Box 301501 Montgomery, Alabama 36130-1501 webmaster@doc.alabama.gov pic.twitter.com/vfb4QeOtY1, The lawmakers are among dozens of Texas legislators who have signed a letter to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles asking it to act in Melissa Lucio's case. Japanese Reviews Documentary Review: Okinawa/Santos (2020) by Yoju Matsubayashi. In February 2021, the 2019 grant of relief was reversed. Women on Death Row (4) 54min 2022 16+ Less than 2% of the inmate population awaiting execution on death row are women. Dive in these women's lives full of horror, hope, death, and love, in one of the most terrible places in the USA, death row. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, women are rarely sentenced to death in the United States and executions of women are even rarer. Frank and Lacaze had been shouting at Ha and Cuong, demanding the restaurant's money, but they did not know where Chau had hidden it. [27] On April 17, 2022, in the main segment of another episode, called "Police Interrogations", Lucio's case was mentioned again as having every hallmark of a false confession.[28]. According to court documents when the girls remains were weighed she weighed in just over thirty pounds. . She had scattered bruising, bite marks on her back, patches of hair that had been pulled out, and a broken arm. Carty appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. [31] Carty also claims that she was interviewed without counsel being present on one occasion. She has maintained her innocence, and Cornell Law School professor Sandra Babcock has called the prosecution "by far the weakest capital case I've ever seen". Lucio earned notoriety as the first Hispanic woman on death row in Texas. The State of Texas vs. Melissa is a telling and compelling snapshot of the brutality of everyday life in capitalist America. In. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. That societys throwaways, all those who dont count in a country ruled by and for billionaires, have unexplored depths is underscored in a scene in which Melissa in a voiceover achingly reads a composition in the form of a letter to her mother: Watch David Norths remarks commemorating 25 years of the World Socialist Web Site and donate today. Antoinette Renee Frank (born April 30, 1971) is a former officer of the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) who, on March 4, 1995, committed a violent armed robbery at a restaurant which resulted in the killing of two members of the Vietnamese-American family who ran the establishment, and fellow NOPD officer Ronald A. Williams II. Antoinette Frank is on Louisiana death row for the murders of three people including a fellow police officer. In this article on My Crime Library we are going to take a closer look at Antoinette Frank Antoinette Frank Beginnings The robbers fled the restaurant, and Frank dropped Lacaze off at a nearby apartment complex, both knowing that witnesses were left behind. Dive in these women's lives full of horror, hope, death, and love, in one of the most terrible places in the USA, death row.60 women are waiting for their execution on death row. According to the Cameron County District Attorney's Office, Mariah was found at the home with signs of abuse on her body. Frank then told the man that "Lacaze was the good guy" and that Wallace was the one causing the problems. Read the Supplemental Clemency Petition here. At that point, Wallace saw Lacaze and noticed he was holding a gun. Linda Anita Carty (born 5 October 1958) is a Kittitian-American[a] former schoolteacher who is on death row in Texas. [1] Lucio's execution was set for April 27, 2022, but an appeals court granted her a stay on April 25, 2022. An investigator with the Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DOC) believed this was the first contact between the two, although in her statement, Frank claims that they met some eight months before the murders. Lucio then had seven children with Robert Alvarez. [5], Under the terms of the Bilateral Convention on Consular Officers (1951) between the United States and the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom's consular officials were entitled to be informed immediately upon her detention (art. The 10-year-old case, they say, remains under investigation. Her story became the subject of the 2020 documentary The State of Texas vs. Melissa. Start Your Free Trial New subscribers only. I realized there had been no investigation whatsoever, that none of her family were allowed to testify at her trial. In 2007, Melissa Lucio 's 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, died after a tragic, accidental fall down a flight of stairs. NOPD officials also thought having more African-Americans like Frank on the force would ease longstanding racial tensions in the majority-black city. Law enforcement, EMS officials ramp