Nov. 10
TEXAS—-impending execution
Cuban native set to die for Houston slaying
A Cuban-born man identified as a ranking member of a Hispanic Texas prison
gang has exhausted his appeals and is headed for the death chamber for the
robbery-slaying of a Houston drug dealer more than 10 years ago.
Yosvanis Valle, known to friends as "El Cubano," denies killing
28-year-old drug dealer Jose Martin Junco at a Houston home. Valle says
there's little he can do and he's at peace with the likelihood he'll
receive lethal injection Tuesday evening in Huntsville.
Prosecutors say the 34-year-old Valle is responsible for several other
murders as part of the gang La Raza Unida, or A Race United.
He would be the 21st prisoner executed in Texas this year.
(source: Associated Press)
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Texas Inmate 'At Peace' with Scheduled Tuesday Execution —- A Cuban-born
Texas inmate scheduled for execution Tuesday there's little he can do and
he's at peace with the likelihood he'll receive lethal injection.
A Cuban-born Texas inmate man identified by officials as a ranking member
of a Hispanic Texas prison gang has exhausted his appeals.
Yosvanis Valle is headed to the death chamber at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday for the
robbery-slaying of a Houston drug dealer more than 10 years ago.
Valle, known to friends as "El Cubano," denies killing 28-year-old drug
dealer Jose Martin Junco at a Houston home but says there's little he can
do and he's at peace with the likelihood he'll receive lethal injection
Tuesday evening in Huntsville.
Prosecutors say the 34-year-old Valle is responsible for several other
murders as part of the gang La Raza Unida, or A Race United.
Valle is the 21st prisoner scheduled for execution in Texas this year.
(source: KWTX News)
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Texas Senate hearing today to focus on panel that reviewed 2004 arson case
The Legislature today will conduct its 1st hearing on a state panel that
created a firestorm by calling into question the arson investigation that
led to the 2004 execution of a Corsicana man.
John Bradley, the new chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission,
is expected to face sharp questioning by the Senate Criminal Justice
Committee.
Committee Chairman John Whitmire, the Houston Democrat who wrote the 2005
legislation that created the commission, has said he wants to know
Bradley's plans for the commission and whether it will hear from an expert
critical of arson evidence used against Cameron Todd Willingham.
Bradley has said he would recommend that the commission complete its
review of forensic science in the case. Willingham was executed in 2004
after Gov. Rick Perry reviewed his case and declined to intervene.
But the commission first needs to establish written policies and
procedures, said Bradley, the district attorney in Williamson County.
"Not a very scientific approach so far," he said in an e-mail Monday.
Willingham was convicted of setting fire to his Corsicana home a few days
before Christmas 1991, killing his 3 children. The investigation that
found evidence of arson has since been questioned by several arson
specialists.
Some recruited by the Innocence Project, a national advocacy group, and
one hired by the commission said the evidence used to prove that
Willingham had spread accelerants, such as lighter fluid, was based on
now-discredited beliefs about fire and accelerants.
Perry and Corsicana officials have defended the criminal justice system,
saying that the execution was not solely dependent on the arson
investigation and that other evidence was presented to the jury.
Perry's September decision to replace his four appointees to the
nine-member commission created a controversy, including suggestions he was
trying to punt the review past his bid for re-election.
Bradley said Monday, though, that the commission needs criteria for
selecting which cases it reviews and a way to oversee the investigators it
hires through competitive bidding. And it needs "some period of
confidentiality," to allow for internal discussions and review of
investigative documents, before it discusses cases in public, he said.
Austin criminal defense lawyer Sam Bassett, the commission's previous
chairman, said he agrees that "reports and documents should remain in the
commission's hands" until it issues a final report about a case.
The commission reluctantly released an expert's report that it
commissioned on the Willingham case soon after the report was submitted in
August because the attorney general's office advised that it was a public
document, Bassett said.
He said private meetings, though, will undercut public faith in the
commission.
"It's a commission dealing with cases that have already been through the
judicial system," Bassett said. "It's more of a policy commission. …
We're not trying to arrest somebody."
Bradley said Bassett has admitted he was nervous about possible problems
at a commission hearing on the Willingham case, originally scheduled for
Oct. 2 but canceled by Bradley, whom Perry had appointed 2 days earlier.
He said the commission needs to guard against efforts by opponents of
capital punishment to turn its hearings into "a big anti-death penalty
forum."
But, Bassett added: "I'm concerned that it is going to take too long."
(source: Dallas Morning News)
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Senate panel needs clarity from forensics chairman
Today's hearing of the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee needs to
produce clarity in the Cameron Todd Willingham inquiry.
Members have a roadmap from the new chairman of Texas Forensic Science
Commission, who indicated last week where he intends to steer his agency
and how he intends to handle the explosive Willingham matter.
The good news is that John Bradley, appointed to the job in September by
Gov. Rick Perry, flatly promises to complete the review of the
arson-murder investigation that led to Willingham's execution in 2004.
Anything less would be unacceptable, since many Texans are concerned about
whether slipshod forensic work contributed to the execution of an innocent
man.
What's less clear is Bradley's sense of urgency and openness, and it's
these areas that demand the committee's close inspection.
In a lengthy commentary submitted to newspapers over the weekend, Bradley,
also Williamson County's district attorney, said producing a solid report
on the Willingham forensics "takes time" and requires "careful
deliberation." Further, he said the fledgling forensic panel launched the
Willingham inquiry its first without benefit of written policies and
procedures.
Because of the political backdrop of Bradley's appointment, committee
members must make sure his intentions don't even remotely resemble a stall
tactic.
Perry seemed to be in defensive mode in September when he bounced
Bradley's predecessor from the job. The forensics panel was about to
review a paid consultant's scathing critique of the original Willingham
arson investigators, and critics demanded to know whether the governor had
presided over an innocent man's execution. Perry's replacement of the
commission chairman looked like the politically motivated dodge of a
candidate for re-election.
Perry has a lot to lose with the outcome of the Willingham inquiry. He
would eliminate the threat if the outcome didn't happen until, oh …
2011.
For his part, Bradley pledged to approach his job "without political
favor," as the Austin American-Statesman quoted him on Sunday.
The Senate panel needs to know more. Members, in fact, should pin him down
on a timeline for shaping up commission procedures and reaching
conclusions on the science behind the Willingham case.
The public also deserves clarity on what Bradley meant in bemoaning the
fact that forensic commission reports and materials are not required to be
kept confidential. He said even the "sensitive process of receiving a
complaint" ought to have the "protections" of confidentiality.
On the contrary, if someone has a beef with the way cops, prosecutors and
courts do their business, we can think of no justification to keep it
hush-hush. Bradley will have a difficult time making his case for this
kind of secrecy.
(source: Editorial, Dallas Morning News)