- Honorable Harry Fogle, Chief Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Florida -

On February 18, 1994, Kelvin Templeton, Terrell Lincoln, Steve Vela and myself entered the Handi Food Mart in Houston. Templeton stole 2 packs of beer and went out, Vela jumped the counter and demanded money. At that time, Robert Tate, armed with a gun, was in the parking lot. When Templeton left the store, Mr. Tate chased and caught him, pointed the gun to his head and told him to drop the beer. Suddenly, Templeton heard two shots and first thought that Mr. Tate had shot him. But Mr. Tate was hit twice in the chest and died. While Templeton was running away, he saw me with a gun in my hand running behind him. As the only co-conspirator at my trial, Templeton testified that he could not see Steve Vela and thus assumed that I had killed Mr. Tate.

Almost 1 ½ years after the crime the witness Julio Flores identified me in a photo line-up. Mr. Flores changed his testimony many times, but then testified that he saw me walk up to Mr. Tate and shoot him twice in the chest. Another witness, however, Yvonne Miller, who had parked right in front of the store, thus could see the robbery and was closer to the shooting than any other witness, testified that the robber who jumped the counter was the same that she saw shoot Mr. Tate and she described Vela's hair style.

Two years after the crime, Vela was confronted and he admitted that he was the robber who jumped the counter. In his affidavit, however, which could never be cross-examined at my trial, he stated that I was the shooter and that he was unarmed. The day of the crime the state's witness Raymundo Soria said that the gun that I had was an "old" gun, but at my trial over 2 years later he changed to an automatic gun. James Draffin who took a step inside the store before he noticed the robbery, said that he saw that the robber who jumped the counter (Vela) did have a gun. Mr. Draffin was receiving weapons training from the U.S. Army and he testified that this gun was a semi-automatic pistol. Mr. Tate was shot with two 9-millimeter slugs, which are most commonly used in automatic guns. Ms. Miller who grew up with Mr. Tate and Mr. Draffin who worked with him at the same company both knew the victim. They saw the robbery and Mr. Tate get shot, and they both testified that I was not the shooter.

The autopsy report showed that the gun wounds were downward. Mr. Tate was 6' 2"; I am 5' 9". The state's theory was that Mr. Tate was shot while he was bent over to tackle Templeton. But Templeton as well as the witnesses testified that there was no wrestling, tackle or struggle at all and that Mr. Tate only pointed his gun to Templeton's head.

Despite all the contradictory testimony at my trial the state of Texas found me guilty and sentenced me to death. I deeply regret that Mr. Tate lost his life, but I did not kill him and I want to prove this. There are still so many unanswered questions in my case:

If the state was so sure that Steve Vela was not the shooter, why was his location never clarified and why did the prosecution not want him to testify at my trial? The scenario the state provided would have clearly made Vela another witness. The state did not want Vela to testify because there were witnesses testifying that the shooter was the robber who jumped the counter - and that was not me.

Did Raymundo Soria change his testimony from the "old" gun that he described from the beginning to the automatic gun 2 years later to make his testimony match the autopsy report?

How could I have inflicted downward gun wounds to the taller Mr. Tate? Julio Flores, who changed his testimony several times, was the only one who stated that Mr. Tate was bent over to tackle Templeton. All other witnesses, including Templeton himself, testified that there was no tackle and no struggle at all.

Why did the state accept Vela's affidavit when the prosecution knew that there were 2 guns involved?

Ricardo A. Guerra spent 15 years on Texas death row. He was sentenced to death for the murder of a police officer. Federal District Judge Kenneth Hoyt stated that the actions of the police and prosecutors in this case were "outrages, intentional and done in bad faith". In 1997, Guerra was released.

After a new trial was ordered, the prosecution dropped the charges against Vernon McManus when a key prosecution witness refused to testify. McManus spent 10 years on Texas death row and was released in 1987.

Source: Death Penalty Information Center

"I want you all to know I did not do this crime. I asked for a 30-day stay, for a DNA test, so you'd know I did not do the crime."

Charles Anthony Boyd, executed in Texas, 8/5/99

"I owe no apology for a crime I didn't commit. Those who lied and fabricated evidence against me will have to answer for what they have done."

Frank Basil McFarland, executed in Texas, 4/29/98

"The state has blocked every opportunity for justice, but God is my witness, I did not commit murder and rape."

Thomas Battle, executed in Missouri, 8/7/96

"If it matters to anyone, I didn't kill Loga."

Davis Lozada, executed in Texas, 6/5/97

"Yes Sir, I am an innocent man. God forgive you for what you do."

Wilburn A. Henderson, executed in Arkansas, 7/8/98