On May 22, 2007, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled 52 that the death penalty should be upheld. Prior to the murders, others testified that Frank and Lacaze would pull over and rob motorists while in a squad car. Posing as a responding officer, she intended to kill Chau and Quoc to ensure there would be no witnesses. Her father died when she was an infant, and the family moved to the Rio Grande Valley, where her mother had grown up, when she was a toddler. She was believed to be the first New Orleans police officer to have been charged with killing a fellow officer. Born in 1969, Melissa, from Harlingen in south Texas, was convicted of the murder of her two-year-old daughter, Mariah, who died of blunt-force trauma to the head on February 17, 2007. In 2008, Lucio became the first Latina woman sentenced to death in Texas. Theyre saying that the evidence on Lucio is troubling and that they at the least want a stay of execution. Lacaze was arrested and charged later that night. Their decision, made public November 25, 2008 effectively voided the death warrant signed by Judge Marullo in September. [16], In September 2009, Frank's lawyers moved to have Judge Marullo removed from her ongoing post-conviction appeals on grounds of bias, given that he had already signed two death warrants for her. She grew up in a seemingly idyllic home in Enid, Oklahoma. Never before and probably, never again will such unlimited access ever be given again.Brace yourself to go on an extremely emotional journey as a man, considered by everyone, including the PRISONS WARDEN, to be completely innocent is fighting to stop a seemingly, unstoppable execution.If you would like to end capital punishment in your country (U.S) or any country, visit https://reprieve.org/ to find out what you can do.THIS VIDEO HAS BEEN UPLOADED TO TEACH/EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ON THE ULTIMATE PUNISHMENT THAT IS CARRIED OUT IN THEIR NAME \u0026 WHAT IT REALLY MEANS. The letter cites significant doubts about "Ms. Lucios guilt, her disparate treatment compared to her husband and co-defendant, who received a four-year sentence, and the impact her execution will have on her supportive family and faith community.". Melissa Lucio's case has gained national attention. Who are they? [5] When Chau went to pay Williams, Chau noticed Frank approaching the restaurant. Lucio was convicted of killing her daughter, Mariah Alvarez, 15 years ago in Harlingen, Texas. [10][29], Carty, her lawyers, and her supporters contend that she has been unjustly sentenced to death for a murder she did not commit. At times, they thought Frank veered into irrational behavior. Only . Frank pistol-whipped 17-year-old Cuong when he hesitated in revealing the location of the money. Lawmakers are saying this would add more pain to Lucios family, after already suffering the death of Mariah 15 years ago. [21] Lucio subsequently petitioned for clemency. [9][28][10] The British government filed an amicus brief in her support. Kirby wrote that while he felt the evidence of Lacaze's guilt was "overwhelming", the juror misconduct amounted to a "structural defect" and a "violation of a constitutional right so basic to a fair trial" that the only remedy was a new trial. Frank refused to discuss anything regarding the murders - every time the investigator asked her a question, she told him to "look it up in the record" or asserted her innocence. If you watch the documentary, you can see the stairs that she fell on," John Vincent Lucio. Frank had sometimes worked there off-duty as a security guard. Medical evidence indicated that the cause of death was likely cystic kidney disease or sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Marullo's signature appeared on an order authorizing Frank to take the murder weapon from the evidence room; Marullo has long maintained the signature was forged. Frank believed Williams was shortchanging her on hours and pay at the Kim Anh, and wanted revenge. They argued that the defense needed to conduct "an investigation into the defendant's background for possible mitigating evidence." She received a lethal injection at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, after a last-minute . Women on death row. Tonight's episode saw Good Morning Britain host Susanna travel to. By what name was Women On Death Row (2017) officially released in Canada in English? September 27, 2021. A Mother's Love 49m In prison for killing her husband, a woman details her past abuse and her turbulent marriage. Lucio's sister, Sonya Valencia Alvarez, said Lucio has spent the last 15 years grieving her daughter and Lucio's son, John Vincent Lucio, said his sister died by accident when she fell