up efforts as spring break rolls in, Pleasant Weekend; Next Storm Chance Not Until Friday, Forecast: Beautiful weekend weather, warmer for next week, Family of woman on death row claims she's innocent, pleads for her release, Interim Study Committee on Criminal Justice Reform, 17-year-old Laci hopes to get adopted before she ages out of the Texas foster care system, 16-year-old driver tossed in Elgin tornado lucky to be alive, 'This is our only source of income': Round Rock family sees their food truck destroyed in tornado, Austin PD SWAT team responding to North Austin Walmart. [16], In September 2009, Frank's lawyers moved to have Judge Marullo removed from her ongoing post-conviction appeals on grounds of bias, given that he had already signed two death warrants for her. The broadcaster . the first Hispanic woman sentenced to death row in . Death Row Family (2017) by Yuki Kobayashi. Sabrina Butler was convicted and sentenced to death in Mississippi in 1990 for the death of her nine-month-old son. The Evers were devout Christians who enjoyed gathering for family meals, holding group prayers, and living a quiet life. [22], In April 2022, a juror on the trial, Johnny Galvan Jr., wrote in the Houston Chronicle that he had wrongly succumbed to peer pressure during deliberations and had changed his vote from a life sentence to the death penalty. The next day, they needed only 45 minutes to recommend the death penalty. Frank was taken to police headquarters for additional questioning, where she later confessed to the crimes along with Lacaze. Contact the ADOC. She was hired on February 7, 1993, and graduated from the police academy on February 28. [1][2][3] On occasion, though, she did distinguish herself, winning "Officer of the Month" awards from the local Kiwanis Club for her work in the community. The prosecutions principal evidence against Melissa was a videotaped confession she made while in police custody. The program is called The British Woman on Death Row. Prosecutors said that Mariah's injuries were the result of physical abuse, while Lucio's attorneys say that her death was caused by a fall down the stairs two days prior. 60 women are waiting for their execution on death row. Newly released on Amazon and other streaming platforms, the unsettling documentary by French director Sabrina Van Tassel raises questions about the conviction of Melissa Lucio, the first. The baby stopped breathing, and resuscitation attempts left bruises that led police to accuse Butler of child abuse. On May 22, 2007, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled 52 that the death penalty should be upheld. In February 2002, she was sentenced to death for the abduction and murder in 2001 of 25-year-old Joana Rodriguez in order to steal Rodriguez's newborn son. [18] While interviewing neighbors in the apartment complex, police heard from one neighbor that she sat with Carty in a car, saw a child's car seat in the car, and was told by Carty that she was pregnant, although the witness thought Carty did not appear to be pregnant. Carty has appealed her conviction,[6][7][8] with her most recent petition to the United States Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari being denied by the Supreme Court on November 13, 2018. Despite the defense's arguments, Lucio was found guilty of capital murder and later sentenced to death in 2008. Prosecutors said that Mariah's injuries were the result of physical abuse, while Lucio's attorneys say that her death was caused by a fall down the stairs two days prior. In a 2005 retrospective, Chuck Hustmyre said, "As for those human bones unearthed beneath Franks house, so far, authorities have made no serious effort to identify them. The State of Texas vs. Melissa is a character study about a woman on death row who is on her last appeal, and is about to be executed, commented director Van Tassel in an interview with Women and Hollywood . For ten years she has been awaiting her fate, and she now faces her last appeal. The family is flushing the toilets with buckets of water. Inmates on death row do not have regular TDCJ-ID numbers; they have special death row numbers. That is why most poor defendants accept plea deals even if theyre innocent. His main tip-off had been using Williams' Chevron credit card at a Chevron station in Gretna just minutes after the robbery and murders. Posing as a responding officer, she intended to kill Chau and Quoc to ensure there would be no witnesses. We followed them down the green line.Subscribe Free Documentary Channel for free: https://bit.ly/2YJ4XzQJoin the club and become a Free Documentary Patron: https://www.patreon.com/freedocumentaryInstagram: https://instagram.com/free.documentary/Facebook: https://bit.ly/2QfRxbGTwitter: https://bit.ly/2QlwRiI#FreeDocumentary #Documentary #WomenOnDeathRowFree Documentary is dedicated to bringing