17 June 2010 :

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals threw out the death sentence of Adrian Estrada. Estrada, 26, hispanic, was sentenced to death in Bexar County on February 7, 2007 for killing 17-year-old Stephanie Sanchez and her unborn child on Dec. 12, 2005. Sanchez was three months pregnant when she was found dead in her family's home. The court said jurors who decided Adrian Estrada should die had incorrect information from a prosecution witness regarding prison restrictions on capital murder convicts who are given life without parole rather than a death sentence. Estrada contended testimony from A.P. Merillat, who investigates prison crimes for the state and has testified for prosecutors at death penalty trials, was incorrect when he said a convict sentenced to life without parole after 10 years could become eligible for the lowest classification level within the prison system, meaning he'd be eligible for less restriction on things like housing, jobs, commissary and recreation time. The issue was raised by jurors in a note sent to the judge during deliberations. The court upheld his conviction but Estrada, 26, now returns to a Bexar County court for a new punishment trial.