Texas prosecutor repels plea to stop execution of Melissa Lucio

HOUSTON – Members of the Texas House of Representatives committee on Tuesday repeatedly pressed the prosecutor to use his powers to prevent the April 27 execution of a woman whose crimes are being questioned in the courtroom. The scene was increasingly suspicious of whether she beat her 2-year-old daughter to death.

But in a sometimes controversial hearing, Cameron County Attorney Luis Saenz initially denied calls from lawmakers that he asked the judge to revoke the death warrant. Melissa Lucio. He then stated that he believed the execution would be stopped.

“I believe (the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals) will order the stay and that’s how the system works,” Saenz said.

But lawmakers on the Interim Research Committee on Criminal Justice Reform expressed disappointment during the Austin meeting that Saenz would not “press the pause button” on his own.

“It was very shocking to me to wash my hands to make this decision myself,” said Representative Jeff Leach, the committee chairman.

Saenz countered, saying he disagreed with Lucio’s lawyers’ claims that new evidence would vindicate her.

“I don’t wash my hands about this. I’m dealing with it and have tough decisions to make. You disagree with me but that doesn’t mean I’m washing my hands with it,” Saenz said.

Saenz later said that if the appeals court did not act to prevent Lucio’s execution, he would try to delay it so that the various legal claims pending in the case could be considered. .

Representative Joe Moody said he believes that if there are errors in a case, “a prosecutor’s duty and moral responsibility is to correct those mistakes.”

But Saenz disagreed, saying the courts “called the fault, not me.”

Tuesday’s hearing was led by Leach and Moody, who are part of a bipartisan group of more than 80 members of the Texas House of Representatives who are troubled by Lucio’s case and believe new evidence suggests she did not strike died daughter Mariah in 2007 in the South Texas city of Harlingen.

Lawmakers last month sent a letter to the state’s Parole and Amnesty Board and Governor Greg Abbott asking them to authorize her sentence or reduce her sentence.

Leach and Moody are among the seven legislators last week visited Lucio on death row women in Gatesville, Texas.

Prosecutors asserted that Mariah was a victim of child abuse because her body was covered in bruises. A medical examiner testified Mariah died from a blow to the head. Authorities say Lucio has a history of drug abuse and has at times lost custody of some of his 14 children.

But Lucio’s attorneys say jurors have never heard forensic evidence that could explain Mariah’s various injuries were actually caused by a fall down a steep flight of stairs. They also said that Lucio was not allowed to present evidence that questioned the validity of her confession, which they said was given under duress after hours of nonstop interrogation.

Several jurors from her trial have also expressed doubts about her conviction.

One of those jurors, Johnny Galvan Jr., appeared before the committee. In a statement read by his daughter, Galvan said he believes Lucio’s attorneys have failed to present substantial evidence in her case and that he feels pressured by other juries to sentenced her to death.

“I will be haunted by Miss Lucio’s execution if it continues,” Galvan said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Lucio’s attorneys announced a fifth juror had questioned the charge. An alternate juror also expressed doubts.

“I believe Ms. Lucio deserves a new trial and a new jury to be able to hear this evidence. Knowing what I know now, I don’t think she should be executed,” Melissa Quintanilla, the grand jury director, said in an affidavit.

Saenz said his office was in contact with seven other jurors who had already convicted Lucio, and six of them had not changed their mind while the seventh was dead.

After the committee meeting, Sonya Alvarez, one of Lucio’s sisters, said her family was encouraged after hearing Saenz say he would stop the execution if the court did not act.

“We just hope … that he will do the right thing and allow this new evidence to be presented,” Alvarez said.

Lucio, 52, will be the first Latina to be executed by Texas and the first woman since 2014. Only 17 women have been executed in the US since the Supreme Court lifted the death penalty ban in 1976, most recently in January 2021.

at Blogtuan.info – Source: nbcnews.com – Read the original article here