down a set of stairs. "She had an accident. FREEDOM TUBE 3.64K subscribers Subscribe 630K views 2. According to the Cameron County District Attorney's Office, Mariah was found at the home with signs of abuse on her body. Earlier this month, the popular HBO show "Last Week Tonight" discussed her case in an episodeon wrongful convictions. Frank was arrested and charged with three counts of first degree murder. Chau, Quoc, and the employee hid in the rear of a large walk-in cooler in the kitchen, turning out its light as they entered. ", "Her execution date looming, a mother maintains innocence in 2-year-old daughter's death", "Execution date set for Harlingen mom for murdering daughter", "Melissa Lucio execution - latest: Kim Kardashian appeals to Texas governor as juror says death sentence wrong", "Death row mum-of-14 hopes new videos could clear her of toddler's fatal fall", "Texas Set to Execute Melissa Lucio Despite Credible Claims of Innocence", "Former Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos Sentenced To Federal Prison In Connection With South Texas Bribery Scheme", "Harlingen woman faces April execution for daughter's 2007 murder", "Melissa Elizabeth Lucio v. The State of Texas (concurring)", "Federal Appeals Court Overturns Mother's Conviction in Texas Child Murder Case That May Have Been an Accidental Death", "Divided Federal Appeals Court Reinstates Death Sentence for Texas Mother of Child Who May Have Died in Accidental Fall", "Court Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law: Manuel Velez", "A Texas mother could be executed in April. ***** Update August 1, 2019 - From Death Penalty Information Center -Melissa Lucio gets a new trial. Absolute Documentaries brings you the best of entertaining and fascinating documentaries for free. DEATH. ", "Texas mother is set for execution as evidence suggests she did not kill her child", "I voted to sentence Melissa Lucio to death. Although Frank graduated near the top of her academy class, her tenure with the NOPD was mostly undistinguished. Hanging was means of execution from 1819 to 1923. In this article on My Crime Library we are going to take a closer look at Antoinette Frank Antoinette Frank Beginnings McDermott is the second woman in California sentenced to death penalty after the state reinstated . Quoc emerged from the cooler and ran out the restaurant's back door to a nearby friend's home to call 911 to report the murders. [31] Carty also claims that she was interviewed without counsel being present on one occasion. See production, box office & company info. Melissa Lucio was born in Lubbock, Texas,[2] on June 18, 1969, according to court records. [6], Frank's trial began on September 5, 1995, also before Marullo. Lucio then had seven children with Robert Alvarez. Watched this thinking that the women where hard done to but then when you search the web you find out that they all had overwhelming evidence against them which is not mentioned I the documentary. She received a lethal injection at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, after a last-minute . [20], On July 23, 2015, retired district judge Michael Kirby threw out Rogers Lacaze's conviction and sentence and ordered a new trial. The two men got in a car and drove several blocks until a police vehicle pulled the car over. [16] In 2019, a three-judge panel of the Federal Appeals Court overturned the sentence and ordered a retrial because of the trial court's interference in Lucio's right to present a defense. Dive in these women's lives full of horror, hope, death, and love, in one of the most terrible places in the USA, death row. She was scheduled for execution on April 27, 2022. She was hired on February 7, 1993, and graduated from the police academy on February 28. [4], Two men who claimed they met Lacaze at a party on February 4, 1995, John Stevens and Anthony Wallace, testified in court. The documentary outlines why her conviction was an egregious miscarriage of justice. Antoinette Frank is on Louisiana death row for the murders of three people including a fellow police officer. 2d 724 (La. