Thats the way its been set up for years and years. Her lawyers say Lucio's history of sexual and physical abuse led to her giving an unreliable confession. Given the evidence, much of it outlined above, no rational juror would have found Ms. Lucio guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, it says. The state says Lucio beat her daughter to death. In regular life that means not going where strange men are, not going to watch movies with violence. The social worker felt Lucio often acquiesced to men with authority because she was so accustomed to being abused. Melissa Lucio is facing the death penalty in connection with killing her daughter, who was six years old. The Rangers are famous for their unorthodox interrogation methods, as The Marshall Project reported recently. A woman who has experienced domestic violence is now trapped in a room with men who are intimidating.. Anti-violence advocates and legal experts who submitted a brief supporting Lucio to the U.S. Supreme Court wrote in their brief that The State exploited Melissas symptoms of trauma to persuade the jury of her guilt. But Lucio's lawyers contend Mariah's death was an accident caused by falling down the stairs and not a crime. The Lucio family and friends went to the event to urge the governor to watch the documentary "The State of Texas vs. Melissa" and halt Lucio's execution set for April 27th. Melissa Lucio, 52, was convicted of murder in the 2007 death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, and had been scheduled to be executed Wednesday. One of the detectives, a Texas Ranger named Victor Escalon Jr., zeroed in on Lucios slumped posture and lack of eye contact. A jury found Lucio guilty of capital murder in the 2007 death of her two-year-old daughter Mariah, who fell down 14 steep steps. Melissa's daughter Alexandra Lucio appears in documentary. The medical examiner who conducted Mariahs autopsy also offered false testimony, Lucios attorneys say. Melissa Lucio holds her. Had he been permitted to testify, Dr. Pinkerman would have explained that Melissa dissociated from the reality of losing her daughter and numbed her emotions to distance herself from the pain. Melissa Lucio was sentenced to death in Texas after she confessed to beating her 2-year-old daughter, who later died. Arguing for the importance of defense experts, the brief states, Experts help juries understand the phenomenon of false confessions and, therefore, can help safeguard against miscarriages of justice. A substantial percentage of women who were wrongfully convicted of killing a child were coerced into falsely confessing, the innocence groups wrote. The six of us, in conjunction with our House colleagues, are asking for the Board of Pardons and Paroles to spare her life and delay her execution, which is currently scheduled in about a month on April 27.. Caeleb Dressel Wife: Who Is Meghan Haila? Pic: AP Pic: AP Esperanza Trevio, Lucio's mother, tearfully thanked all of her daughter's supporters . Twenty-seven states across America still have the death penalty. Also Read: Anne Elizabeth Roseberry: Who Is Jamie Campbell Bowers Mother? During her interrogation, Lucio repeatedly denied having struck her daughter. Lucio was particularly susceptible to pressure by investigators given her lifelong history of trauma. This, too, her attorneys say, is new evidence that was not available at the time of her trial, and her jury did not hear testimony from an expert on false confession. The clemency application included a new forensic analysis that contradicts a physician's testimony that said it was "the absolute worst" case of child abuse he's ever seen in 36 years of practice. Laura B. Martinez, Execution date set for Harlingen mom for murdering daughter, The Brownsville Herald, January 14, 2022; Lise Olsen, ATEXAS MOTHER COULD BE EXECUTED IN APRIL. If Lucio is put to death, she would become the first Latina woman in Texas history to be executed. Melissa Lucio, woman facing execution in Texas this month, meets with lawmakers as Kim Kardashian voices support April 7, 2022 / 11:15 AM / CBS/AP A group of bipartisan Texas lawmakers on. The South Texas mother of 14 is on. This purportedly suppressed evidence, the document says, would have shown: authorities knew there were witnesses who said Lucio did not abuse her children; there were other family members aware Mariah fell down the stairs; and Mariah hadnt shown any sign her arm was injured in the weeks before her death, among others. ", Vanessa Potkin, director of special litigation at The Innocence Project, told CBS that Lucio asserted her innocence more than 100 times during the five-hour interrogation, but authorities "refused to listen to her, sending the clear message that this interrogation wasn't going to stop until she told the officers what they wanted to hear. Although Melissa repeatedly told the police that she did not kill her daughter, they continued to interrogate her for five hours until she . Martin & third suspect in custody after Sacramento mass shooting that killed 6, Mushrooms 'talk to each other and have a vocabulary of 50 words', Female student, 20, mauled to death by 12 sheepdogs 'while their owner was in nearby bar'. The photographs of Sophia Lucios autopsy are a reminder of the tragedy that befell her and highlight the devastating consequences of domestic abuse. Late into the night, after hours of continuous interrogation, Texas Ranger Victor Escalon pressured Lucio to say more. I dont think theres any way to predict whether Lucio gets a new trial based on these four claims, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit that takes no stance on the death penalty but has been critical of the way it is administered. According to court documents paramedics showed up at the household and found the victim not breathing with no pulse. Lucio has 14 children and was pregnant with the youngest two when Mariah died. Oklahoma governor stops Julius Jones execution with last-minute decision, Kim Kardashian and others are rallying to stop tragic execution of Melissa Lucio, Mother on death row for daughters death asks for clemency as execution date looms, How the femme fatale stereotype is dooming women to death row in the US, Im an expert on false confessions. In previous appeals, Lucios lawyers have argued that much of the states narrative rests on flawed science that the bite marks allegedly found on Mariahs body, for example, werent really from bites, and that the head trauma really could have stemmed from the fall. The death penalty is in flux. BROWNSVILLE - Melissa Elizabeth Lucio was formally sentenced to death by lethal injection in the 13th Judicial District Court, according to a Cameron county District Attorney's Office release. An excerpt from the 2020 documentary film, The State of Texas vs. Melissa, shows Melissa Lucio's interrogation. But Saenz declined. Many family