JUSTICE FOR MAN ON DEATH ROW.
Justice
More than 20 years after he was condemned and in 2002 very nearly executed
for shooting Dimmit County Sheriff Ben Murray , Jose Garcia Briseno today
was sentenced to an effective life without parole term in prison for Capital Murder.
The sentencing occurred as part of a plea bargain and ends years of litigation
concerning Mr. Briseno’s retardation and his right to a sentencing
trial that allowed full consideration of mitigating evidence.
Mr. Briseno’s defense team includes: longtime appointed counsel Dick
Burr, who won the stay that prevented Mr. Briseno from being executed;
San Antonio attorney Mark Stevens; Texas Defender Service mitigation specialist
and senior staff attorney Naomi Terr; TDS mitigation specialist Randi
Wall-Chavez; mitigation specialist Nicole Van Toorn; fact investigator
Jim McKay; and classification expert Frank AuBuchon. Also working tirelessly
on the case have been: Elisabeth Semel and her students from the Berkeley
Death Penalty Clinic; attorney Hilary Sheard; and Hugo Martinez and Guillermo
Lara, both of the Laredo Public Defender’s Office.
Ever since Mr. Briseno’s execution was stayed in 2002, volunteer
interns have provided invaluable assistance in investigating factual and
legal topics. This group has included law students, social work students,
undergraduates, British law interns, and students from the Cornell Death
Penalty Clinic.
University of Texas Law Prof. Jordan Steiker and Robert Owen, now of Northwestern
University School of Law, were on the CCA briefs that won the resentencing
trial for Mr. Briseno. Many, many others worked on Mr. Briseno’s
case before he was granted a retrial, including: attorney Mandy Welch;
Alma Lagarda, a TDS staff attorney who worked on the case when she was
an intern; and private investigator Richard Reyna.
JOSE BRISENO CASE INFORMATION
More than 20 years after he was condemned and in 2002 very nearly executed
for shooting Dimmit County Sheriff Ben Murray , Jose Garcia Briseno today
was sentenced to an effective life without parole term in prison for Capital Murder.
The sentencing occurred as part of a plea bargain and ends years of litigation
concerning Mr. Briseno’s retardation and his right to a sentencing
trial that allowed full consideration of mitigating evidence.
Mr. Briseno’s defense team includes: longtime appointed counsel Dick
Burr, who won the stay that prevented Mr. Briseno from being executed;
San Antonio attorney Mark Stevens; Texas Defender Service mitigation specialist
and senior staff attorney Naomi Terr; TDS mitigation specialist Randi
Wall-Chavez; mitigation specialist Nicole Van Toorn; fact investigator
Jim McKay; and classification expert Frank AuBuchon. Also working tirelessly
on the case have been: Elisabeth Semel and her students from the Berkeley
Death Penalty Clinic; attorney Hilary Sheard; and Hugo Martinez and Guillermo
Lara, both of the Laredo Public Defender’s Office.
Ever since Mr. Briseno’s execution was stayed in 2002, volunteer
interns have provided invaluable assistance in investigating factual and
legal topics. This group has included law students, social work students,
undergraduates, British law interns, and students from the Cornell Death
Penalty Clinic.
University of Texas Law Prof. Jordan Steiker and Robert Owen, now of Northwestern
University School of Law, were on the CCA briefs that won the resentencing
trial for Mr. Briseno. Many, many others worked on Mr. Briseno’s
case before he was granted a retrial, including: attorney Mandy Welch;
Alma Lagarda, a TDS staff attorney who worked on the case when she was
an intern; and private investigator Richard Reyna.