We cant say exactly how long, but we certainly dont want her to spend one day longer in prison than is absolutely necessary.. As a result, they argue, in part, executing her would violate constitutional guarantees of a right to protection from cruel and unusual punishment. ", Now, the power to save Lucio lies in the hands of Texas' Republican Governor Greg Abbott, the Board of Pardons and Parole, and the current Cameron County District Attorney, Luis V. Saenz, whose office said in a statement to CBS News: "A jury of (Lucio's) peers rendered to her a verdict. The appeals court order sends Lucios case back to her trial court in the 138th Judicial District in Cameron County, along the border with Mexico at Texass southernmost tip. When the news broke, the small crowd gathered outside the governors public reception room at the Texas Capitol erupted with cheers: The states Court of Criminal Appeals had stayed Melissa Lucios impending execution. One of Mariah's other siblings witnessed the fall and later, when interviewed by Child Protective Services after Mariah's death, stated that he saw his sibling fall down the stairs.". Instead, just before 1 p.m., Bonowitzs phone rang. "Ever since this accident took place, there has been a great division amongst us. Attorneys for Melissa Lucio filed for clemency on Tuesday, just a month before her execution date on April 27. Melissa Lucio (Provided by the Lucio family) Lucio and her children struggled through poverty. ", Another of Lucio's children, Bobby Alvarez, carries the words of his mom tattooed on his chest: "I'll always be with you, and here I'll always stay." Speaking at the press conference, Keith responded to Saenzs statement. She was sexually abused at the age of 6 by one of her family members (her mothers boyfriend). Detectives rushed to judgment and, just two hours after Mariah died, took Ms. Lucio in for questioning. But the trial judge ruled that testimony "irrelevant," according to court documents. In an undated photo, Melissa Lucio is pictured with one of her young children. Among those calling for a stay of execution are a bipartisan group of 103 members of the Texas legislature - including 32 Republican . That's what Lucio told first responders and the police. hide caption. Melissa Lucio's son has vowed to "keep fighting until she gets to come home" as the case of the Texas mother-of-14 heads to state court following her last-minute stay of execution.. Bobby . Many were put up for adoption while others were split up and sent to live with relatives or placed in the custody of the state. The trial court will also be asked to consider the claim that Lucio is innocent of murder. In 2007, Lucio's family was living in a second-floor apartment in Harlingen, in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, and the family was preparing and packing to move to a new home. Without any legal representation, Melissa was fiercely interrogated by Cameron County TX police for 7 hours. Later, after receiving many letters, punishments, executions and defense statements from Lucios lawyer, Lucio was still being interrogated for the murder of her then youngest child of a total of 12 children born to her due to two marriages. Opinion is divided on her guilt, though - many of her living children have backed up her claim of innocence, and five of the jurors who convicted her have since expressed misgivings over the verdict. "Oh, it's definitely exculpatory," Schardl replied. Hawara: 'What happened was horrific and barbaric'. Texas state Rep. Jeff Leach via AP At the time, the family was moving homes, and she reportedly fell due to her physical disability, which left her feet turned to the side, making her unable to walk and prone to tripping. "She is not guilty of the death of my baby sister.". Five of the trial's 12 jurors have called for her clemency. Shortly after the court delivered the stay, state Rep. Jeff Leach called Lucio. The state of Texas has issued a death warrant seeking to execute Melissa Lucio (pictured), a battered woman who was sentenced to death for what may have been an accidental fall that killed her two-year-old daughter.She is scheduled to be executed April 27, 2022. According to NPR, Lucio is an abuse survivor and was sexually assaulted multiple times starting at the age of six, and was then physically . Research says Mariah was physically abused, and people like Ms. Lucio often agree to conditions they never condemned while under tremendous pressure from the majority of people. Her lawyers say Lucio's history of sexual and physical abuse led to her giving an unreliable confession. Lucio's supporters say many of the issues in her trial trace back to the head prosecutor in the case, Armando Villalobos. Mariahs father, Roberto Antonio Alvarez was also arrested in relation to her death but he was only convicted of endangering a child and sentenced to four years in prison. The fact that Lucio was granted a stay at all is also relatively unusual; the Court of Criminal Appeals rarely sticks its neck out to pause the states machinery of death. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Melissa Lucio, 53, would be the first Latina executed by Texas and the first woman since 2014. . The lawyers asked the court to block the execution and send the case back to the lower court for further scrutiny and ultimately, a new trial. Prosecutors say Lucio fatally beat Mariah but Lucio has long denied that, saying her daughter died from injuries sustained during a fall down a flight of stairs. In an undated photo, Melissa Lucio is pictured with one of her young children. According to Lucio, she was once sexually abused by her mothers boyfriend. "We ask you not to tear those wounds open again. Melissa Lucio is scheduled to be executed next week for a crime she says she didn't commit one that may not have even occurred. But minutes before the boards decision was anticipated, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued its ruling. Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio, dressed in white, leads a group of seven Texas lawmakers in prayer on April 6 in a room at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit reviewed Lucio's case and overturned it, finding that she had been denied the opportunity to present a full defense at her trial and that a new trial was warranted. According to an interrogation with Lucio about the death of their then-youngest child, Mariah fell down a flight of stairs in February 2007 while the family was moving. Melissa Lucio is scheduled to be executed next week for a crime she says she didn't commit one that may not have even occurred. It was fitting that Leach would deliver the news. But two days before the 53-year-old mother of 14 children was due to be executed, she was given a second chance. Although the official documents say that Lucio was born in 1968, her relatives and closest members say that she was born in 1969. Melissa Lucio is the mother of 14 children, five from her first marriage and nine from her second, according to theInnocence Project. There were two possible avenues of relief for Lucio. Mariah reportedly did not have any visible injuries, but after Lucio put her down for a nap, she did not wake up and was later taken to the hospital, where she was declared dead. According to the reports, she has undergone a continuous and repetitive highly abnormal level of vulnerability. Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Melissa Lucio is the mother of 14 children, five from her first marriage and nine from her second, according to theInnocence Project. While in interrogation, Lucio had denied murdering her child dozens of times, but her lawyers argue that her history of sexual assault and abuse often leads to false confessions, NPR reports. 02:43 - Source: CNN. So, I really try not to think about the future, because right now I have what I want. hide caption. Her husband continued to abuse her physically, emotionally, and sexually, producing 5 children even at the age of being minor, and abandoned the whole family leaving behind Lucio and her kids. But it seems the relentless pressure from activists and lawmakers, combined with the mounting evidence of Lucios innocence, was too much to simply ignore. The Texas courts have spared Melissa Lucio's life. On April 27, the day Lucio was set to die, they held another rally outside the Cameron Country DAs office, this time calling on Saenz to drop the charges. Instead, police subjected Lucio to a punishing late-night interrogation lasting more than five hours. Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz who was not the DA at the time of Lucio's trial told Texas lawmakers last week that he would move to delay Lucio's execution if the Board of Pardons and Paroles rejects calls for clemency and the courts don't intervene. We felt like David and Goliath, she said, as she and Luna did what they could to push Lucios case into the spotlight. In 2014, Villalobos was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for racketeering and extortion. She also has the support of an unprecedented bipartisan coalition of 87 Texas lawmakers. "Right now, what I have is my family," Alvarez said. Greg Abbott to either grant an execution reprieve or commute her sentence. Just two days before Melissa Lucio was scheduled to be to be put to death, a Texas court on Monday halted her execution and sent her case back for review. At this time, it . The ruling, however, does delay Lucios execution indefinitely, Potkin said, while Lucio gets her first opportunity to present new evidence of her innocence claim in court. Lucio and her attorneys have not had success in reversing the initial verdict. What evidence would