Posted on 08/06/2003 8:45:27 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Convicted strangler of 3-year-old set to die08/06/2003
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - The one certainty in a "he said, she said" case that put a Brownsville man on death row and a woman in prison for life is that a 3-year-old boy was murdered, sexually abused and strangled with the elastic from his own underwear.
"Not that any murder case makes sense, but this was just totally senseless," says Luis Saenz, the former Cameron County district attorney who prosecuted Jose Alfredo Rivera, condemned for the slaying of Luis Daniel Blanco 10 years ago. "It's hard to figure out motive or what these people were thinking."
Rivera, 40, faced lethal injection Wednesday night. He would be the 21st Texas inmate executed this year.
An acquaintance, Veronica Zavala, 28, also was convicted of capital murder. Sentenced to life, she's not eligible for parole until July 2028 at the earliest.
APZavala testified at her trial she held down the toddler's arms while he was being killed and performed sex acts on the child but also contended she was forced to participate because Rivera had threatened her.
"She tried to blame it all on me," Rivera said recently from death row. "She named me so she could get away with it."
Rivera, a construction worker, was on parole for burglary and parole violation when he was arrested for the killing. He also had a 15-year history of sniffing paint fumes to get high.
Also Online
Texas Executions: Coverage from TXCN.com Offender profile: Jose Alfredo Rivera Related links Texas Department of Criminal Justice Scheduled executions Offenders on death row "I was the bad apple in the neighborhood so they picked me up," said Rivera, who contended Brownsville police beat and threatened him until he confessed.
"They forced it out of me," he said.
"Absolutely, unequivocally, there was none of that," Saenz responded.
Zavala has changed her version of the crime numerous times and has written prosecutors to absolve Rivera.
"It goes beyond a tepid: 'He didn't do it,"' said David Sergi, Rivera's appellate lawyer. "This woman is really trying to correct a wrong."
In appeals to the federal courts, Rivera argued he was innocent and ineligible for execution because he was mentally retarded.
Zavala lived next door to the child's family, who had moved to Texas from Mexico. After Zavala visited to use the family phone late the morning of July 9, 1993, and while the child's mother was distracted by other telephone calls, the boy either accompanied or followed Zavala as she walked to nearby Lincoln Park in Brownsville. There she either met or was confronted by Rivera.
"They start partaking in a cocaine binge," Saenz said. "The next thing you know they're engaging in sexual conduct right there at the park in broad daylight. And the next thing you know the baby is floating in the water."
The boy's mother had called police after her son disappeared and she couldn't find him or Zavala, who returned home about three hours later and became agitated and denied knowing the whereabouts of Daniel Blanco.
His nude body was found the next day in the park pond.
At her trial, Zavala testified Rivera told her the boy had to die because he would tell of their drug and sexual activity, then told jurors how Rivera tore the waistband from the toddler's underwear and started choking him. Zavala said as the child screamed and struggled, she held down his arms to comfort him.
The photo of the child in the water is what Saenz particularly remembers about the case 10 years later.
"To this day, it just blows me away," he said. "It was just terrible.
"When one thinks about the death penalty, this is precisely why the state of Texas I'm sure has the death penalty, for individuals like Jose Rivera."
"If I had been there, that boy would be alive," Rivera argued from death row, maintaining his innocence. "If I have to, I get executed. My conscience is clear."
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/tsw/stories/080603dntexexecute.fffcb03f.html
How clever of him.
Affidavits from three of applicant's sisters recount that applicant was a slow learner and apparently never learned to read well, tell time, or drive a car. Because he did not read well, applicant had difficulty in filling out job applications; his father found work for him. Applicant also forgot things and was difficult to understand when he spoke. One sister also stated that applicant began to sniff paint when he was young and continued to do so through high school. Other than allegations that he did not work much, there is no evidence of deficits in adaptive behavior.
