June 3
TEXAS—-stay of execution
Appeals court stays execution for Harris County killer—-Sonnier murdered
Humble woman and toddle
2 last-minute appeals filed today halted Texas' first planned execution
after a nine-month hiatus.
The Court of Criminal Appeals granted the stay after attorneys for the
Texas Defender Service took up Derrick Juan Sonnier's case in the last few
days. The length of the stay has not been determined.
The 40-year-old was sentenced to die for the 1991 stabbing deaths of
Melody Flowers, 27, and her 2-year-old son Patrick.
The Texas Defender Service submitted an appeal arguing that the state
recently made changes to its 3-drug cocktail protocol. The changes have
not been reviewed by any court. The 2nd appeal also contends the lethal
injection protocol violates the constitutional prohibition on cruel and
unusual punishment. That contention has not been addressed by Texas courts
following the Kentucky decision.
Michelle Lyons, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice, said the protocol had not changed. Prison officials, however,
made changes to internal written procedures in light of the Supreme
Court's ruling on lethal injection in April, which upheld the procedure
used in Texas and dozens of other states.
The state, for example, added the minimum amount of training executioners
receive.
"We clarified in writing what we were already doing," Lyons said, "The
protocol remains the same."
If the execution had occurred, Sonnier would have been the first Texan to
be put to death since September, when the Supreme Court took up a Kentucky
case that challenged the constitutionality of the lethal injection
process. Sonnier had been scheduled to die in February, but prosecutors
set aside that date to await the high court's ruling.
2 of her Melody Flowers' daughters and other family members had planned to
witness Tuesday's execution.
On Sept. 16, 1991, police found Melody Flowers in the tub of her Humble
apartment.
The single mother of five had been bludgeoned with a claw hammer, raped,
strangled and stabbed. Her body was dumped in the partially filled
bathtub. The stabbed body of her toddler, Patrick, was on top of her.
Sonnier was dating one of Melody Flowers' close friends and lived near
Flowers and her children. Authorities said Sonnier had stalked Flowers for
months, once even slipping into her apartment when she was not home.
The day of the murders, neighbors reported seeing Sonnier with a wounded
hand wrapped in a towel. In his apartment, where Sonnier lived with his
girlfriend, police found Melody Flowers' bloody blouse and a blood-soaked
towel that also belonged to her.
Police later found a grocery bag stashed in a field near the complex that
had his bloody socks, shoes, and other items that connected him to the
crime.
Sonnier has maintained his innocence in the case.
********************
Read the appeals in today's stay of execution
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay of execution for
Derrick Sonnier this afternoon.
The stay was requested by Texas Defender Service lawyers, including Maurie
Levin in Austin.
The request for a stay is here.
The organization also filed a 2nd petition that goes into greater detail.
Both petitions argued that the Texas court has not reviewed the way the
state administers lethal injection despite requesting briefs on 2
challenges. The motions also noted that Texas recently changed its
execution protocol, but no court has reviewed the change.
The court halted tonight's execution without elaborating.
Sonnier, 40, was sentenced to die for the 1991 killing of a suburban
Houston woman and her son. Melody Flowers and her 2-year-old son, Patrick,
were stabbed. She also was beaten with a hammer and strangled. He has
maintained his innocence.
(source: Austin Legal)
************************
AP's Mike Graczyk reports, "Appeals court grants stay for Texas inmate."
The appeal says the Texas procedure would cause Sonnier unconstitutional
pain and suffering. It also says the Texas procedure specifically had not
been reviewed legally in light of the Kentucky case.
Additionally, according to the appeal, Texas Department of Criminal
Justice officials changed their written execution protocols within the
past week, and those changes haven't been reviewed by courts.
(source: Associated Press)
**************************
Harris County killer set for execution today—-Sonnier murdered Humble
woman and toddler
Derrick Juan Sonnier is expected to enter Texas' death chamber this
evening and, unless a late court order halts his execution, will become
the first condemned killer put to death in the state in about 9 months.
Sonnier was sentenced to die for the 1991 stabbing deaths of an Humble
woman and her young son.
Michael Richard, 48, the most recent Texas killer to be executed, was put
to death Sept. 25 the same day the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider
a Kentucky challenge of the constitutionality of lethal injection.
Texas, and other states across the country that use the same 3-drug
procedure, postponed all executions to await the high court's ruling.
Sonnier, 40, had been set to die Feb. 26, but Harris County prosecutors
voluntarily set aside the date. In April, after the Supreme Court upheld
lethal injections, Sonnier's execution date was rescheduled for today.
Jani Maselli, Sonnier's attorney, said she had exhausted all issues in his
case. Other attorneys took interest in the case a few days ago, however,
and may file a last-minute appeal today, she said.
A spokeswoman for the Texas Attorney General's Office said no filing had
been made as of 1 p.m.
On Sept. 16, 1991, police found Melody Flowers, 27, in the bathtub of her
Humble apartment.
The single mother of 5 had been bludgeoned with a claw hammer, raped,
strangled and stabbed. Her body was dumped in the partially filled bathtub
and the body of her toddler, Patrick, also stabbed, was on top of her.
Sonnier was dating one of Flowers' friends and lived just 2 doors away
from her apartment. Authorities said he stalked Flowers for months,
sometimes slipping into her apartment when she was away.
One time, she found him hiding in her bedroom closet, authorities said.
The day of the murders, neighbors reported seeing Sonnier with a wounded
hand wrapped in a bloody towel. In his apartment, where he lived with his
girlfriend, police found Flowers' bloody blouse and a blood-soaked towel
that also belonged to her.
Police said they later found a grocery bag stashed in a field near the
complex that had his bloody socks, shoes and other items that linked him
to the crime.
"He took everything from us," Flowers' eldest daughter, Tameka Traylor,
recently told the Chronicle. "When he gave them the death sentence, he
took the only person that loved us away from us … and my brother didn't
even have a chance to live his life."
(source: Houston Chronicle)
*************
Cop killer's case appealed to 5th U.S. Circuit
The case of David Lee Powell, convicted for the 1978 machine-gun killing
of an Austin police officer, will be appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals on Tuesday.
The 56-year-old Powell, who was convicted of killing Officer Ralph
Ablanedo, a 6-year veteran of the Austin Police Department, is currently
the longest-serving resident of Texas' death row. He was 27 at the time of
the crime.
Texas jurors convicted Powell and sentenced him to death months after the
killing.
The U.S. Supreme Court vacated his sentence in 1989. In a 2nd trial in
1991, Powell was again sentenced to death. The Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals vacated the sentence, but jurors in 1999 upheld the death penalty
decision.
(source: Associated Press)