15 April 2022 :
More than 1/2 of Texas senators join growing call to stop Melissa Lucio's execution
Melissa Lucio's execution date is scheduled for April 27. If she is not granted a reprieve, she would be the 1st Latina in Texas history to be executed in the modern era, and the first Texas woman in nearly a decade.
More than 1/2 of the Texas Senate has joined a growing list of lawmakers who are asking Gov. Greg Abbott and a state board to stop or delay the execution of Melissa Lucio, the Harlingen mother of 14 who is scheduled to be executed in less than 2 weeks.
After more than 80 members of the Texas House joined in a call for clemency for Lucio last month, the state senators followed suit Thursday. Nineteen of the Texas Senate's 31 members signed a letter calling for Lucio's reprieve.
"Among the constitutional deficiencies and improprieties Ms. Lucio faced during her trial, new evidence has surfaced that calls Ms. Lucio's conviction into question," Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr. (D-Brownsville) said in a release. "Accordingly, she deserves a reprieve from execution until her defense team can gather the new evidence needed to prove her innocence."
Lucio was convicted of capital murder in 2007 following the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah. She is scheduled to be killed by lethal injection on April 27. If she is not granted a reprieve or a stay of execution, she would be the first Latina to be put to death in Texas in the modern era, and the first Texas woman executed in nearly a decade.
Lucio, members of her family and her legal defense team argue Mariah's death was a tragic accident, and that she died from head trauma after falling down a flight of stairs. Her lawyers argue they have new evidence that proves Lucio's innocence, in addition to evidence that was deliberately hidden during her trial. They also argue her trial was marred by police and prosecutorial misconduct that led to a coerced confession that Lucio has since recanted.
Her application for clemency awaits a recommendation from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles before it can be sent to Abbott. Abbott could grant a 30-day stay of execution, but cannot issue a pardon or commute Lucio’s death sentence to life without a recommendation from the board.
Earlier this week, Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz shocked lawmakers when he told a Texas House Criminal Justice Reform committee that he has no desire to unilaterally make any moves in Lucio's case or to withdraw her death warrant, citing pending legal action. But he later walked back on his statement, saying he does not expect Lucio to be executed on April 27 and that he would ultimately intervene if the courts and the board do not did not make a decision before then.
https://sports.yahoo.com/majority-texas-senators-urge-state-174513058.html
