Entries tagged with “Luis Saenz”

Innocence

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Nov 15, 2024

Trial Judge Declares Melissa Lucio to be ​“Actually Innocent,” Recommends Texas CCA Overturn Conviction and Death Sentence

Texas death-sen­tenced pris­on­er Melissa Lucio is ​“actu­al­ly inno­cent; she did not kill her [two-year-old] daugh­ter,” explained Judge Arturo Nelson in his October 16th deci­sion, which was made pub­lic on November 14, 2024. Judge Nelson’s Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law now go to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA), which will make the final deci­sion about whether to over­turn Ms. Lucio’s con­vic­tion and 2008 death sen­tence. This deci­sion marks the lat­est dra­mat­ic devel­op­ment for Ms.

Policy Issues

Prosecutorial Accountability

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Women

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Apr 16, 2024

Trial Judge Signs Agreed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, Recommending Melissa Lucio’s Conviction and Death Sentence Be Overturned

On April 12, 2024, Judge Arturo Nelson signed an Agreed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law sub­mit­ted by the pros­e­cu­tion and defense stat­ing that Melissa Lucio (pic­tured) was not giv­en access to favor­able infor­ma­tion in the prosecution’s pos­ses­sion at the time of tri­al. The acknowl­edge­ment of this con­sti­tu­tion­al error result­ed in Judge Nelson’s rec­om­men­da­tion to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) that Ms. Lucio’s con­vic­tion and death sen­tence be over­turned. The rul­ing marks the…