Post by SoulTrainOz on Jul 26, 2006 7:18:48 GMT -5
A man convicted of fatally shooting a Tyler woman at her home and stealing jewelry, money and her car has won a temporary reprieve from execution after his lawyers argued he is mentally handicapped.
Allen Bridgers, had been scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday night. But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday ordered his case back to Smith County for the trial court to consider whether he is mentally handicapped. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that mentally handicapped people cannot be executed.
"I'm hopeful that he meets the criteria," said Bridgers' lawyer, Kenneth Nash.
In an interview last month from outside death row, Bridgers, 35, suggested drug use played a role in the 1997 killing of Mary Amie, 53, who was shot with her own pistol. He said he was high crack cocaine.
"I'm guilty of the crime but I wasn't in the right frame of mind,"
Bridgers said. "I took a life but I shouldn't go pay for it with my life. It's like them playing God. I just want people to understand I'm not a bad person. I'm no serial killer. I just made a mistake."
Nash declined comment on Bridgers' statements. The lawyer said he believes the evidence of old intelligence tests and expert testimony will show that Bridgers is mentally handicapped.
Bridgers' case will go before District Judge Cynthia Kent, who presided over his trial, Nash said.
Bridgers had been living with the victim at her trailer home for several weeks after being introduced by the woman's nephew, a truck driver who brought Bridgers to Texas from Norfolk, Va., where Bridgers' family lived.
Acting on a tip from an informant, police in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,
arrested Bridgers 3 days after Amie's body was found by a niece. He then confessed to the shooting, saying he knew Amie was carrying in her purse several thousand dollars, including money she had borrowed from a bank to build a fence around her place.
He said after she climbed into bed, he pulled out a gun she kept beside her bed and pulled the trigger. The first shot misfired. A second wounded her in the back. He told police he fired 2 more times because he "didn't want nobody to hear her hollering."
Then he grabbed her purse and the keys to her Lincoln Town Car and drove off. He used some of the money for crack, for 2 women he took to a motel room, then drove to Dallas, where he left the car parked near a bus station, pawned jewelry that was in the purse and bought a plane ticket to Florida.
Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.
Bridgers would have been the 17th condemned prisoner to receive lethal injection this year in Texas, the nation's most active capital punishment state, and the 3rd over the past 7 days. 3 more inmates are scheduled to die next month.
He initially was scheduled to die May 16, 2001, the same day Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh also was to be executed. Both received reprieves, although McVeigh was put to death a few weeks later.
(source: Houston Chronicle)
Allen Bridgers, had been scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday night. But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday ordered his case back to Smith County for the trial court to consider whether he is mentally handicapped. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that mentally handicapped people cannot be executed.
"I'm hopeful that he meets the criteria," said Bridgers' lawyer, Kenneth Nash.
In an interview last month from outside death row, Bridgers, 35, suggested drug use played a role in the 1997 killing of Mary Amie, 53, who was shot with her own pistol. He said he was high crack cocaine.
"I'm guilty of the crime but I wasn't in the right frame of mind,"
Bridgers said. "I took a life but I shouldn't go pay for it with my life. It's like them playing God. I just want people to understand I'm not a bad person. I'm no serial killer. I just made a mistake."
Nash declined comment on Bridgers' statements. The lawyer said he believes the evidence of old intelligence tests and expert testimony will show that Bridgers is mentally handicapped.
Bridgers' case will go before District Judge Cynthia Kent, who presided over his trial, Nash said.
Bridgers had been living with the victim at her trailer home for several weeks after being introduced by the woman's nephew, a truck driver who brought Bridgers to Texas from Norfolk, Va., where Bridgers' family lived.
Acting on a tip from an informant, police in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,
arrested Bridgers 3 days after Amie's body was found by a niece. He then confessed to the shooting, saying he knew Amie was carrying in her purse several thousand dollars, including money she had borrowed from a bank to build a fence around her place.
He said after she climbed into bed, he pulled out a gun she kept beside her bed and pulled the trigger. The first shot misfired. A second wounded her in the back. He told police he fired 2 more times because he "didn't want nobody to hear her hollering."
Then he grabbed her purse and the keys to her Lincoln Town Car and drove off. He used some of the money for crack, for 2 women he took to a motel room, then drove to Dallas, where he left the car parked near a bus station, pawned jewelry that was in the purse and bought a plane ticket to Florida.
Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.
Bridgers would have been the 17th condemned prisoner to receive lethal injection this year in Texas, the nation's most active capital punishment state, and the 3rd over the past 7 days. 3 more inmates are scheduled to die next month.
He initially was scheduled to die May 16, 2001, the same day Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh also was to be executed. Both received reprieves, although McVeigh was put to death a few weeks later.
(source: Houston Chronicle)