases of accused people in similar circumstances," said Waco attorney Michelle Tuegel, who represents Brossett with attorney Walter M. Reaves Jr. Tuegel said that despite the court's ruling, she doubts Brossett will be able to post bail because he has been in jail for 8
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA.
Aug. 6 TEXASimpending executions Death Watch: 2 Set to DieBoth death row inmates claim murder was not intentional Although Clifton Williams narrowly avoided execution July 16, 2 Texans are scheduled for the gurney next week. Both inmates maintain that they didn't mean for the individuals they killed to die, though their opinions about their pending fates differ. Corpus Christi native Daniel Lee Lopez is scheduled to die first; he's currently slated to be strapped in at 6pm on Wednesday, Aug. 12. Lopez was driving 60 miles an hour through a neighborhood in March 2009 trying to evade cops and avoid arrest for outstanding warrants when he hit and killed 20-year veteran police officer Stuart Alexander as he was laying Stop Sticks near the highway. Lopez was eventually apprehended after being shot in the arm, neck, and chest. Then 21, he was indicted for 10 offenses, including the capital murder of Alexander. He initially pleaded not guilty, but later changed his stance. He was assigned to a psychologist, who reported that Lopez held an increasingly firm opinion that he'd rather a death sentence than live the rest of his life in prison. The state offered life in prison in exchange for a guilty plea, but Lopez pleaded not guilty and went to trial. Central to the case was debate on whether or not Lopez intentionally ran over Lt. Alexander. At times, he told attorneys that he didn't mean to do it, that his sight was affected by shots of pepper spray deployed by other officers. Yet, just prior to closing arguments, attorneys informed the judge that Lopez insisted on testifying that he did in fact mean to swerve and hit Alexander. The court rejected Lopez's request, but the jury still found him guilty on all counts, including capital murder. Lopez waived his right to a state petition for habeas corpus in April 2012 and filed his federal papers that May. The brief, largely blank application asserted 1 solitary ground for relief: that the death penalty in Texas violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. He underwent a series of competency exams and hearings in 2013, and soon after received his right to waive appeal from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. His attorneys - James Rytting, David Dow, and Jeffrey Newberry - maintain that he should never have been found guilty of capital murder, as his testimony concerning his actions continuously flipped from intentional to unintentional. They thus contest that the district court erred in accepting Lopez's waiver, as Lopez does not understand that the conduct to which he admits - an unintentional murder - does not fall within the definition of capital murder. Lopez, however, remains convinced he's made the right call. In April, he told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times that he accepts his punishment. It wasn't on purpose, he said. I killed a police officer because I tried escaping. And it was never intentional but I feel responsible. The 2nd individual, Tracy Beatty, goes to the gurney one day after Lopez. Beatty, 54, was arrested for the Nov. 25, 2003, murder of his mother, 62-year-old Carolyn Click. Beatty strangled, smothered, and/or suffocated Click during an argument at her home, and left her in the tub for 2 days before burying her in the ground beside her house and making off with her car and possessions. When questioned, he told authorities that a man named Junior Reynolds had actually killed his mother; that he then killed Reynolds and dumped him in water before returning to his mother's house to ice her in the tub and eventually bury her by the house. But the investigation turned to Beatty. During his arrest, as he was being delivered from Henderson County to the Smith County Jail, he told authorities: I really didn't mean to kill her. I came in drunk. She started bitching at me, and I just started choking her. I didn't even know she was dead until the next morning when I found her still laying on the living room floor. He was indicted for capital murder the following May and found guilty on Aug. 9, 2004. Deemed a future threat because of 2 prior felony convictions - injury to a child in 1986 and a robbery in 1988 - he was sentenced to death on Aug. 10. Attorney Jeff Haas argued in petitions for habeas corpus and appeals to the 5th Circuit that his client received ineffective assistance from counsel in two different forms: Trial counsel failed to discover and present mitigating evidence, and failed to properly present enough facts to prove Click's killing was a murder rather than capital murder. Haas pointed to one instance in particular, unmentioned during trial, in which Click and an acquaintance had an argument that a witness indicated looked as though they would rip each other's heads off. He attempted to use that testimony as evidence that Beatty had no intention to kill his mother when he showed up at her house; that a heated conversation
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA.