Although applicant did not submit the results of an IQ test, we have reviewed the record from direct appeal. Included in that record are a pen packet which shows that applicant was tested and scored an IQ of 92. Also in the record from direct appeal is the affidavit of a psychiatrist who testified for the defense during the punishment phase. The affidavit indicates that the expert's evaluation of applicant in anticipation of trial was consistent with an IQ score of 92. The affidavit also opines that the recorded IQ was lowered by long-standing inhalant abuse.
Medical records for applicant indicate a head injury in 1990 and an detoxification admission to a mental-health facility in 1985. There is no mention of mental retardation.
A remand of a subsequent application raising an Atkins claim is appropriate when an applicant sets out sufficient facts to raise a bona fide claim of mental retardation, but in the instant cause applicant has failed to make this threshold showing. Because of applicant's failure to produce "sufficient specific facts" to support an Atkins claim, we dismiss applicant's subsequent writ application as an abuse of the writ under Article 11.071, Section 5(a).
This woman actually brought a rape kit with her to the park.
Re #22-23: Thanks.So he had an IQ of 92 even after YEARS of sniffing. The guy was no dummy. He was a bad apple.
Advise to bad apples: Don't be. At least not in Texas. It doesn't pay ...
Condemned killer wins late reprieve08/07/2003
HUNTSVILLE, Texas A federal appeals court Wednesday evening blocked the execution of the convicted killer of a 3-year-old boy about three hours after the Texas inmate could have been put to death.
Jose Alfredo Rivera, 40, was in a holding cell just a few feet away from the Texas death chamber when he was informed of the reprieve from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
Attorneys for Rivera had been contending the parolee from Brownsville, with a long history of violence and inhalant abuse, not only was factually innocent of strangling little Luis Daniel Blanco 10 years ago, but was mentally retarded, making him ineligible for execution under a high court ruling a year ago in another case.
Rivera's death warrant set the execution time for after 6 p.m. CDT., although Texas prison officials don't proceed with the lethal injection until all court actions are resolved. The Supreme Court earlier in the evening rejected at least two rounds of appeals before the 5th Circuit stopped it because of the mental retardation claims.
Also Online
Texas Executions: Coverage from TXCN.com Offender profile: Hilton Crawford Related links Texas Department of Criminal Justice Scheduled executions Offenders on death row Rivera was informed of the reprieve by a prison chaplain. He already had eaten his final meal that included tamales and enchiladas.
"He said he was not surprised because he has faith," Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said. "He was praying with the chaplain and wearing a black beaded rosary."
In its three-paragraph ruling, the federal appeals court said after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals "inexplicably decided to consider the evidence it previously declined to consider," that put the mental retardation claim properly before the New Orleans-based court.
"We believe ... he has made a sufficient prima facie showing to be authorized to proceed in the district court only on his claim of mental retardation," a three-judge panel of the court said.
The Texas attorney general's office said there would be no late attempts to get the order lifted.
The ruling means the case now heads to a federal district judge in Brownsville.
Prison officials immediately prepared to return him to death row, at a prison about 45 miles east of Huntsville.
Rivera, 40, insisted he was innocent and contended a woman serving a life prison term for the slaying was the only person involved in the death of the child 10 years ago at a park in Brownsville.
Veronica Zavala, 28, also was convicted of capital murder in the boy's death. Sentenced to life, she's not eligible for parole until July 2028 at the earliest.
"Not that any murder case makes sense, but this was just totally senseless," said Luis Saenz, the former Cameron County district attorney who prosecuted Rivera for capital murder.
Zavala testified at her trial she held down the toddler's arms while he was being killed and performed sex acts on the child but also contended she was forced to participate because Rivera had threatened her.
"She tried to blame it all on me," Rivera said recently from death row, denying he was even at the park where the boy's naked body was found floating in a pond. "She named me so she could get away with it.
"If I had been there, that boy would be alive. If I have to, I get executed. My conscience is clear."
Rivera, who worked as a roofer and dishwasher, was a paroled burglar who had earlier violated parole when he was arrested for the killing. He had a 15-year history of sniffing paint fumes to get high.
"I like the way it smells," Rivera said.
