Man gets 41 years for 3 slayings when he was 16

Associated Press ^ | January 10, 2004 | Associated Press Staff

[MeekOneGOP]

Man gets 41 years for 3 slayings when he was 16

08:14 PM CST on Saturday, January 10, 2004

Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO – A Laredo man who pleaded guilty to the bloody 1991 slayings of two men and a boy has been sentenced to 41 years in prison.

Miguel Angel Venegas Jr. pleaded guilty to three counts of murder Friday, the day jury selection was scheduled to begin for his trial.

Mr. Venegas was 16 when he used a knife and an ax to kill James Smiley, a 33-year-old restaurant manager and Baptist youth counselor, and Ruben Martinez, 22, and Daniel Duenez, 14, two residents of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. The trio was attacked while sleeping in Mr. Smiley's Laredo home.

After his sentencing, Mr. Venegas said he does not remember the slayings because he was high from sniffing glue and taking cocaine.

"I have maintained, and I still maintain in my heart, that I am not guilty for the reason that I was on drugs and I was beside myself," he told the San Antonio Express-News.

Mr. Venegas' trial was delayed three times when a state appeals court struck down a lower court's decision to certify Mr. Venegas to stand trial as an adult.

Mr. Venegas will be eligible for parole after he completes one-fourth of his sentence.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/tsw/stories/011104dntexvenegas.18b6c.html

[JZoback]

Poor guy, imagine be held accountable for your heinous crimes of murder in cold blood.

What is this country coming to!

"I have maintained, and I still maintain in my heart, that I am guilty as sin and should get the needle, but am thankful for getting out in maybe ten years"

That's what the guy should have said

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[MeekOneGOP]

Man gets 41 years for 3 slayings when he was 16

He was only 16 ? So young and tender. Oh my !
My keyboard has teardrops on it after reading that article ...

NOT ! He got off LIGHT ! He'll probably get off in 10-15 years and ax somebody else ...

[Mark was here]

Citizens of San Antonio must of had a 3 for 1 sale in mind when they elected the Judge who gave this sentence.

Murder 3 ... get sentenced for one!

[muawiyah]

Is this guy getting off so light because he's Hispanic, or was young when he did the killings, or because Texas lawmakers were so distracted by the Democrats' battle against reapportionment that fascist judges were allowed to get away with it?

Look, there's always somebody out there who likes murder, or feels that remarkable performances should be rewarded. Sounds like it's time to remove one of 'em from the bench.

[waterstraat]

You are probably right, unless this case still gets puclicity 10 years from now. The average actual time served for murder in the United States is only 96 months.

[MeekOneGOP]

Not sure of the specifics of this case. Per the article:

Mr. Venegas' trial was delayed three times when a state appeals court struck down a lower court's decision to certify Mr. Venegas to stand trial as an adult.

So it sounds like he was not tried as an adult to me. That may have had a bearing, I don't know.

Also, in Texas, the jury has the responsibility to dish out the punishment as well as deciding guilt. The judge had nothing to do with the sentence except to tell the jurors what the law stipulates on punishment.

[muawiyah]

The judge must have misinformed them.

No doubt we can find other instances of misconduct.

Fur Shur, this guy has no business on the outside ~ not ever!

[MeekOneGOP]

Yep ! Since he can't take the wheeling out to the needle, then hopefully he spends the rest of days in the pokey (or at least until he's too old to do anyone much harm).

Then on to his permanent future home ...

[Mark was here]

Also, in Texas, the jury has the responsibility to dish out the punishment as well as deciding guilt. The judge had nothing to do with the sentence except to tell the jurors what the law stipulates on punishment.

Interesting, I never knew the jury would come back with the actual term, I knew the "Sentencing Phase" was for the jury to decide on Capitol Punishment or not. Learn something every day!

[solo gringo]

This slime could be back on the streets of laredo in about 2years give or take a few months.

[MeekOneGOP]

From the article:

Mr. Venegas will be eligible for parole after he completes one-fourth of his sentence.

He'll have to serve 10.25 yrs. before he can even be considered. It's doubtful he'll be sprung his first trip to the parole board too as awful a crime as he committed.