high-class documentaries to you on YouTube for free. In at least three of those cases, evidence suggests that no crime occurred; the children died of medical conditions or accidents, not homicide. Her fellow officers thought she was rather shy, had no idea what police work really entailed, and lacked the decisiveness to be a good officer. On 15 May, Carty told Sherry Bancroft, an employee at Public Storage, that she had indeed had the baby and that he was at home with his father. However, she was smitten by Lacaze's "bad boy" persona, and their relationship soon turned sexual. In 2020, Hulu produced the mentioned documentary, The State of Texas vs. Melissa, which detailed how she could be innocent. ", "Her execution date looming, a mother maintains innocence in 2-year-old daughter's death", "Execution date set for Harlingen mom for murdering daughter", "Melissa Lucio execution - latest: Kim Kardashian appeals to Texas governor as juror says death sentence wrong", "Death row mum-of-14 hopes new videos could clear her of toddler's fatal fall", "Texas Set to Execute Melissa Lucio Despite Credible Claims of Innocence", "Former Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos Sentenced To Federal Prison In Connection With South Texas Bribery Scheme", "Harlingen woman faces April execution for daughter's 2007 murder", "Melissa Elizabeth Lucio v. The State of Texas (concurring)", "Federal Appeals Court Overturns Mother's Conviction in Texas Child Murder Case That May Have Been an Accidental Death", "Divided Federal Appeals Court Reinstates Death Sentence for Texas Mother of Child Who May Have Died in Accidental Fall", "Court Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law: Manuel Velez", "A Texas mother could be executed in April. This film not only depicts the America of the less fortunate, but also the fate of a woman who was a victim from the day she was born, a woman who has been crushed by the American judicial system., Confined behind a glass partition, wearing white prison garb, her face washed out in the artificial lighting, Melissa appears stunned: I dont understand how the court system did this to me. Further on she comments: I had never been arrested before. Three older children went to live in Houston with their father, and Lucio regained custody of the others in late 2006.[5]. [14][15], In 1992, Carty was convicted of auto theft and impersonation of an FBI agent. [16] In 2019, a three-judge panel of the Federal Appeals Court overturned the sentence and ordered a retrial because of the trial court's interference in Lucio's right to present a defense. With the latest camera equipment used by well-known filmmakers working for famous production studios. Then, she shot Cuong six times. Then both Stevens and Frank also jumped into the fray, and the weapon discharged. This appeal was rejected on September 19, 2009. On February 21, she was sentenced to death by lethal injection. For ten years she has been awaiting her fate, and she now faces her last appeal. Alabama Department of Corrections 301 South Ripley Street P.O. After Frank and Lacaze left the premises, Chau tried frantically to call 911 on her cell phone, but the cooler prevented her from getting a usable signal. Melissa Lucio was born in Lubbock, Texas,[2] on June 18, 1969, according to court records. more Director: Sabrina Van Tassel Documentaries Movie 2020 5.1 hd Stream thousands of shows and movies, with plans starting at $7.99/month. Theyre saying that the evidence on Lucio is troubling and that they at the least want a stay of execution. Chau, Quoc, and the employee hid in the rear of a large walk-in cooler in the kitchen, turning out its light as they entered. Rantz subsequently described Frank as the most cold-hearted person he'd ever encountered in three decades as an officer. Frank heard the 911 call on her portable police radio saying that an officer was down at the Kim Anh restaurant. She frequently had to go through supervisory review. She has mainly focused on social issues such as underage sex trafficking, children in ultra-right-wing movements, women in prison and the Holocaust. Do you want it?" I had never been incarcerated. Melissa was a good person. Another sister claims the trial was a kangaroo court a circus, where the jury was laughing with the prosecutor and the judge. [22][23][24][25] However, on May 3, 2010, the Court refused to review the case, denying certiorari. Serving Time 45m Years after leaving the military, Toby Gregory claims his service and PTSD caused him to murder his wife, Inez. When Chau had let her out on the last visit, she could not find the front door key, and with Frank returning for the third time, she sensed something was wrong. [24] They assert that no scientific evidence exists that establishes that she was at the scene of the crime,[5] although her fingerprints were found in the car containing the victim's body. In November of 2020, TV One debuted a movie inspired by Antoinette Frank called Blood On Her Badge Archived November 24, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. 