STORY: "Velez capital murder conviction overturned," by reporter Mark Reagan, published by the Brownsville Herald on October 23, 2013.
GIST: "The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned the conviction of Manuel Velez, who had been found guilty in the murder of his girlfriend’s infant son in 2008. In its ruling the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals found that defense attorneys representing Velez in his 2008 trial “failed to conduct an adequate investigation, and, as a result, failed to present evidence at trial that supported defense.” Velez was convicted in October 2008 and sentenced to death for killing 1-year-old Angel Gabriel Moreno in 2005. Last June, the Texas Supreme Court threw out that sentence." According to the ruling, Velez is remanded to the Cameron County Sheriff’s Department to answer the charges against him, which stem from the death of Moreno."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/article_f9dfa47a-3bfa-11e3-a774-001a4bcf6878.html
See StandDown Texas Project post: (APRIL 3, 2013); "In Lopez’s ruling, (A recommendation to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals; HL) she wrote that a new trial should be granted because of ineffective assistance of counsel. “Mr. Velez has now shown that, at the time of his 2008 trial, compelling medical evidence was available to refute the theory on which he was convicted,” Lopez wrote in her finding. “His trial counsel, Hector Villarreal and O. Rene Flores, inexplicably failed to develop and present to the jury this exculpating evidence. These failures were not the result of sound trial strategy.” In December, Velez appeared before Lopez for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Lopez would or wouldn’t recommend a new trial for him. During that hearing, pro bono attorneys said there is no evidence that Velez struck the child and said new medical evidence shows the child sustained the injuries that killed him while Velez was out of town, working in Memphis, Tenn."
http://standdown.typepad.com/weblog/2013/04/new-trial-recommended-for-manuel-velez.html
GIST: "The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned the conviction of Manuel Velez, who had been found guilty in the murder of his girlfriend’s infant son in 2008. In its ruling the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals found that defense attorneys representing Velez in his 2008 trial “failed to conduct an adequate investigation, and, as a result, failed to present evidence at trial that supported defense.” Velez was convicted in October 2008 and sentenced to death for killing 1-year-old Angel Gabriel Moreno in 2005. Last June, the Texas Supreme Court threw out that sentence." According to the ruling, Velez is remanded to the Cameron County Sheriff’s Department to answer the charges against him, which stem from the death of Moreno."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/article_f9dfa47a-3bfa-11e3-a774-001a4bcf6878.html
See StandDown Texas Project post: (APRIL 3, 2013); "In Lopez’s ruling, (A recommendation to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals; HL) she wrote that a new trial should be granted because of ineffective assistance of counsel. “Mr. Velez has now shown that, at the time of his 2008 trial, compelling medical evidence was available to refute the theory on which he was convicted,” Lopez wrote in her finding. “His trial counsel, Hector Villarreal and O. Rene Flores, inexplicably failed to develop and present to the jury this exculpating evidence. These failures were not the result of sound trial strategy.” In December, Velez appeared before Lopez for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Lopez would or wouldn’t recommend a new trial for him. During that hearing, pro bono attorneys said there is no evidence that Velez struck the child and said new medical evidence shows the child sustained the injuries that killed him while Velez was out of town, working in Memphis, Tenn."
http://standdown.typepad.com/weblog/2013/04/new-trial-recommended-for-manuel-velez.html
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com;
