Texas
State of Texas to make recommendation to Gov. Abbott on execution of mom accused of killing daughter
Melissa Lucio, 52, is about to be executed Wednesday for the loss of life of her 2-year-old daughter Mariah in Harlingen, a metropolis of about 75,000 in Texas’ southern tip.
Her legal professionals say new proof reveals that Mariah’s accidents, together with a blow to the top, had been brought on by a fall down a steep staircase, and lots of lawmakers and celebrities equivalent to Kim Kardashian, an advocate for felony justice reform, and Amanda Knox – an American who was convicted of murdering a British scholar in Italy and whose conviction was overturned – have rallied to Lucio’s trigger. Prosecutors, although, preserve that the lady was the sufferer of kid abuse.
SEE RELATED STORY: Kim Kardashian joins legislators in help of Texas mom on loss of life row
Lucio’s legal professionals have filed varied authorized appeals looking for to cease her execution. She additionally has a clemency software earlier than the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, which is about to contemplate her case on Monday. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott might additionally play a job in deciding Lucio’s destiny. If put to loss of life, Lucio could be the primary Latina ever executed by Texas and the primary girl the state has put to loss of life since 2014.
This is what to know as Lucio’s execution approaches:
WHAT ISSUES ARE BEING DEBATED IN THE CASE?
Lucio’s attorneys say her capital homicide conviction was primarily based on an unreliable and coerced confession that was the results of relentless questioning and her lengthy historical past of sexual, bodily and emotional abuse. They are saying Lucio wasn’t allowed to current proof questioning the validity of her confession.
Her legal professionals additionally contend that unscientific and false proof misled jurors into believing Mariah’s accidents solely might have been brought on by bodily abuse and never by medical problems from a extreme fall.
“I knew that what I used to be accused of doing was not true. My kids have at all times been my world and though my decisions in life weren’t good I’d have by no means damage any of my kids in such a approach,” Lucio wrote in a letter to Texas lawmakers.
SEE MORE: Melissa Lucio’s household begs Texas leaders for mercy relating to execution
Cameron County District Legal professional Luis Saenz, whose workplace prosecuted the case, has stated he disagrees with Lucio’s legal professionals’ claims that new proof would exonerate her. Prosecutors say Lucio had a historical past of drug abuse and at occasions had misplaced custody of a few of her 14 kids.
Throughout a generally contentious Texas Home committee listening to on Lucio’s case this month, Saenz initially pushed again on requests to make use of his energy to cease the execution, earlier than later saying he would intervene if the courts did not act.
“I do not disagree with all of the scrutiny this case is getting. I welcome that,” Saenz stated.
Armando Villalobos was the county’s district legal professional when Lucio was convicted in 2008, and Lucio’s legal professionals allege that he pushed for a conviction to assist his reelection bid. In 2014, Villalobos was sentenced to 13 years in federal jail for a bribery scheme associated to providing favorable prosecutorial selections.
WHO IS CALLING FOR LUCIO’S EXECUTION TO BE STOPPED?
Greater than half the members of the Texas Home and Senate have requested that her execution be halted. A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers traveled this month to Gatesville, the place the state homes feminine loss of life row inmates, and prayed with Lucio.
5 of the 12 jurors who sentenced Lucio and one alternate juror have questioned their resolution and requested she get a brand new trial. And Lucio’s trigger additionally has the backing of religion leaders and was featured on HBO’s “Final Week Tonight with John Oliver.”
Lucio’s household and supporters have been touring all through Texas and holding rallies and screenings of a 2020 documentary about her case, “The State of Texas vs. Melissa.”
WHERE DO EFFORTS TO HALT HER EXECUTION STAND?
Appeals looking for to cease Lucio’s execution are pending in state and federal courts.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles is contemplating a request to both commute her loss of life sentence to life imprisonment or grant her a 120-day execution reprieve.
Any resolution by the parole board to commute her sentence or grant the reprieve would want Abbott’s approval. The governor, who has granted clemency to just one loss of life row inmate since taking workplace in 2015, might additionally unilaterally difficulty a 30-day execution keep. Abbott commuted a loss of life sentence to life with out parole for Thomas “Bart” Whitaker, who was convicted of fatally taking pictures his mom and brother. Whitaker’s father was additionally shot however survived and led the hassle to spare his son’s life.
HOW FREQUENTLY ARE WOMEN EXECUTED?
It is uncommon within the U.S. for a lady to be executed, in accordance with the Washington-based Dying Penalty Info Middle, a nonprofit that opposes capital punishment. Girls have accounted for less than 3.6% of the greater than 16,000 confirmed executions within the U.S. relationship again to the colonial interval within the 1600s, in accordance with the group’s knowledge.
For the reason that U.S. Supreme Courtroom reinstated the loss of life penalty in 1976, there have been 17 girls executed all through the nation, in accordance with the info. Texas has put extra girls to loss of life – six – than every other state. Oklahoma is subsequent, with three, and Florida has executed two.
The federal authorities has executed one girl since 1976. Lisa Montgomery, of Kansas, acquired a deadly injection in January 2021 after the Trump administration resumed executions within the federal system following a 17-year hiatus. The Justice Division has halted executions once more beneath the Biden administration.
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