16(1) of the Convention). Additional terms apply. Example video title will go here for this video. Carty asked Hernandez to write a letter for her because she did not want the letter to be in her own handwriting. She grew up in a seemingly idyllic home in Enid, Oklahoma. Detained in Arizona, Shawna Forde . [13] Michael Goldberg of Baker Botts accuses Guerinot, who never won a death penalty case over his entire career, of failing to call any witnesses who might have persuaded the jury that she did not deserve execution. "[12], Police and prosecutors believe that the skull was that of Adam Frank, and that Antoinette murdered him. Antoinette Frank applied to the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) in early 1993. The execution . Trevor McDonald enters Death Row at one of America's oldest and most notorious maximum-security prisons to meet the very people whose crimes have led to the ultimate punishment. In May, however, the Louisiana Supreme Court issued a 90-day stay of execution effective June 10 pending ongoing appeals. However, during her interview with the DOC investigator, Frank claimed to have had a male suitor but refused to go into specifics because he worked for the police department. Fronted by the Good Morning Britain presenter, the film will. Women on Death Row | Prison DocumentaryBehind Bars: South Cotabato Jail, Philippines: https://youtu.be/A8slYgeqGLwIn the United States, 54 women are \"on hold\" for the execution of their death sentence. Viewers of Death Row's Women with Susanna Reid tonight clashed over whether Darlie Routier really murdered her two sons. Were not saying Miss Lucio is innocent, were not saying shes guilty, were saying for the board to provide her some clemency, so we can get her into a trial, said State Rep James White. It will only bring more pain and suffering, said State Rep Joe Moody. [5] Baker Botts, the law firm handling Carty's appeal, have argued that her trial attorney, Jerry Guerinot, handled her defense in an incompetent manner. Frank informed him that Lacaze was with her and ordered him released. The filmmaker added that it is hard to imagine how traumatic a death sentence is for a family and the collateral damage it creates. [18][19] No female has been executed by the State of Louisiana since Toni Jo Henry died in the State's Electric chair in 1942. FREEDOM TUBE 3.64K subscribers Subscribe 630K views 2. Carty's fingerprints were in both cars. THIS DEATH ROW DOCUMENTARY WILL CHANGE YOU FOREVER! To get in touch please email owned-enquiries@littledotstudios.com. [1], Investigators initially suspected Carty after discovering that she had told people she was going to have a baby despite not appearing pregnant. In early May 2001, Carty and her husband separated. AUSTIN, Texas A bipartisan group of lawmakers held a press conference at the Texas Capitol on Thursday to discuss their support of clemency or a reprieve for Melissa Lucio. The Fear of 13. She was convicted of the murder of one of her sons while. [35] In November 2013, Carty's story was profiled on Investigation Discovery's documentary series Deadly Women, in an episode titled "Untamed Evil.". Download titles to your supported device for on-the-go-streaming. It is a very unjust system you may well be on death row because you have a court-appointed attorney who doesnt have the means to defend you and a district attorneys office who has all the means in the world to get you convicted. In total, there are around 2,500 people on death row in America. Frank had sometimes worked there off-duty as a security guard. She was aided by her probable lover, drug dealer Rogers Lacaze. [1], Chau and Frank were questioned in detail while seated at different tables in the restaurant. ", "Texas mother is set for execution as evidence suggests she did not kill her child", "I voted to sentence Melissa Lucio to death. Who are they? Lucio, a 53-year-old Mexican-American mum, was found guilty in 2008 of the death of her two-year-old daughter Mariah, who died in 2007 after falling down the stairs.. Medical experts later provided evidence that the pathologist who performed the autopsy missed evidence of sepsis in the blood and pneumonia in both lungs. Carty then informed him that she was pregnant with his child. On June 19, 2016, Sky Network aired a one-hour program about her case on CBS Reality. However, such recommendations are rare. Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, Department of Public Safety and Corrections, damaged after floods resulting from levee failures, List of women on death row in the United States, "Killings That Broke The Spirit of a Besieged City", My visit with Antoinette Frank on death row: convicted cop killer, "Why Stay? Van Tassel has directed more than 45 documentary films over the last 15 years for major television programs. [27], In 2018, she petitioned the Supreme Court again, arguing that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals "refused to consider the cumulative prejudice" of constitutional errors in her case, including ineffective assistance of counsel and the State intentionally withholding "numerous items" of exculpatory evidence; however, the Court denied certiorari. We decided to follow five of them. She received a lethal injection at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, after a last-minute . Lucio was convicted in 2008, and her execution date is April 27, when she is set to receive a lethal injection. The NOPD was chronically short-handed; at the time, its officers were paid less than in similarly sized cities, it was losing officers faster than they could be replaced, and the ranks had been decimated by several arrests for murder and drug activity. [13] She was previously a primary school teacher. It all seemed very bizarre to me, I would also like people to realize that death row targets the poor, and it targets Black and Brown lives. [14], Forensic pathologist Dr. Thomas Young, the former chief medical examiner in Kansas City, Missouri, reviewed the case at the request of Lucio's post-conviction attorney. At the time, commissioned law enforcement officers were legally barred from sitting on a jury. On 26 February 2010, Carty appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, in which the British government filed an amicus curiae brief. According to this second warrant, Frank was scheduled for execution by lethal injection on December 8, 2008. More for you. The intruders left, taking the baby with them. Frank entered the front door using the key she had stolen from the restaurant earlier and walked quickly past Williams, pushing Chau, Chau's brother Quoc, and a restaurant employee into the doorway of the restaurant's kitchen. Women On Death Row / By mycrimelibrary.com / georgia death row, tiffany moss, women on death row Tiffany Moss was sentenced to death in Georgia for the starvation death of a ten year old girl. [6], Frank's trial began on September 5, 1995, also before Marullo. In her statement, she claimed that she and Lacaze were not dating and had never been intimate. Women on death row case 17. Fellow exonerees, journalists, lawyers and activists applauded for Butler-Smith - and for Lucio, an innocent woman still on death row. Now, are you a cold-blooded killer or were you a frustrated mother who just took it out on [Mariah]?" 8. It was later determined that Mariah's arm had been broken two to seven weeks before her death, and an autopsy also showed a head injury and bruising of the kidneys, lungs and spinal cord. They argued that the defense needed to conduct "an investigation into the defendant's background for possible mitigating evidence." Shes a mother of 14 children, with a history of drug abuse and a life of poverty, who is accused of abusing her younger daughter to death.. Their trials were severed, and Lacaze was tried first on July 1721, 1995, before Judge Frank Marullo. [8] She admitted to having spanked Mariah, but denied ever having abused her, which she repeated more than 100 times. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, there are nearly 200 inmates on death row in Texas. Although Frank's attorneys had subpoenaed 39 witnesses, they didn't call a single one. Lucio's case was the subject of a 2020 documentary, The State of Texas vs. Melissa. "She had an accident. Louisiana state Judge Laurie White heard the motion in September 2009 and, on January 3, 2010 ruled that Marullo should not be taken off the case. The filmmaker continued: But through the film we discover who the real Melissa wasthe abuse she suffered as a child, the harshness of her life, how she was accused without any proof and interrogated for hours until she surrendered. 4th Circuit appellate judges Edwin Lombard, Paul Bonin and Madeleine Landrieu ruled "After review of the state's writ application in light of the applicable law and arguments of the parties, we find that the trial court erred in finding that the seating of Mr. Settle on the defendant's jury was a structural error entitling him to a new trial".