Execution of Licho Escamilla
Licho Escamilla was executed by lethal injection on October 14, 2015 for the 2001 killing of police officer Christopher Kevin James. Escamilla was convicted of killing James in 2002. He was the 12th prisoner to be executed in Texas in 2015, and the 24th in the United States nationwide.[1]
Crime and arrest
[edit]According to court documents, Escamilla shot James twice, knocking him to the ground, and then fired three more shots into the back of his head.[2] While attempting to flee, he continued to exchange fire with other police officers.[1][2]
There was a warrant issued for Escamilla in the weeks leading up to James' death in connection with the shooting death of a neighbor.[3]
Escamilla fled to Mexico after Gauna's murder. After he was arrested for James' murder. Escamilla told his attorneys that he murdered Gauna but the admission was protected by attorney-client privilege. Quintin Alonzo was wrongly convicted of killing Gauna in 2003. Escamilla did not confess publicly to Gauna's murder until the day of his execution which started an investigation into Alonzo's wrongful conviction.[4] Three years later, in 2018, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals made a final ruling of "actual innocence" for Alonzo.[5]
Legal proceedings
[edit]Escamilla admitted to the killing on a televised interview he gave while in prison. His defense attorney's did not deny that Escamilla killed James but said the murder of an off-duty policy officer did not qualify for the death penalty. He was convicted in 2002 and received a death sentence. Escamilla became very agitated and aggressive when the sentence was announced in Court.[6][7]
After 13 years on death row he filed a habeas corpus petition based on mitigating evidence of an abusive childhood and substance abuse disorder that he said was not presented during sentencing.[6][2] The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit allowed Escamilla to appeal the district court's denial of his habeas petition and rejected his argument that Martinez v. Ryan and Trevino v. Thaler permitted the district court to consider new evidence on appeal that was not submitted to the state habeas court.[8][9] The Fifth Circuit considered Escamilla's Strickland claim without the new evidence and affirmed the district court's judgment.[10] The United States Supreme Court denied his petition for certiorari.[11]
Death
[edit]Escamilla was on death row for 13 years. He was 33 years old at the time of his execution on October 14, 2015.[12]
See also
[edit]- Capital punishment in Texas
- List of people executed in Texas, 2010–2019
- List of people executed in the United States in 2015
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Man who killed Dallas officer to be executed". Fox4 News. October 14, 2015.
- ^ a b c "Texas to Execute 33-Year-Old Licho Escamilla for Fatally Shooting Dallas Police Officer". Newsweek. Reuters. October 14, 2015.
- ^ "Quintin Alonzo". The National Registry of Exonerations.
- ^ "Dallas man freed after 17 years in prison for wrongful murder conviction" (Text.Article). FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth. 2018.
- ^ ""Actual Innocence" declared for Dallas man after serving 15 years for death of local teen". North Dallas Gazette. October 12, 2019.
- ^ a b "Officer's Widow Outraged Husband's Murderer Could Get New Trial". CBS Texas. April 16, 2014.
- ^ "Texas man convicted of killing police officer to be executed on Wednesday". The Guardian. The Associated Press. 2015.
- ^ Escamilla v. Stephens 749 F.3d 380, 394 (5th Circuit Court of Appeals 2014).
- ^ Utrecht, Jennifer (2015). "Pinholster's Hostility to Victims of Ineffective State Habeas Counsel". Michigan Law Review. 114 (1): 151. ISSN 0026-2234.
- ^ Escamilla v. Stephens, No. 12-70029 (5th Circuit Court of Appeal)
- ^ "Search - Supreme Court of the United States". supremecourt.gov.
- ^ "Death Row Information". Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved 2024-10-16.