Post by SoulTrainOz on Jul 26, 2006 19:33:19 GMT -5
A Smith County capital murder convict won't be executed as planned this week after he won a stay on a claim of mental retardation, while another local defendant also scheduled to die will likely be kept from the death chamber.
Allen Bridgers, 35, was sentenced to die by lethal injection Tuesday for the May 25, 1997, capital murder of Tylerite Mary Amie, 53. The Virginia transient was issued a stay of execution Friday by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals after filing a last-minute claim that he was mentally retarded.
And Newton Anderson, 29, Tyler, was sentenced to be executed on Wednesday for the capital murder of Frank and Bertha Cobb, 71 and 61, on March 4, 1999. He had a pending federal appeal that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to review. Officials have said Anderson's stay of execution could be lifted if the appeal is resolved by the 5th Circuit, and Anderson still could face lethal injection this week.
Judge Cynthia Stevens Kent, of the 114th District Court, will have to schedule a court hearing where mental experts, who will be hired by prosecutors and defense attorneys, will testify on whether the killer meets Texas' definition of mental retardation.
If the judge rules Bridgers is retarded, his sentence will automatically be commuted to life in prison. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court prohibited the execution of mentally retarded people.
The burden of proof in a mental retardation claim is on the defense. The 3-pronged approach to diagnosing mental retardation includes below-average intellectual functioning, usually denoted by an IQ score of 70 or less, manifestation of the disorder by age 18 and consideration of adaptive functioning, or how a person operates in daily life.
Also on Friday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles ruled that it decided not to recommend the commutation of Bridger's death sentence to a term of life in prison, as petitioned by Bridgers' defense attorneys. He had exhausted his state and federal appeals, which were denied by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Bridgers, who was 27 at time of the murder, was a transient from Virginia who was staying with the victim at her Tyler home. Bridgers waited in bed with a .38-caliber pistol under his pillow while Ms. Amie took a shower, he told police in a taped confession. When she crawled into bed, he shot her in the back and face, stole $1,400 cash, as well as her car, purse and
jewelry, and fled to Florida. Bridgers said he was high on cocaine at the time.
Bridgers met Ms. Amie's nephew, Donnie Miller, at a Virginia truck stop and the 2 men traveled across country in Miller's 18-wheeler before he brought Bridgers home with him to Tyler. Bridgers lived with Ms. Amie off and on until her murder.
He was sentenced to death in 1998 and scheduled for execution in 2001, but was granted a stay to pursue federal appeals. Bridgers' trial counsel included Don Killingsworth and Mark Hall while Kenneth Nash is his appellate attorney.
Judge Kent said earlier that she understood that all of the victim's
family members are now deceased.
NEWTON ANDERSON
Anderson was convicted of torturing and killing the Cobbs before setting fire to their New Harmony home to conceal the evidence. Firefighters searched the residence for hours before the couple's charred remains were discovered. Cobb had been shot and his wife was raped, strangled, suffocated and shot before the fire.
A jury sentenced Anderson, who had a lengthy criminal history, to death in 2000.
Anderson, who was 23 at the time of the murder, escaped the courtroom during his trial and got to the back door of the Smith County Courthouse before being captured by an employee. His trial was then moved to Wood County.
Anderson once escaped from California authorities, and attempted to escape from the Smith County Jail as well as the courthouse in the same year. He also tried to bribe a Wood County jailer to unlock his cell door.
His appellate counsel is Scott Smith and his trial attorneys were F.R. "Buck" Files Jr. and Richard Kennedy.
In a court hearing in April, Judge Kent said the 5th Circuit would most likely issue a stay because of a pending appeal. The Cobbs' daughter, son and grandson were present during that proceeding.
JUSTIN FULLER
Justin Chaz Fuller, 27, of Tyler, is scheduled to be executed Aug. 24 for the capital murder of Donald Whittington III.
Unless he is granted a stay of execution, he will undergo lethal injection for killing the 21-year-old on April 27, 1997.
Judge Kent said during an April hearing that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has denied all of Fuller's appeals and affirmed the death sentence. But appellate attorney Scott Smith said he would file a federal appeal.
Whittington's parents and sister were in court during the proceeding, as well as Fuller's parents.
Fuller and three others were convicted in March 1998 of kidnapping, torturing and shooting Whittington to death during a robbery plot that began at the victim's Tyler apartment. The case inspired a new state law making it a crime to view a body without reporting it after investigators found Whittington's body after at least a dozen people saw it but did not contact authorities. Fuller was the only defendant sentenced to death in the case.