[23]. Kirby wrote that while he felt the evidence of Lacaze's guilt was "overwhelming", the juror misconduct amounted to a "structural defect" and a "violation of a constitutional right so basic to a fair trial" that the only remedy was a new trial. [4], Two men who claimed they met Lacaze at a party on February 4, 1995, John Stevens and Anthony Wallace, testified in court. Then 42-year-old Maureen McDermott was a former nurse at County-USC Medical Center who allegedly hired a co-worker to kill her male roommate. My gut told me that it was all messed up., Jason Flom, the founder of Lava Records who is an Innocence Project board member and the creator of the podcast Wrongful Conviction told Variety that the awful case of Melissa Lucio is an appalling example of just how broken our criminal legal system truly is., She was a victim, Flom went on, of a vicious and corrupt prosecutor who himself is currently serving time in federal prison [Armando Villalobos was convicted of bribery and extortion in 2014 for accepting over $100,000 in exchange for favorable outcomes in criminal trials and is currently serving a 13-year sentence in prison]; an incompetent and quite possibly compromised defense attorney; junk science; and above alla society in which the odds were stacked against her from birth., A court document highlights the horrific social conditions that afflicted Melissa and her children: The familys water has been turned off for a month. Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. Vu family stays because of the kindness of the people of New Orleans", "Blue on Blue: Murder, Madness and Betrayal in the NOPD", "State v. Frank, 957 So. On the surface, she checks all the boxes of the ideal culprit. Child Protective Services had previously investigated Lucio for allegations of child neglect, and they reported that Lucio's youngest children were often left in the care of their teenaged siblings. The mother of 14 children, Melissa talks about her poverty-stricken, abusive background. [3] Lucio says she was sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend for about two years, beginning when she was seven years old. Death row exonerees including Kwame Ajamu, right, listens to speakers during a Witness to Innocence news conference marking the organization's 15th anniversary at the at the National Constitution . Melissa Lucio's case has gained national attention. [1][19], In August 2021, an amicus brief was filed on Lucio's behalf by a group consisting of legal scholars, experts on violence against women, and representatives from sixteen organizations that combat violence against women. "[20], In January 2022, Cameron County officials signed an execution warrant for Lucio. Guerinot's co-counsel has disputed this. Only . Lucio's case was the subject of a 2020 documentary, The State of Texas vs. Melissa. Carty told her husband on 15 May that she would have a baby boy the next day. But Ms. Lucio and her family never got to mourn the loss of her youngest daughter because, within hours of her passing, they were swept up into a nightmare that has lasted more than 14 years and torn their family apart. A Mother's Love 49m In prison for killing her husband, a woman details her past abuse and her turbulent marriage. In November 1995, a month after she received her first death sentence, a dog led police to find a human skull with a bullet hole buried under Frank's house. LCIW was damaged by 2016 flooding, so its prisoners, including Frank, were moved to other prisons.[24]. In this chilling absolute documentary, Trevor meets inmate Fredrick Baer who killed a mother and her 5-year-old child in cold-blooded murder who is still hoping to escape the lethal injection on death row and avoid capital punishment. Melissa Elizabeth Lucio (born June 18, 1969) is the first woman of Hispanic descent to be sentenced to death in the U.S. state of Texas. A sister, Diane, asserts that she was a very loving person, but she had a rough life. [2] Carty studied pharmacology at the University of Houston. Trevor McDonald enters Death Row at one of America's oldest and most notorious maximum-security prisons to meet the very people whose crimes have led to the ultimate punishment. In this episode of Women of Death Row, Mariel tells the story of Dame Alice Kyteler, a woman condemned and burned to death at the stake for witchcraft in Ireland on November 3, 1324. The letter said Carty was being set up by "Chris and Zeb," who borrowed Carty's car and put the baby in it. Melissas family, and some of her children, felt so railroaded by the justice system, they didnt trust anyone anymore. The director further explained that Melissas children have been placed all over Texas. DEATH ROW U.S.A. - WOMEN (6) - TEXAS Marley Records 14.1K subscribers Subscribe 458 65K views 5 years ago ***** Update August 1, 2019 - From Death Penalty Information Center - Melissa Lucio. Their names are:Darlie Routier, Kimberly Cargil, Brittany Holberg, Erica Sheppard, and Linda Carty.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Music CreditsSuspense Action by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Artist: http://audionautix.com/Machinations by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100510Artist: http://incompetech.com/The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/uvp/Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/Prelude No.