April 18 TEXAS: Of course innocent people have been executed The question for the state House candidates during a recent Editorial Board meeting involved Texas' death penalty - whether they support it. I paraphrase. Ina Minjarez, a former prosecutor, said that the justice system has its flaws, but, yes, she supports the death penalty. I don't mean to pick on her. Texas candidates for the death penalty are as ubiquitous as cheese on Tex-Mex. And whoever is elected will make a perfectly fine representative, whether it is Minjarez or her opponent, Delicia Herrera. But Minjarez's wording was distressingly familiar. Flawed? How much less than perfect is tolerable in a system that imposes a sanction that, once executed, cannot be walked back from? Executed being the exact right word there. About 1,400 people have been executed since 1976 in the United States. There were, as of recently, 3,035 people on death row. And there have been, since 1973, at least 150 exonerations from death rows. Texas comes in 3rd among the states, with 12. So, given the number of exonerations, what do we suppose are the chances that nary another innocent person is left on a death row somewhere to wait for the needle and slow death? And once you answer that question - truthfully - how do you answer the next one? Just how much collateral damage is acceptable? You see, these days, if you haven't reached the conclusion that unjustly convicted people have been executed and that no amount of improvement will remove human flaw from the system, you haven't been paying attention to the system, humans or current events. The flaws are common knowledge. So it's difficult to avoid the conclusion that a lot of folks are pretty much OK with the execution of innocent people - as long as the overwhelming majority killed by the states really are monsters. 2 Texas cases in particular trouble me. One is the now infamous case of Cameron Todd Willingham, executed in 2004. He was convicted in the arson deaths of his 3 daughters on evidence that, it is now abundantly clear, was fictional or flawed. The forensic evidence pretty much points to no arson at all. A jailhouse witness to Willingham's alleged confession recanted, but this was kept from the defense. And that witness, it appears, was given a deal for his testimony and, he says, was coerced - this, too, kept from the defense. Others have a longer list of men wrongfully executed, Texas figuring prominently. Besides Willingham, I call your attention to Carlos DeLuna, executed by Texas in 1989 for the stabbing death of a convenience store clerk in Houston. It seems clear that another Carlos committed the crime. Right; due process has been followed. OK, but the evidence should have at least prompted new trials as a matter of justice. The system, of course, tends to cling to legality - due process. That is not the same thing as justice. But why tippy-toe? Of course innocent people have been executed. This doesn't require much of a leap, particularly with Willingham. There is, by the way, a proposal, by Democratic Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. of Brownsville, for a constitutional amendment to ban the death penalty in Texas. I recently asked a couple of statistician friends whether there is a rule in their field that says if something happens often enough, it's certain to happen again. No, there are just too many variables. And I'm still certain that innocent people will be executed as long as there is a death penalty because of a few of those variables - human error and prosecutors' desire to win. A couple of societal currents also intrude. Capital punishment exists because of an illusory belief that it guarantees safety - and, if we're honest, because we crave eye-for-an-eye retribution. So we continue to tweak in pursuit of something else illusory - a system with no errors. Later, one of my friends shared a joke, inadvertently on point: 3 statisticians go hunting. 1 shoots and misses the deer by 3 feet to the left. The other shoots and misses 3 feet to the right. The 3rd guy exclaims, We got it! Substitute any profession that operates with plus or minus margins of error. Dear candidates and sundry elected officials: As you cannot logically guarantee perfection in our police and courts, I hope margin of error and due process are enough of a security blanket for you when it comes to the death penalty. Personally, I find it flimsy covering. (source: Opinion, Ricardo Pimentel, San Antonio Express-News) FLORIDA: Death penalty question could delay Luis Toledo murder trial The trial of a man accused of killing his wife and her 2 children could be delayed. Luis Toledo, 33, was expected to go to trial later this summer, but a death penalty issue before the Florida Supreme Court could push the trial back. Toledo's wife Yessenia Suarez, 28, and her children, Thalia Otto, 9, and Michael Otto, 8, disappeared from their
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news---TEXAS, FLA., ALA., LA.
