Supreme Court Refuses To Reinstate Texas Death Sen

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(June 30, 2006)—U.S. Supreme Court justices refused without comment Friday to consider reinstating the death sentence of Gregory Russeau in the murder of an elderly auto mechanic during a 2001 robbery in Tyler.

The case is among more than 50 that acted on by the court Friday, a day after justices were on the bench for the last time.

Justices return to the bench in October.

Russeau was convicted in the slaying of 75-year-old James Syvertson.

But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled last June that Russeau's Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him was violated during the penalty phase of his trial.

Source:

www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/3258436.html

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RUSSEAU GETS NEW PUNISHMENT TRIAL FOR CAPITAL MURDER

By CASEY KNAUPP,
Tyler Morning Telegraph
July 1, 2006

Gregory Russeau will receive a new Smith County trial to determine whether
he receives life in prison or lethal injection for the 2001 capital murder
of a local auto mechanic, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday.

The justices did not comment on their opinion, refusing to review the
decision of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The Supreme Court's
decision means that the appeals court's reversal of Russeau's punishment
trial, overturning his death sentence, remains in effect.

The ruling does not affect his capital murder conviction for killing
75-year-old James Syvertson on May 30, 2001. Syverston's body was found in
his Vine Avenue mechanic shop. The defendant, who was on parole with a
pending theft charge, was found in Longview in the victim's car.

The Attorney General's Office appealed the reversal decision to the U.S.
Supreme Court.

After three years on death row, Russeau could avoid the death chamber after
the appellate court ruled that his Sixth Amendment right was violated. The
Court of Criminal Appeals found that the 35-year-old's Sixth Amendment right
to confront witnesses against him was violated when witness statements were
admitted into evidence while those witnesses didn't testify during the
penalty phase of his trial. The ruling states that the trial court "erred"
in admitting into evidence Smith County Jail incident reports and Texas
Department of Criminal Justice disciplinary reports containing statements
written by corrections officers. The documents alleged repeated disciplinary
offenses by Russeau while he was incarcerated.

The officers' statements relied upon their own observations or the
observations of others, but no one who saw the disciplinary offenses
testified at Russeau's trial. Most of the reports were read aloud to the
jury during the punishment trial.

Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham has said that before 2004,
records could be admitted under the business record exception to the hearsay
rule. But Crawford v. Washington, a case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court,
found that it was unconstitutional.

Russeau is defended by Tyler attorneys Clifton Roberson and Brandon Baade.

The punishment trial will be held in 114th District Judge Cynthia Stevens
Kent's court.