members and supporters say. Worn down by her grief and abuse throughout her life, Lucio admitted to a crime she didnt commit during the aggressive interrogation, her lawyers say. No more.. Her conviction rested on ambiguous statements Melissa made to police in response to a coercive, late-night interrogation by male police officers. Representative Jeff Leach, R-Plano, who describes himself as a conservative Republican and a death penalty supporter, led off a news conference calling the trial of Lucio a miscarriage of justice, Spectrum News 1 reports. Do not trust anyone calling from this area code, they are most likely scammers! I guess I did it. A videotape played to the jury showed Escalon asking Lucio to demonstrate how she spanked Mariah, and when she didnt spank hard enough, he spanked the doll himself. She was interrogated for five hours by armed police officers who reportedly berated her. It's like Cameron County prosecutor Alfredo Padilla said "the decision was based on evidence and evidence alone". Cameron County officials signed the execution warrant for Melissa Lucio, 53, a Harlingen woman found guilty of beating her two-year-old daughter to death in February 2007. But two days before the 53-year-old mother of 14 children was due to be executed, she was given a second chance. Lucio, 53, was set to be executed Wednesday for capital murder in the 2007 death of her 2-year-old daughter. Image: Melissa Lucio was sentenced to death after her two-year-old daughter died in 2007. appreciated. Edd Error Code E0020 (Nov) What It Is & How to Fix It? Lucio's lawyers say this new evidence shows Mariah's injuries resulted from a fall down the stairs two days prior to her death, which Lucio herself had told police about immediately following the child's death, reports The New York Times. Anne Elizabeth Roseberry: Who Is Jamie Campbell Bowers Mother. "You let the suspect fill in the blanks," he said. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Sandra Babcock, one of Ms. Lucio's lawyers and the director of the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, told The Times, "Police targeted Melissa because she didn't fit their image of how a grieving mother should behave. As a result, the testimony of these witnesses was false, Lucios attorneys argue, entitling her to relief. All I was thinking was I need to get out of here. The petition says that the "disseminated intravascular coagulation" (DIC . Lucio's lawyers with the Innocence Project have said Mariah "had a mild physical disability that made her unstable while walking and prone to tripping.". Lucio and her husband were moving out of their second-story unit in February 2007 when, her lawyers claim, their 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, fell down the staircase. After Mariahs body was found in Lucios apartment, investigators questioned Lucio for seven hours. According to the state, Lucio repeatedly abused the toddler until she finally succumbed to her. Lucios case has been of particular interest to psychiatric and forensic experts, because it may demonstrate a phenomenon theyre just starting to understand. Rachel Sharp reports on the details of the case. The RBIJ has attracted more than 150 well-known signatories to their Business Leaders Declaration Against the Death Penalty - with The Independent as the latest on the list. as The Marshall Project reported recently. The Marshall Project and The 19th could not reach Lucios two ex-husbands, but Sabrina Van Tassel, the filmmaker who directed The State of Texas vs. Melissa, a documentary on the case, said both declined to speak to her on the record. Experts who have studied false confessions and trauma response said Lucio's behavior is common in abuse victims and criticized the Rangers' interrogation tactics. Lucio is set to be executed on April 27 for the 2007 death of Mariah. . Please allow us to reconcile with Mariah's death and remember her without fresh pain, anguish, and grief. No matter what, you can always turn to The Marshall Project as a source of trustworthy journalism about the criminal justice system. Melissa Lucio, 53, has been detained in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice facility since her July 2008 conviction on capital murder charges. Discovery Company. But as new details have emerged about her case . In an interview with the Texas Observer, Tivon Schardl, a lawyer on Lucios appellate defense team, called her case as clear a case of injustice as youll ever see. Melissa Lucio faces imminent execution for a capital murder that never happened, Schardl said. I'm just a young man with ambitions and a heart of gold . Directors Cyril Thomas Sabrina Van Tassel Writer Sabrina Van Tassel Stars Norma Jean Farley Peter Gilman Bobby Lucio See production, box office & company info Watch on Hulu on Hulu.com and the Hulu app At the time of her death, Mariahs body was covered in bruises in various stages of healing, her arm had been broken several weeks earlier and she had what authorities believed was a bite mark on her back, court documents show. Published Is Zozofit Scam or Legit? Please give us the chance for closure. But after hours of questioning, they say, she parroted back the language suggested to her by interrogators and then demonstrated the alleged abuse on a doll at interrogators instruction, the habeas application says. She says she was coerced to confess by a Texas Ranger during her interrogation. ", Among Lucio's supporters are five of the jurors who convicted her in the first place. You feel hopeless," Deskovic told The Sun. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. A Warner Bros. He also stated that Lucio's execution would be a terrible tragedy. The severity of the childs injuries is evident in post-mortem photos that recently surfaced on the web. Her lawyers are mounting a new fight in state court, arguing that her conviction rests upon a false confession and faulty science. Lucio "ended up on death row through a horrific combination of investigative missteps and a prosecution . Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. "Do it real hard," he said. Prosecutors say Lucio fatally beat her 2-year-old daughter but Lucio has long denied that, saying Mariah died from injuries sustained during a fall down a flight of stairs. At least for now. Lucio, 53, was convicted in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, in 2007. Read More, Celebrity News, Biographies And Social Content. Did The Creator of Roblox Die (Updated Sep) Read! On September 4th, 2018, a tweet was sent out by an account claiming to be the creators friend. Her lawyers argue she falsely admitted to killing Mariah after hours of intense police questioning and that she died from falling down a steep staircase outside their apartment in Harlingen, South Texas, and not from being beaten. 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