PETITION: Please sign this petition asking the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to watch The State of Texas vs. Melissa and to recommend that Governor Greg Abbott grant clemency to Melissa Lucio.
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/melissa-lucio-innocent-woman-on-death-row-in-texas-2/
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PREFACE: Melissa Lucio has spent over a decade on death row for the alleged murder of her two-year-old daughter, Mariah. In 2008, Lucio became the first Latina woman sentenced to death in Texas.
UPDATE (Oct 18, 2021): "On Monday, October 18, 2021, the US Supreme Court DECLINED to consider the case. Melissa is now at risk of having an execution date set. Read the brief filed in August by the Innocence Project & a coalition of former prosecutors and anti-violence organizations in support of Melissa Lucio.
In July, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned a Texas court ruling and found Lucio’s right to a “complete defense” had been violated in her original trial. In February, 2021, a sharply divided court of appeals reversed the 2019 grant of relief by a vote of 10 to 7 and her hopes for exoneration are now in the U.S. Supreme Court. Melissa is in danger of receiving an execution date in the near future.
We are not waiting for an imminent execution date to raise awareness and call for action in this case. This petition recognizes that without the intervention of the courts, Melissa's life may depend on a decision by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Texas Governor Greg Abbott. This petition will not be delivered unless and until an execution date is set and clemency is to be considered. In the petition we are urging the addressees to take the unusual step of watching an award-winning new documentary which sheds light on the controversy of her conviction, revealing a case with no investigation, a coerced confession, an incomplete defense, and a corrupt DA.
The State of Texas vs. Melissa, a 2020 documentary by Sabrina Van Tassel, highlights many of the concerning facts around Lucio’s case, including the following:
- Lucio’s lawyers have contested the cause of death, presenting expert testimony from a neurosurgeon that Mariah may instead have died from head trauma caused by falling down a flight of stairs. A fall that was witnessed by Melissa’s children.
- Lucio’s original lawyer did not call any of her children as witnesses, including the ones who saw Mariah fall down the stairs. What’s more, he willingly ignored evidence that another child had admitted being abusive to Mariah. Right after the trial, he became a Cameron County prosecutor.
- Raw footage shows the interrogation, which lasted almost seven hours on the night of Mariah’s death, to be clearly coercive.
- Dr. John Pinkerman, a psychologist, and Norma Villanueva, a mitigation specialist, hoped to testify that Lucio was susceptible to making a false confession during a coercive investigation, were both barred by the trial court from testifying as to her innocence at the guilt/innocence phase of her trial.
- Armando Villalobos, the district attorney who prosecuted Lucio’s case, was convicted of bribery and extortion in 2014 for accepting over $100,000 in exchange for favorable outcomes in criminal trials. He is now serving a 13 year sentence in prison. He was known to bribe judges and lawyers and was suspected of using Melissa’s case to be re-elected.
For more information on Lucio’s case:
Documentary Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wn4J8lQcNc
Watch The State of Texas vs. Melissa, Free! (limited time special engagement.)
Listen to the Wrongful Convictions Podcast on this case.
https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/federal-appeals-court-overturns-mothers-conviction-in-texas-child-murder-case-that-may-have-been-an-accidental-death
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/news/2020/05/18/death-row-inmate-s-defense-revived-in--the-state-of-texas-vs--melissa-
ADDITIONAL PROCESS INFORMATION
Petitions will be delivered on your behalf if and when an execution date is set.
Additionally, you may also contact the Board at bpp_clemency@tdcj.texas.gov and the Governor at https://gov.texas.gov/contact/ and (512) 463-1782. You can simply leave a voice message, or choose to speak to a representative if you prefer.
Please note: In Texas, the Governor has limited power when it comes to the death penalty. But the story we are told that "it's out of the governor's hands," is only true if we allow it to be. Yes, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles must recommend clemency in that state in order for the Governor to grant clemency (mercy) by commuting a death sentence. But the fact is that the governor appoints the members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles. He can choose to appoint members who will take valid claims and concerns more seriously, instead of acting like rubber-stamping gate-keepers. He can still use his position of power and influence to enact justice in the State of Texas. "
The entire post can be read at:
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/melissa-lucio-innocent-woman-on-death-row-in-texas-2?clear_id=true&source=email-innocent-tx-woman-on-death-row-case-at-us-supreme-court
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog; -----------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they’ve exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL, FINAL WORD: “It is incredibly easy to convict an innocent person, but it's exceedingly difficult to undo such a devastating injustice.
Jennifer Givens: DirectorL UVA Innocence Project.
