In 2008, Melissa Lucio of Texas was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to be executed. She was accused of killing her two-year-old daughter, Mariah.
The prosecutor, Armando Villalobos, argued that Lucio beat her child.
However, Lucio’s defense team said Mariah’s death was caused when she fell down a flight of stairs days earlier.
Pathologist, Dr. Norma J. Farley, stated the child died from blunt force trauma and not a fall.
Lucio's recorded statements during interrogation were deemed a confession.
As stated on Wikipedia:
Following Mariah's death, Lucio was arrested and questioned for seven hours by Texas Ranger Victor Escalon without a lawyer present, and without receiving food or water.[8] She admitted to having spanked Mariah, but denied ever having abused her, which she repeated more than 100 times.[9] She was then told by Escalon: "Right now, it looks like you're a cold-blooded killer. Now, are you a cold-blooded killer or were you a frustrated mother who just took it out on [Mariah]?" He continued by telling her, "We already know what happened". After several hours of interrogation, Lucio stated, "I guess I did it. I'm responsible."[10]
Escalon had stated that he knew Lucio was guilty by reading her body language.
Lucio’s lawyers argued that Lucio's mental and emotional predispositions prevented her from handling the interrogation process.
Lucio had a troubled life. Abused sexually by her mother’s boyfriend at the age of seven until nine, she married at early age of 16. From two marriages, she had 14 children. Her first husband was an addict and physically abusive.
Judge Nelson refused to allow a social worker and psychologist to testify for Lucio’s innocence at trial. He said a clinical social worker was unqualified to analyze body language.
Notably, in Lucio’s case, some evidence was not tested for DNA. Since the prosecutor had Lucio’s confession, he ignored what may have proved a lack of DNA evidence.
In post-conviction proceedings, Dr. Thomas Young, a forensic pathologist from Missouri stated that Farley had reached the wrong conclusions. This was not the first time Farley had been wrong, as evident from her conclusions in a case against Manuel Velez.
Notable, Johnny Galvan, Hr. a juror, admitted to caving to pressure during jury deliberation and altered his choice from life in prison to the death penalty.
The new District Attorney conceded that exculpatory evidence had been withheld from the defense and supported a new trial.
Just two days before the date of her execution in April 2022, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay.
The latest update according to the Innocence Project website is that:
The judge who presided over Melissa Lucio’s original trial, Judge Nelson, asked that Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturn Ms. Lucio’s conviction and death sentence.
Four Corners of Justice diagram scoring:
Electorate -1.
Lawmakers -3
Investigators -5.
Prosecutor -7.
Judge -5.
Defense attorney -3.
Witnesses -5.
Jury -3.
Grand jury -1.
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Links:
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/12/melissa-lucio-texas-execution/
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