Nearly half of the jurors who sentenced a Texas woman to death for the 2007 murder of her young son are calling for her execution to be halted and for her to receive a new trial.
Five of the 12 jurors who sentenced 52-year-old Melissa Lucio of Cameron County to death for killing her two-year-old daughter, along with an alternate juror, have questioned their original decision and called for a new trial. , reports the Associated Press.
Lucio is scheduled to be executed on April 27 for the death of his daughter, Mariah, on February 17, 2007. But Lucio’s lawyers have argued that significant evidence suggests that Lucio did not commit the crime and that his earlier confession, one of the main pieces of evidence used in the trial, was coerced.
“I knew that what they accused me of doing was not true,” Lucio wrote in a letter to Texas lawmakers, according to AP. “My children have always been my world and even though my choices in life were not good, I would never have hurt any of my children in that way.”
Lucio’s attorneys say new evidence shows Mariah’s injuries, including a blow to the head, were caused by the boy falling down the stairs.
Her attorneys also say prosecutors misled jurors hearing Lucio’s case by suggesting Mariah’s injuries could only have been caused by physical abuse.
Lucio’s attorneys also contend that prosecutors coerced Lucio into confessing by using the controversial “Reid technique,” an interrogation method that has led to previous wrongful convictions in the United States.
Using the Reid method, the officers got very close to Lucio’s face and berated her for hours, before changing to a softer tone and saying that Lucio could “end this” if she confessed to killing her daughter.
After nearly six hours of nightly interrogations, in which Lucio said he was innocent more than 100 times, Lucio finally said, “I don’t know what you want me to tell you,” he told them. “I’m responsible for that… I guess I did.”
His attorneys also contend that the previous Cameron County district attorney who prosecuted Lucio’s case, Armando Villalobos, may have pushed for Lucio’s conviction to support his own re-election campaign.
According to AP, Villalobos was convicted in 2014 of accepting bribes in exchange for favorable court decisions, including minimizing sentences and dismissing cases. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
The current county district attorney, Luis Saenz, has said he disagrees with claims that new evidence will acquit Lucio. But after initially refusing to push to stop the execution under any circumstances, he said last month that he would intervene if necessary.
“I don’t disagree with all the scrutiny this case is receiving,” Saenz said. “I welcome that.”
Lucio’s lawyers have filed several legal appeals to stop his execution. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles will also consider an application for clemency on Monday.
Calls to stay Lucio’s execution have received rare bipartisan support from Texas state officialswith more than half of the members of the Texas House and Senate calling for his execution to be stopped.
Across the country, protests have demanded clemency. for Lucio, including a huge show of support across Texas. Public figures including Kim Kardashian They have also shared their support for Lucio through social networks. Talk show host John Oliver highlighted the case of Lucio in an episode about wrongful convictions last month.
Any decision to commute Lucio’s execution would require the approval of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has granted clemency to only one person on death row since taking office in 2015, according to AP.
Texas has executed more women than any other state since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, the AP reported. Of the 17 women who have been executed across the country, six have been executed in Texas.
Lucio would be the first Hispanic woman executed in Texas and the first woman since 2014.
Reference-www.theguardian.com