PERCHE' EUGENE POTREBBE AVERE UN NUOVO PROCESSO
WHY EUGENE MIGHT HAVE A NEW TRIAL
Date: Mon Jun 12, 2000 2:49pm
Subject: The death sentences for 6 convicted killers likely will be overturned
TEXAS:
The death sentences for 6 convicted killers likely will be overturned because prosecutors used racially charged testimony from a clinical psychologist, the Texas attorney general said Friday.
Attorney General John Cornyn late Friday released the results of a two-month investigation into cases involving testimony from Walter Quijano of Conroe, a clinical psychologist who has testified as an expert witness in more than 100 capital cases. The review identified eight cases in which the psychologist offered testimony that race should be a factor for a jury to consider in determining the sentence in a capital murder trial.
Cornyn said 6 of the cases are substantially similar to the case of Argentine national Victor Saldano. Saldano's death sentence was overturned Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court because Collin County prosecutors used Quijano's testimony about race. v The other 2 cases reviewed were substantially different from the Saldano case, Cornyn said in a prepared statement. 3 of the 6 death sentences in jeopardy are from Harris County.
"The people of Texas want and deserve a system that affords the same fairness to everyone," Cornyn said. "I will continue to do everything I can to assure Texans of our commitment to an equitable criminal justice system."
Cornyn spokeswoman Heather Browne said defense attorneys representing the 6 defendants have been notified of the findings. If the attorneys amend their appeals currently pending in federal court to include objections to Quijano's testimony, the attorney general will not object, she said. In the Saldano case, the Supreme Court overturned the death sentence without comment because Cornyn admitted the prosecution erred in using Quijano's testimony. Quijano said Saldano's Hispanic race was one of 24 factors that could be considered as a potential indicator of future violence, since Hispanics are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system.
The six death row convicts are:
· Carl Blue, 35. A black man convicted in 1995 of robbing and murdering his ex-girlfriend in Houston.
· Eugene Broxton, 45. A black man convicted in 1992 for robbing and shooting a Louisiana couple in a Channelview motel. The woman died in the attack.
· Duane Buck, 36. A black man convicted in 1997 in Houston for the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend and a man.
· John Avalos Alba, 44. A Hispanic man convicted in 1992 in a suburb north of Dallas of shooting his wife and a friend of hers. His wife died in the attack.
· Gustavo Garcia, 27. A Hispanic man convicted in 1991 of robbing and murdering a liquor store clerk in Plano.
· Michael Gonzales, 26. A Hispanic man convicted in 1995 of murdering two people near Odessa and burglarizing their home.
Quijano's testimony came only during the punishment phase of the trials. Consequently, it is only the death sentences that are in jeopardy, not the murder convictions. The attorney general's office did not review cases still pending in state appellate courts, Browne said. The list of affected cases could continue to grow, Browne said.
"We are aware of cases that are probably with district attorney offices, and if and when those cases reach this office they will be handled in a similar manner as the Saldano case," she said.
One such case is that of Carlos Granados, 29, a Hispanic man who was convicted in 1998 of stabbing his girlfriend's 3-year-old son to death in a suburb north of Dallas.
A Houston Chronicle review of the transcript from Granados' trial found Quijano also testified about race during the sentencing phase.
Attorney David Schulman of Austin is helping to prepare Granados' appeal. Contacted Friday, he said, "I can't tell you our strategy except to say we're aware of (Quijano's) testimony."
The attorney general reviewed only the death penalty cases involving Quijano's testimony on appeal in federal court or where an execution date has been scheduled. The office also reviewed Quijano's testimony in the trials of inmates who have been executed since 1982.
Texas has executed 218 people since 1982, including 2 women, and has 20 executions scheduled from now until Nov. 8. Attorney general spokesman Mark Heckmann could not say how many files the office has reviewed.
"We have not found any cases in which a defendant was executed on the basis of this kind of testimony from Dr. Quijano," Cornyn said.
Saldano, 27, and an accomplice were convicted in Collin County in 1996 of abducting, robbing and murdering a man in a suburb north of Dallas. Quijano was called as an expert witness in the sentencing phase of the trial to help the jury decide whether Saldano posed a threat of future violence, an element that must be proved to win a death sentence in Texas. Quijano said a
defendant's race should be considered, because statistically, blacks and Hispanics are overrepresented in the criminal justice system.
In the 6 cases identified Friday, Quijano's testimony about race was elicited by prosecutors, although in some of the cases, he took the stand as an expert for the defense. Prosecutors used the testimony in arguing for death sentences.
The 2 other cases reviewed by Cornyn's office involved convicted killers Michael Blair, 30, and Anthony Graves, 34. Blair is white. Graves is black, but Burleson County prosecutors did not ask the jury to consider his race, Cornyn said.
Quijano, a native of the Philippines, is the former chief psychologist for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Quijano defended his testimony saying he is duty-bound as a social scientist not to withhold information.
In 1 trial, he prefaced his remarks by acknowledging they are "not politically correct."
(source: Houston Chronicle)