He also had arrests for assault, robbery, carrying illegal weapons and intoxication due to alcohol or paint ingestion. Court records show he was known as a "border bandit," armed with a machete and robbing an illegal immigrant who crossed into Texas.
"I was the bad apple in the neighborhood so they picked me up," he said, contending Brownsville police beat and threatened him until he confessed to the child's death.
"Absolutely, unequivocally, there was none of that," Saenz responded.
Zavala changed her version of the crime numerous times and wrote prosecutors absolving Rivera.
"It goes beyond a tepid: 'He didn't do it,"' said David Sergi, Rivera's appellate lawyer. "This woman is really trying to correct a wrong."
Zavala lived next door to the child's family, who had moved to Texas from Mexico. After she visited to use the family phone late the morning of July 9, 1993, and while the child's mother was distracted by other telephone calls, the boy either accompanied or followed Zavala as she walked to nearby Lincoln Park in Brownsville. There she either met or was confronted by Rivera, where they had cocaine and sex.
"And the next thing you know the baby is floating in the water," Saenz said.
The boy's mother called police after her son disappeared and she couldn't find him or Zavala, who returned home about three hours later and became agitated and denied knowing anything when questioned about Daniel Blanco.
His body was found the next day.
At her trial, Zavala testified Rivera told her the boy had to die because he would tell of their drug and sexual activity. She told jurors how Rivera tore the waistband from the toddler's underwear and choked him.
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/tsw/stories/080703dntexreprieve.11719.html
Condemned killer wins late reprieve08/07/2003
HUNTSVILLE, Texas A federal appeals court Wednesday evening blocked the execution of the convicted killer of a 3-year-old boy about three hours after the Texas inmate could have been put to death.
Jose Alfredo Rivera, 40, was in a holding cell just a few feet away from the Texas death chamber when he was informed of the reprieve from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
Attorneys for Rivera had been contending the parolee from Brownsville, with a long history of violence and inhalant abuse, not only was factually innocent of strangling little Luis Daniel Blanco 10 years ago, but was mentally retarded, making him ineligible for execution under a high court ruling a year ago in another case.
Rivera's death warrant set the execution time for after 6 p.m. CDT., although Texas prison officials don't proceed with the lethal injection until all court actions are resolved. The Supreme Court earlier in the evening rejected at least two rounds of appeals before the 5th Circuit stopped it because of the mental retardation claims.
Also Online
Texas Executions: Coverage from TXCN.com Offender profile: Hilton Crawford Related links Texas Department of Criminal Justice Scheduled executions Offenders on death row Rivera was informed of the reprieve by a prison chaplain. He already had eaten his final meal that included tamales and enchiladas.
"He said he was not surprised because he has faith," Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said. "He was praying with the chaplain and wearing a black beaded rosary."
In its three-paragraph ruling, the federal appeals court said after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals "inexplicably decided to consider the evidence it previously declined to consider," that put the mental retardation claim properly before the New Orleans-based court.
"We believe ... he has made a sufficient prima facie showing to be authorized to proceed in the district court only on his claim of mental retardation," a three-judge panel of the court said.
Recent execution threads:Search for Keyword Execution
08-06-2003
Convicted strangler of 3-year-old set to die -
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I see your note on #32 too, thanks.Yeah, it doesn't make ANY sense to me. I think this is just a speed bump/delay. Rivera will get his turn on the table on another day ...
Meanwhile, part of the process has already been completed, ie. Rivera got his last meal. If I were the warden, I wouldn't serve him any more food since that was his "last meal," right? If his lawyers objected, I would remind them that Mr. Rivera is 5'3" and weighs more than 200 lb, which means I would probably be saving his life by reducing his weight. :-)
bttt to check out your link later ...Thanks.
I can’t begin to imagine the pain and suffering this monster have caused both families. And then to deny that he was involved is like salt on an open wound. I’ve heard about this case when i was younger....my family tried sugar coating it. Like he didn’t do it. I don’t care if he’s my uncle he deserves to suffer like how Daniel had to suffer. 100xs more
Welcome to FR.
L
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