A Houston jury yesterday rejected the death penalty against a man convicted in the murder of a Houston police officer. Instead, the jury gave the man life without parole. The jury’s decision reflects a growing decline nationwide and in Texas in death sentences.

The Houston Chronicle reports:

One juror said Juan Leonardo Quintero’s life still has value.

Another said a convicted cop killer, even one in the country illegally, deserves mercy.

Neither sentiment offered much consolation to family members of murdered Houston police officer Rodney Johnson, who were stunned Tuesday when a jury spared Quintero and sent him to prison for life with no chance of parole.

Asked by state District Judge Joan Campbell if he had anything to say before he was sentenced, the 34-year-old Quintero replied, “I’m sorry.”

Johnson arrested the landscaper from Mexico during a Sept. 21, 2006, traffic stop. The 12-year police veteran didn’t notice Quintero was hiding a gun, which, while handcuffed in the patrol car’s back seat, he used to shoot Johnson seven times.

Quintero’s lawyers had argued unsuccessfully that he was criminally insane and incapable of knowing his actions were wrong.

“I believe he has value,” said juror Letty Burkholder, of Houston. “He’s loved by many of his family and friends, and that was number one. I felt like he has potential.”

Here is an excerpt from a report from Gloria Rubac from yesterday’s Summit on Wrongful Convictions:

Six of us with the Abolition Movement went to Austin today for the Summit on Wrongful Convictions sponsored by Texas Senator Rodney Ellis.

Today was an amazing day — meeting 9 exonerees, meeting the Dallas DA that has the courage to do the right thing, speaking with legislators who agree with us that DA’s that commit misconduct should go to jail. We met with Jeff Blackburn, attorney and founder of the Innocence Project of Texas who is working with the Dallas DA and has agreed to work with us to get help for Howard Guidry, an innocent man on death row.

Regina Guidry did an interview with German TV, in German, I assume, about Howard.

The few people not enjoying the day were Roe Wilson, Harris County DA who handles post conviction capital murder appeals. Also Rissie Owens, chair of the Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Sen John Whitmire made Roe Wilson look like she needed Pepto Bismol, according to Ester King. And Lee Greenwood took both of Rissie Owens hands in hers and spoke to her about her allowing the murder of her son, Joseph Nichols, a man who had killed no one. I hope that keeps Ms. Owens awake tonight and every other night. Looking into the eyes of a mother in pain whose child you have murdered couldn’t be easy if you have any sense of humanity. And we don’t know if she does or not.

We got a commitment from State Rep. Terri Hodge to attend the 9th Annual March to Stop Executions in Houston on October 25.

From the AP:

Perhaps the most notorious case of bad eyewitness ID came from James Waller, who was identified by a rape victim by his eyes and the sound of his voice. The rapist in that case was described as being 5-foot-8. Waller, who is 6-foot-4, spent 10 years in prison.

Among the more intriguing reforms mentioned was a crime lab oversight group that would have the same sort of authority health inspectors wield at restaurants. Judge Barbara Hervey of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals referred to the idea as a pet project of hers, adding that Texas would be the first state in the nation to enact such a plan.

Along the same lines was the idea of regional crime and DNA labs operated independently of police departments, a topic broached by Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt. That idea was also favored by state Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Cheryl Johnson, who acknowledged that crime labs run by police departments can present conflicts.

Reforms in Dallas County also drew praise. Under District Attorney Craig Watkins, Dallas has begun a program in which law students, supervised by the Innocence Project of Texas, are reviewing hundreds of requests by inmates for post-conviction DNA testing.

“It can be argued that Texas … may have one of the worst criminal justice systems in this country,” Watkins said. “We have to start where we have the most problems.”

Jeff Blackburn, the chief counsel for the Innocence Project of Texas, also suggested overhauling how the courts deal with writs filed by inmates. Blackburn pointed out that James Woodard, who was released last week, was labeled an abuser of the system after filing six writs and two requests for DNA testing.

But the event’s most powerful moments belonged to those who had been exonerated. Billy Smith talked about how he considered suicide once or twice a year during his 19-year prison stay for a rape he did not commit. Waller spoke of his wife, who was eight months pregnant, dying in a car accident on the way to one of his court hearings.

“I’m 52 years old and I have no kids,” Waller said. “Texas took that away from me.”

The applause was loudest when Giles tore up his sex offender registration card, something he had to carry for 15 years while he was on parole before getting exonerated. He ripped it up, he said, because he had a new card to carry: a voter registration card.

“You talk about being afraid, being scared, being locked up, going to jail,” Giles said. “That’s a nightmare that sometimes you never overcome.”

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The nation’s first execution since Sept 25, 2007 is scheduled for tonight in Georgia. According to the AP, “the Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday denied William Earl Lynd’s request for a stay of execution, paving the way for him to become the first inmate in the nation to face execution since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that lethal injection is constitutional.”

The first execution in Texas is scheduled for June 3 when people will gather at the capitol in Austin to protest the resumption of executions.

Derrick Sonnier June 3
TDCJ Info on Charles Sonnier

Charles Hood June 17
TDCJ Info on Charles Hood

Lester Bower July 22
TDCJ Info on Lester Bower

Larry Davis July 31
TDCJ Info on Larry Davis

(Austin, TX; April 29, 2008) – State Senator Rodney Ellis today announced that a day-long Summit on Wrongful Convictions will be held May 8 at the State Capitol in Austin to determine the causes of wrongful convictions in Texas and identify reforms that can prevent them.

Today’s release of James Lee Woodard in Dallas — based on DNA tests showing that he did not commit a murder 27 years ago for which he was wrongfully convicted — comes just one week after Thomas McGowan was freed based on DNA results showing he did not commit the Dallas County rape and burglary for which he spent 23 years in prison. Woodard is represented by the Innocence Project of Texas; McGowan is represented by the Innocence Project. Eighteen people have now been freed based on post-conviction DNA testing in Dallas, and more than 30 people in Texas have been fully exonerated based on DNA results.

As a result of the unprecedented number of exonerations in Texas, key leaders from across the state will gather in Austin on May 8 for a landmark Summit on Wrongful Convictions. Judges, lawmakers, defense attorneys, prosecutors, exonerees, professors and many others will come together for the Summit. The Summit will mark the first time any state’s criminal justice leaders have initiated a high-level meeting themselves to address wrongful convictions. Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis is spearheading the Summit, and Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck will attend. The Summit will be open to the public.

“We’ve reached a tipping point on wrongful convictions in Texas. Nobody can seriously doubt that there’s a problem, and next week leaders from across our criminal justice system will come together to start solving it,” Senator Ellis said today. “We will bring a wide range of leaders, experts and exonerees together for a full day to develop concrete, common-sense remedies to make our system of justice more fair and accurate. We won’t solve these serious problems in one day, but we will make historic strides toward restoring confidence in our criminal justice system.”

The Summit on Wrongful Convictions will be held on the Senate Floor at the State Capitol from noon to 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 8. Additional details will be circulated early next week