you have? Her attorneys are calling for a stay of her execution so her case may be reviewed. Texas is scheduled to execute Melissa Lucio next month. Ultimately, the two women hooked up with Abraham Bonowitz, executive director of Death Penalty Action, who had organized a campaign around Lucios case across Texas and beyond. Tivon Schardl, supervisory assistant federal public defender in the Capital Habeas Unit in Austin, and part of Lucio's current defense team, said the jurors were not given the full picture: "There's been just a concerted effort to keep this evidence from being considered.". Researchers say the risk of a false confession applies not only to traumatized kids, but . Director of The State of Texas vs. Melissa, Sabrina Van Tassel argues for Melissa Lucio's retrial. Melissa Lucio was sentenced to death in Texas after she confessed to beating her 2-year-old daughter, who later died. Have you heard the news? Melissa Lucio has given birth to 14 children. But she has always maintained her innocence, saying that the toddler had died from an accidental fall, not from "beating and torturing", as prosecutors in Texas claimed. In this undated photograph, Melissa Lucio holds one of her sons, John. Leach, a co-chair of the House Criminal Justice Reform Caucus, worked with Democratic Rep. Joe Moody to muster an unprecedented level of support for Lucio among an ideologically diverse group of more than 80 state representatives more than half of the members of the Texas House, a body that rarely comes to a decisive consensus about anything. As of 2021, Melissa has been on death row for 13 years. "Over 100 times, she asserted her innocence," said Potkin. According to the reports, she has gone through a continuous and repetitive highly abnormal level of vulnerability. Lawsuits claim it wrecked their teeth. Mariah is in my heart today and always.. Campaigners took up Melissa's cause as one of a miscarriage of justice. Lucio later had nine more children with her next husband, who was also found to be abusive towards her. After reviewing her claims and the evidence, the court would then make a recommendation to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which would ultimately decide whether Lucio gets a new trial. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much The lawyers also claim that the DAs office illegally withheld from Lucios trial counsel crucial documents generated by the states child welfare agency. Were confident that with the new evidence of innocence, if Melissa was retried today that she would be acquitted, Innocence Project attorney Vanessa Potkin told reporters on Monday afternoon. Police blamed Lucio for . Melissa Lucio is the first woman of an American Hispanic descent who was sentenced to death in Texas. She says she was coerced to confess by a Texas Ranger during her interrogation. They implored him to step up and withdraw it. Prosecutors at her . According to court documents submitted by Lucio's attorneys, she was sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend starting at the age of 6 abuse that lasted for two years . The biased investigation supported a prosecution led by a criminally corrupt prosecutor centered on an unreliable, contaminated confession and false scientific evidence that misled and inflamed the jury. We cannot allow the rule of law to be suspended and substituted by a court of public opinion.". "You know, it's my mom. The 53-year-old was convicted in 2008 for the murder of her 2-year- old daughter, and would be the first Latina killed by the state if her execution goes as planned. According to an interrogation with Lucio regarding the death of her youngest child of that time, Mariah fell down the stairs while the family was moving homes back in February 2007. How many covert wars, miscarriages of justice, and dystopian technologies would remain hidden if our reporters werent on the beat? John Oliver, the comedian, featured the case in a segment on wrongful convictions on his HBO news programme last month, and Kim Kardashian earlier this month tweeted a letter to the Texas governor signed by nine of Melissa's children pleading for her life to be spared. Update: Melissa Lucio's execution date has been set for April 27, 2022. But two days before the 53-year-old mother of 14 children was due to be executed, she was given a second chance. Mariah reportedly did not have any visible injuries, but after Lucio put her down for a nap, she did not wake up and was later taken to the hospital, where she was declared dead. Prosecutors at trial argued Lucio, now 53, was an abusive mother who caused the injuries that led to her daughter Mariahs death. "I am not here to shout," he said. ", Speaking to CBS Mornings he said: 'If they go through with it, they'll be killing an innocent woman.. 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