HUSTON –
Nearly half of the jurors who sentenced a Texas woman to death for the deaths of one of her 14 children in 2007 called for her upcoming execution to be stopped and for a new trial.
Melissa Lucio, 52, is due to be executed on Wednesday for the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, in Harlingen, a city of about 75,000 in southern Texas.
Her lawyers say new evidence shows that Mariah’s injuries, including a blow to the head, were caused by falling down a steep staircase and many lawmakers and celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, a defense justice reform advocate, and Amanda Knox, an American who was convicted of the murder of a British student in Italy and whose sentence was overturned, they united for the cause of Lucio. However, prosecutors say the girl was a victim of child abuse.
Lucio’s lawyers have filed various legal appeals to stop her execution. She also has a request for clemency before the Texas Pardon and Parole Board, which is due to consider her case on Monday. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott may also play a role in deciding Lucio’s fate. If killed, Lucio will be the first Latin American woman ever executed in Texas and the first woman the state has killed since 2014.
Here’s what you need to know as Lucio’s execution approaches:
WHAT IS THE ISSUE OF THE CASE?
Lucio’s lawyers say her death sentence is based on unreliable and forced confessions as a result of relentless interrogations and her long history of sexual, physical and emotional abuse. Lucio is said not to have been allowed to present evidence questioning the validity of her confession.
Her lawyers also claim that unscientific and false evidence leads jurors to believe that Mariah’s injuries may have been caused only by physical violence and not by medical complications from a severe fall.
“I knew that what I was accused of was not true. “My children have always been my world, and although my choices in life have not been good, I would never hurt any of my children in that way,” Lucio wrote in a letter to Texas lawmakers.
Cameron County Attorney Luis Saenz, whose office prosecuted the case, said he disagreed with Lucio’s lawyers’ claims that new evidence would exonerate her. Prosecutors say Lucio had a history of drug abuse and sometimes lost custody of some of her 14 children.
During a sometimes controversial hearing at the Texas House Committee on Lucio’s case this month, Saenz initially rejected requests to use his power to stop the execution, before later saying he would intervene if the courts did not act.
“I do not agree with all the checks that this case receives. I welcome that, “Saenz said.
Armando Villalobos was the district attorney when Lucio was convicted in 2008, and Lucio’s lawyers say he insisted on a conviction to support his re-election. In 2014, Vilalobos was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for a bribery scheme linked to offering favorable prosecutorial decisions.
WHO CALLS FOR LUCIO’S EXECUTION TO BE STOPPED?
More than half of the members of the Texas Chamber and the Senate have demanded that its execution be stopped. A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers traveled to Gatesville this month, where the state is hosting women sentenced to death, and prayed with Lucio.
Five of the 12 jurors who convicted Lucio and a deputy juror questioned her decision and asked for a new trial. And Lucio’s cause also has the support of religious leaders and was featured on HBO’s “Last Week with John Oliver.”
Lucio’s family and supporters travel around Texas to hold rallies and screenings of a 2020 documentary on her case, Texas v. Melissa.
WHERE WAS THE EFFORTS TO STOP HER EXECUTION?
Appeals to stop Lucio’s execution are pending in state and federal courts.
The Texas Pardon and Parole Board is considering a request to commute her death sentence with life imprisonment or a 120-day reprieve during the execution.
Any decision by the parole board to commute her sentence or grant a reprieve will require Abbot’s approval. The governor, who has granted pardon to only one person sentenced to death since taking office in 2015, may also unilaterally issue a 30-day execution. The abbot replaced the death sentence with a life sentence without the right to replace Thomas “Bart” Whitaker, who was convicted of the deadly shooting of his mother and brother. Whitaker’s father was also shot, but survived and led the effort to save his son’s life.
HOW OFTEN ARE WOMEN EXECUTED?
It is rare for a woman to be executed in the United States, according to the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center, a non-profit organization that opposes the death penalty. Women represent only 3.6% of the more than 16,000 confirmed executions in the United States dating back to the colonial period in the 1600s, according to the group.
Since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, there have been 17 women executed across the country. Texas has killed more women – six – than any other state. Oklahoma is next with three, and Florida has executed two.
The federal government has executed one woman since 1976. Lisa Montgomery of Kansas received a lethal injection in January 2021 after the Trump administration resumed executions in the federal system after a 17-year hiatus. The Ministry of Justice again stopped the executions at the Biden administration.
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