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice: On May 16, 2001, Carty and three co-defendants invaded a home and kidnapped a 25-year-old female and her newborn son. Please note that the Shop Hulu site is owned and operated by Snowcommerce. As Frank turned back to the restaurant dining room, Chau grabbed Quoc to hide somewhere. On the day before the murder, 15 May 2001, Carty told her neighbor, Florence Meyers, that she was pregnant and that the baby would be born the next day. Following Mariah's death, Lucio was arrested and questioned for seven hours by Texas Ranger Victor Escalon without a lawyer present, and without receiving food or water. This page was last edited on 21 January 2023, at 21:45. Lucio was convicted in 2008, and her execution date is April 27, when she is set to receive a lethal injection. She frequently had to go through supervisory review. On the surface, she checks all the boxes of the ideal culprit. The execution . Law enforcement, EMS officials ramp up efforts as spring break rolls in, Pleasant Weekend; Next Storm Chance Not Until Friday, Forecast: Beautiful weekend weather, warmer for next week, Family of woman on death row claims she's innocent, pleads for her release, Interim Study Committee on Criminal Justice Reform, 17-year-old Laci hopes to get adopted before she ages out of the Texas foster care system, 16-year-old driver tossed in Elgin tornado lucky to be alive, 'This is our only source of income': Round Rock family sees their food truck destroyed in tornado, Austin PD SWAT team responding to North Austin Walmart. But worn down from a lifetime of abuse and the grief of. Officials set her execution date for April 27. Lucio was addicted to cocaine and tested positive shortly after Mariah was born; this prompted authorities to place her children in foster care. The broadcaster . As Chau bolted through the restaurant's front door to the safety of arriving officers, Frank immediately identified herself as a police officer. Additional terms apply. Mariah was Lucio's twelfth child. Lucio's case was the subject of a 2020 documentary, The State of Texas vs. Melissa. This appeal was rejected on September 19, 2009. Lynn Marie Gracey, a private investigator who worked on Melissas appeal, remarks about Gilman: I think the guy knew that he sabotaged the case so bad that he didnt want anybody to rework it, re-investigate it. In a video, a female officer asks the boy: "Did you see your sister fall down the stairs or did somebody tell you that she fell?" Lucio earned notoriety as the first Hispanic woman on death row in Texas. [4], Irvin Bryant, a civil sheriff in 1995, testified that on the evening of February 4, he observed a stopped police vehicle with its lights flashing. Depicting an elderly woman and man with stern expressions, they remind the viewer of the North Korean leaders, rather than those of a free country. [24] They assert that no scientific evidence exists that establishes that she was at the scene of the crime,[5] although her fingerprints were found in the car containing the victim's body. With the latest camera equipment used by well-known filmmakers working for famous production studios. At that point, Wallace saw Lacaze and noticed he was holding a gun. Although Frank's attorneys had subpoenaed 39 witnesses, they didn't call a single one. 18 by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/preludes/Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/The Voyage by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Artist: http://audionautix.com/https://youtu.be/NaxBDflXv6o#DeathRowUsa #MarleyRecords #WomenOnDeathRow On June 19, 2016, Sky Network aired a one-hour program about her case on CBS Reality. 4th Circuit appellate judges Edwin Lombard, Paul Bonin and Madeleine Landrieu ruled "After review of the state's writ application in light of the applicable law and arguments of the parties, we find that the trial court erred in finding that the seating of Mr. Settle on the defendant's jury was a structural error entitling him to a new trial".[23]. However, such recommendations are rare. Dive in these women's lives full of horror, hope, death, and love, in one of the most terrible places in the USA, death row. Download titles to your supported device for on-the-go-streaming. intentionally withholding "numerous items" of exculpatory evidence, List of women on death row in the United States, "Linda Carty: 'I'm not afraid of dying. [34], In 2012, she appeared on a segment of Werner Herzog's series On Death Row, broadcast on the Discovery Channel program Investigation Discovery. Crawford was exonerated in 2017.Vicente Benavides was exonerated in April 2018 after 26 years on Californias death row, wrongly convicted of raping, sodomizing, and murdering his girlfriends 21-month-old daughter. Their names are:Darlie Routier, Kimberly Cargil, Brittany Holberg, Erica Sheppard, and Linda Carty.