Post by SoulTrainOz on Jun 26, 2006 20:26:25 GMT -5
In Hondo, 500 Medina County residents have been summoned to the county fair hall today as potential jurors in the capital murder trial of Ramiro F. Gonzales.
Gonzales, 23, is charged with - and has confessed to - abducting and slaying Bandera resident Bridget Townsend, 18, on Jan. 15, 2001, during a burglary.
Testimony in the trial isn't slated to start until Aug. 7 because of the complex process used to seat juries in cases where the state plans to seek the death penalty.
Though not conceding a conviction, defense attorney Lisa Jarrett - and questions proposed for a survey of would-be jurors - are focused on that.
"I'm just trying to save his life," Jarrett said of Gonzales, who
confessed to the crime 3 years ago after being convicted of the kidnap and rape of another Bandera woman Sept. 3, 2001.
Given 2 life terms in that case, Gonzales then publicly admitted killing Townsend and led Bandera County deputies to her remains, just inside Medina County.
He claimed to have been high on drugs when he took Townsend, who he knew in middle school, from her beau's home.
District Attorney Tony Hackebeil, citing his limited staff and workload on other cases, asked prosecutors from the attorney general's office to make the state's case at trial.
Jarrett said her client, who has been held for the past year in Medina County Jail, "is ready for the trial to take place."
"He wants some closure, for himself and his family, as well as for
Bridget's family," she said.
The jury surveys are to be completed today, then reviewed by prosecutors and the defense.
Among the survey questions is, "What are your best arguments against the death penalty?"
Another part of the survey asks would-be jurors if they agree with the statement, "A person's background should be considered in determining whether to assess life or death as a punishment."
Jury candidates will return Thursday to the large fair hall, which is
being rented by the county for initial jury screening.
Once the pool is pared, the process will move to the county courthouse, where jurors will be questioned individually.
Several previous trial dates have been set and canceled, and each delay has deepened the grief of Bridget's mother, Patricia Townsend.
"For 3 years, I've just taken every day as it comes," she said in
December. "My family's been helping, and some organizations, but it's just hard to get a grip on reality."
Until last fall, she'd refused to accept that the bones pinpointed by Gonzales belonged to the youngest of her 3 kids. A positive identification of the remains was made from dental records.
Hackebeil and Jarrett said it's not unusual for capital murder cases to take years to reach trial after indictment.
Also upset by the pace of proceedings is the other woman Gonzales abducted in 2001 and took to the same ranch where Townsend's bones were later found. That woman managed to escape from a cabin where Gonzales had locked her and alerted police.
"Where is the justice in this case?" the woman asked District Judge Mickey Pennington, presiding in the murder trial, in an April 5 letter. "Who is responsible for this injustice?"
(source: San Antonio Express-News)
Gonzales, 23, is charged with - and has confessed to - abducting and slaying Bandera resident Bridget Townsend, 18, on Jan. 15, 2001, during a burglary.
Testimony in the trial isn't slated to start until Aug. 7 because of the complex process used to seat juries in cases where the state plans to seek the death penalty.
Though not conceding a conviction, defense attorney Lisa Jarrett - and questions proposed for a survey of would-be jurors - are focused on that.
"I'm just trying to save his life," Jarrett said of Gonzales, who
confessed to the crime 3 years ago after being convicted of the kidnap and rape of another Bandera woman Sept. 3, 2001.
Given 2 life terms in that case, Gonzales then publicly admitted killing Townsend and led Bandera County deputies to her remains, just inside Medina County.
He claimed to have been high on drugs when he took Townsend, who he knew in middle school, from her beau's home.
District Attorney Tony Hackebeil, citing his limited staff and workload on other cases, asked prosecutors from the attorney general's office to make the state's case at trial.
Jarrett said her client, who has been held for the past year in Medina County Jail, "is ready for the trial to take place."
"He wants some closure, for himself and his family, as well as for
Bridget's family," she said.
The jury surveys are to be completed today, then reviewed by prosecutors and the defense.
Among the survey questions is, "What are your best arguments against the death penalty?"
Another part of the survey asks would-be jurors if they agree with the statement, "A person's background should be considered in determining whether to assess life or death as a punishment."
Jury candidates will return Thursday to the large fair hall, which is
being rented by the county for initial jury screening.
Once the pool is pared, the process will move to the county courthouse, where jurors will be questioned individually.
Several previous trial dates have been set and canceled, and each delay has deepened the grief of Bridget's mother, Patricia Townsend.
"For 3 years, I've just taken every day as it comes," she said in
December. "My family's been helping, and some organizations, but it's just hard to get a grip on reality."
Until last fall, she'd refused to accept that the bones pinpointed by Gonzales belonged to the youngest of her 3 kids. A positive identification of the remains was made from dental records.
Hackebeil and Jarrett said it's not unusual for capital murder cases to take years to reach trial after indictment.
Also upset by the pace of proceedings is the other woman Gonzales abducted in 2001 and took to the same ranch where Townsend's bones were later found. That woman managed to escape from a cabin where Gonzales had locked her and alerted police.
"Where is the justice in this case?" the woman asked District Judge Mickey Pennington, presiding in the murder trial, in an April 5 letter. "Who is responsible for this injustice?"
(source: San Antonio Express-News)