Texas: Clemency Petition

Attorneys for Lester Leroy Bower Jr., are asking the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to grant a 90-day "reprieve" so as to allow consideration of Bower’s claim of innocence. A death sentence was handed down back in 1984 when Bower was convicted of killing four men in a airplane hangar during a "drug deal gone bad." The petition says, "evidence justifies a full reprieve. [At] minimum, however, Mr. Bower’s execution [should] not proceed where there is reasonable doubt of his guilt, and his sentence should be commuted to a life sentence." A State prosecutor will oppose Bower’s petition for clemency. The execution is scheduled for later this month. See full story here.

Texas: Save Jeff Wood?

Over at The Nation, Peter Rothberg is calling on Americans to "Save Jeff Wood." Rothberg says something like 17,000 "outraged citizens" petitioned Governor Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles last year for a commutation of sentence for another individual who was convicted under the same statute as Wood, "Texas' notorious Law of Parties." As Rothberg describes it:

... the distinction between principal actor and accomplice in a crime is abolished. The law can impose the death penalty on anybody involved in a crime where a murder occurred whether a person had anything to do with the murder or not.

Wood is scheduled to be executed on August 21 for participation in a convenience store robbery in which his accomplice (who was executed 6 years ago) actually did the shooting. Says Rothberg:

Both men were arrested separately within 24 hours and gave confessions to the police. Wood, however, was forced into interrogation by the police with no attorney present and says he was kept awake the entire time and eventually broke down saying it was a planned robbery. He later revoked this statement.

See story here.

Texas: Pardon

Ronald Gene Taylor, who was released from prison last October when DNA cleared him of a rape conviction, considers himself now "officially a free man." Taylor has received a pardon from Governor Rick Perry. He can now also collect about $700,000 from the State of Texas if he agrees not to sue. See story here.

Texas: Pardon

The Houston Chronicle reports Gov. Rick Perry has granted to a pardon to Ronald Gene Taylor following DNA evidence which suggests Taylor was wrongfully convicted of rape 13 years ago. The Chronicle reports prosecutors built their case "on the victim's identification of Taylor and the testimony of a Houston crime lab analyst." The judge handed down a sentence of 60 years, but the The Innocence Project (of New York) accepted the case when Taylor's stepfather asked for help. The result was a major "forensics scandal" at the Houston Police Department crime lab and "skepticism" with respect to "thousands of convictions." The Chronicle also notes that the governor's pardon "clears the way for Taylor to collect about $700,000 from the state, if he agrees not to sue over his case." See story here.

Texas: Love, Death and a Governor's Decision

Charles Dean Hood is scheduled for execution tonight in Texas. In 1989, he shot a Plano man and his girlfriend during a robbery. Attorneys for Hood have asked Governor Rick Perry for a 30-day reprieve to investigate the claim that the trial judge and a prosecutor had "an improper and legally unethical years-long hidden romantic relationship" which occurred during the course of Hood's prosecution. The argument has already been dismissed by a State appellate court. See story here.

Texas: Controversial Release

Last November, Pablo Soto was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of his grilfriend, Socorro Storie. Soto rammed Storie's parked car head-on with his own automobile, then dragged her out of the car and beat her. She died from injuries three days later. But Soto, who has been diagnosed with cancer, recently appeared before a pardon and parole board in a "terminally ill inmate hearing." Afterward, Soto, who has never expressed regret or remorse for the murder, walked away from prison after serving only six months! A Garza County Sheriff says he no idea Soto would be released and the family of the victim was not notified until after the decision either. Garza County District Attorney Ricky Smith plans to file a formal complaint with the state. The state's board of pardons and paroles is not yet returning calls. See story here and here.

Texas: Pardon Revisited

The Board of Regents will soon vote on the appointment of Ross Margraves Jr. to the Texas A&M at Galveston's Board of Visitors. Margraves is a Houston lawyer, Galveston property owner and avid Aggie fundraiser. What makes it all interesting is that, in 1996, he was also convicted of using a state-owned plane for a personal trip while serving as a member of the board. In 2003, Margraves' felony was pardoned in a 9-to-8 vote taken by the Board of Pardons and Paroles. Gov. Rick Perry then endorsed the pardon. Margraves says the previous conviction "doesn't have anything to do with this." See story here.

Texas: Commutation Revisited

In 2005, twenty-eight inmates on death row in Texas had their sentences commuted to life in prison by Governor Rick Perry (R). The commutations were prompted by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that outlawed the execution of criminals who were juveniles when they committed an offense. At the time, Perry said, "While these individuals were convicted by juries of brutal murders and sentenced to die for their heinous crimes, I have no choice but to commute these sentences to life in prison." Today, the Daily Texan Online is reporting that one of the beneficiaries of the commutations, Robert Springsteen IV, will be retried at a later date. Springsteen was one of four suspects in the murder of four teenage girls at an I Can't Believe It's Yogurt! shop in North Austin. Prosecutors believe the incident was the result of a botched robbery. Each of the victims was stripped naked, bound, gagged and shot in the head. An attempt was then made to burn down the business. Springsteen was convicted in 2001 and sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted in 2005 because he was under the age of 18 when the murders were committed. Then, in 2006, a court of appeals overturned the conviction because attorneys in his original trial were not allowed to cross-examine the co-defendant who provided an incriminating confession. See complete story here.