(source: Tyler Morning Telegraph)
Allen Bridgers, 35, was sentenced to die by lethal injection Tuesday for the May 25, 1997, capital murder of Tylerite Mary Amie, 53. The Virginia transient was issued a stay of execution Friday by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals after filing a last-minute claim that he was mentally retarded.
And Newton Anderson, 29, Tyler, was sentenced to be executed on Wednesday for the capital murder of Frank and Bertha Cobb, 71 and 61, on March 4, 1999. He had a pending federal appeal that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to review. Officials have said Anderson's stay of execution could be lifted if the appeal is resolved by the 5th Circuit, and Anderson still could face lethal injection this week.
Judge Cynthia Stevens Kent, of the 114th District Court, will have to schedule a court hearing where mental experts, who will be hired by prosecutors and defense attorneys, will testify on whether the killer meets Texas' definition of mental retardation.
If the judge rules Bridgers is retarded, his sentence will automatically be commuted to life in prison. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court prohibited the execution of mentally retarded people.
The burden of proof in a mental retardation claim is on the defense. The 3-pronged approach to diagnosing mental retardation includes below-average intellectual functioning, usually denoted by an IQ score of 70 or less, manifestation of the disorder by age 18 and consideration of adaptive functioning, or how a person operates in daily life.
Also on Friday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles ruled that it decided not to recommend the commutation of Bridger's death sentence to a term of life in prison, as petitioned by Bridgers' defense attorneys. He had exhausted his state and federal appeals, which were denied by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Bridgers, who was 27 at time of the murder, was a transient from Virginia who was staying with the victim at her Tyler home. Bridgers waited in bed with a .38-caliber pistol under his pillow while Ms. Amie took a shower, he told police in a taped confession. When she crawled into bed, he shot her in the back and face, stole $1,400 cash, as well as her car, purse and
jewelry, and fled to Florida. Bridgers said he was high on cocaine at the time.
Bridgers met Ms. Amie's nephew, Donnie Miller, at a Virginia truck stop and the 2 men traveled across country in Miller's 18-wheeler before he brought Bridgers home with him to Tyler. Bridgers lived with Ms. Amie off and on until her murder.
He was sentenced to death in 1998 and scheduled for execution in 2001, but was granted a stay to pursue federal appeals. Bridgers' trial counsel included Don Killingsworth and Mark Hall while Kenneth Nash is his appellate attorney.
Judge Kent said earlier that she understood that all of the victim's
family members are now deceased.
NEWTON ANDERSON
Anderson was convicted of torturing and killing the Cobbs before setting fire to their New Harmony home to conceal the evidence. Firefighters searched the residence for hours before the couple's charred remains were discovered. Cobb had been shot and his wife was raped, strangled, suffocated and shot before the fire.
A jury sentenced Anderson, who had a lengthy criminal history, to death in 2000.
Anderson, who was 23 at the time of the murder, escaped the courtroom during his trial and got to the back door of the Smith County Courthouse before being captured by an employee. His trial was then moved to Wood County.
Anderson once escaped from California authorities, and attempted to escape from the Smith County Jail as well as the courthouse in the same year. He also tried to bribe a Wood County jailer to unlock his cell door.
His appellate counsel is Scott Smith and his trial attorneys were F.R. "Buck" Files Jr. and Richard Kennedy.
In a court hearing in April, Judge Kent said the 5th Circuit would most likely issue a stay because of a pending appeal. The Cobbs' daughter, son and grandson were present during that proceeding.
JUSTIN FULLER
Justin Chaz Fuller, 27, of Tyler, is scheduled to be executed Aug. 24 for the capital murder of Donald Whittington III.
Unless he is granted a stay of execution, he will undergo lethal injection for killing the 21-year-old on April 27, 1997.
Judge Kent said during an April hearing that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has denied all of Fuller's appeals and affirmed the death sentence. But appellate attorney Scott Smith said he would file a federal appeal.
Whittington's parents and sister were in court during the proceeding, as well as Fuller's parents.
Fuller and three others were convicted in March 1998 of kidnapping, torturing and shooting Whittington to death during a robbery plot that began at the victim's Tyler apartment. The case inspired a new state law making it a crime to view a body without reporting it after investigators found Whittington's body after at least a dozen people saw it but did not contact authorities. Fuller was the only defendant sentenced to death in the case.
(source: Tyler Morning Telegraph)