Jan. 8 TEXAS: Violent deaths in Hidalgo County sheriff's jurisdiction in 2013 down from past 2 years, in line with median under Trevino Criminal acts ended 15 lives in the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction in 2013, authorities say. All told, at least nine people allegedly involved in killing someone last year have yet to be arrested, according to a Monitor analysis of Sheriff's Office records released last week. Sheriff's Office homicide investigators closed 8 of the cases. 9 suspects were arrested in 7 deaths. One suspect killed himself after allegedly shooting a neighbor to death. Another may or may not be charged with capital murder for allegedly shooting 2 men on his own property. Investigators continue looking for at least 2 additional suspects in 1 capital murder case. In 1 open case, none of the 3 or 4 suspected gunmen who allegedly killed a man in a drive-by shooting has been arrested - or even publicly identified. The 15 violent deaths represented a drop from the past 2 years, but Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino hesitated to take credit for the decline. Homicide is one of those crimes that it's almost impossible to prevent and it's also impossible to predict, he said. MURDER BY NUMBERS Authorities classified 9 of the deaths as simple murders. They called 5 more capital murder, meaning additional circumstances - the killing occurring during the undertaking of another felony, for example - added to the cases' severity. One death, that of Enrique Medina Jr., was categorized as manslaughter by negligence on the part of the victim's 21-year-old father, who told authorities he'd drunkenly dropped the baby in a canal. Arrests have been made in 7 deaths, signifying a crucial step in the execution of justice, Trevino said. The homicide investigator is the one that's going to avenge that criminal death, he said. The (victim's) family can't do it. Vigilante groups can't do it. Investigators closed another case because the primary suspect killed himself shortly after the slaying. In another ongoing investigation, authorities are working to determine if the man who shot and killed 2 men trying to rob him at his home should be charged with murder. Though all of the crimes occurred outside of metropolitan police department jurisdictions, Sheriff's Office documents all listed mailing addresses that included cities. Nearly 1/3 (4 of 15) of the crimes occurred at or near Mission addresses. 2 crimes apiece were closest to the cities of Alamo, Edinburg, San Juan and Weslaco. Donna and Mercedes each accounted for one criminal death. The decline in Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction is in line with big cities in the rest of the country. According to The Daily Beast, 8 of the 10 cities with the highest number of slayings in 2012 saw decreases in 2013. The cities with decreasing murder numbers include Houston - whose 201 slayings represent a 7 % decline from last year and the second-lowest number since 1965 - and Dallas, which has seen violent deaths decline almost 40 % in the past 10 years. GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER Homicide investigators have yet to solve 5 cases outright. All I can I say right now at this point is that we're still actively investigating all of them, said Rick Enriquez, a captain in the Sheriff's Office Homicide Unit. Though he could not specify which ones, Enriquez said investigators were pretty close to solving a couple of the open cases. A case is considered solved when an arrest warrant is issued for a suspect. 2 of the 5, like I said, we're pretty close, he said. And we're very hopeful that we'll be issuing warrants. One case investigators did not seem imminently close to cracking was the April shooting death of corrido singer Jesus Chuy Quintanilla, which Enriquez singled out as a particularly frustrating case because it produced a wealth of leads but a dearth of useful ones. A lot of information came in, he said. Every lead gets looked into, but a lot them were unhelpful. In particular, rumors circulated that Quintanilla was targeted by Mexican cartels because some of his songs referenced the notorious criminal organizations. But they remain only rumors. We don't have the evidence to prove that, Enriquez said. An arrest in 1 case allowed investigators to count it as a clearance, but they continue to search for 2 more people suspected of being involved in the slaying. My thing is: At least they have 1, said Ernesto Berraza, whose father, 62-year-old Jose, was killed during a botched marijuana robbery attempt in the driveway of his rural Weslaco home July 11. The Berrazas had no connection to the marijuana. Deputies arrested Brandon Gonzalez, 19, shortly after the shooting. But Gonzalez - whose last name is spelled with an s in court records, but a z in Sheriff's Office documents - claimed he was only a driver and did not fire the fatal shots. 2 accomplices - Anthony