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Music CreditsSuspense Action by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Artist: http://audionautix.com/Machinations by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100510Artist: http://incompetech.com/The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/uvp/Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/Prelude No. She is scheduled to be executed on April 27. [5][30] Carty stated that "it was too difficult just to kill me, so they hatched this plot. In 2020, Hulu produced the mentioned documentary, " The State of Texas vs. Melissa ," which detailed how she could be innocent. It played at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2020, and won best documentary at the Raindance Film Festival. [14][15], In 1992, Carty was convicted of auto theft and impersonation of an FBI agent. The NOPD was chronically short-handed; at the time, its officers were paid less than in similarly sized cities, it was losing officers faster than they could be replaced, and the ranks had been decimated by several arrests for murder and drug activity. In May, however, the Louisiana Supreme Court issued a 90-day stay of execution effective June 10 pending ongoing appeals. He joined the New Orleans Police Department in 1991 and was a married father of two. Medical evidence showed that the girl had never been sexually assaulted and may actually have died from being hit by a car.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Texas Death Row houses at the moment 5 women. In 2007, Melissa Lucio 's 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, died after a tragic, accidental fall down a flight of stairs. Justice is not suddenly restored because another person dies. She kept up her relationship even though she was well aware she was jeopardizing her career.[2]. Dive in these women's lives full of horror, hope, death, and love, in one of the most Read all60 women are waiting for their execution on death row. In this episode of Women of Death Row, Mariel tells the story of Dame Alice Kyteler, a woman condemned and burned to death at the stake for witchcraft in Ireland on November 3, 1324. In total, there are around 2,500 people on death row in America. [26] The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has the option to recommend clemency to the Governor of Texas. In at least three of those cases, evidence suggests that no crime occurred; the children died of medical conditions or accidents, not homicide. We decided to follow five of them. More for you. Women on Death Row (4) 54min 2022 16+ Less than 2% of the inmate population awaiting execution on death row are women. Get Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+, all with ads, for $12.99/mo. Trevor McDonald enters Death Row at one of America's oldest and most notorious maximum-security prisons to meet the very people whose crimes have led to the ultimate punishment. pic.twitter.com/vfb4QeOtY1, The lawmakers are among dozens of Texas legislators who have signed a letter to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles asking it to act in Melissa Lucio's case. Three older children went to live in Houston with their father, and Lucio regained custody of the others in late 2006.[5]. Antoinette Renee Frank (born April 30, 1971) is a former officer of the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) who, on March 4, 1995, committed a violent armed robbery at a restaurant which resulted in the killing of two members of the Vietnamese-American family who ran the establishment, and fellow NOPD officer Ronald A. Williams II. After that, Quoc Vu and his mother Nguyet sold the location, re-opening the restaurant in Harahan, and moving their residence to Metairie, where they said they felt safer. Lacaze had slipped behind Williams and shot him in the neck, severing his spinal cord and instantly paralyzing him. In November 1995, a month after she received her first death sentence, a dog led police to find a human skull with a bullet hole buried under Frank's house. Chau told Frank she knew what she had done and cried to the officers that Frank had committed the crimes. Hulu has acquired U.S rights to Sabrina Van Tassel's documentary 'The State of Texas vs. Melissa,' which was selected for Tribeca in 2020. . Hernandez said the letter was supposed to be from someone named Oscar. [26], On March 6, 2022, in the main segment of an episode of the HBO show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver called "Wrongful Convictions", her case was the main one to be mentioned as a reason for the reform of the American justice system and specifically, the abolition of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA). Ninety percent of court cases are won by the State. Carty wrote out what she wanted the letter to say, and Hernandez copied it. Antoinette Frank applied to the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) in early 1993. Melissas family, and some of her children, felt so railroaded by the justice system, they didnt trust anyone anymore. The director further explained that Melissas children have been placed all over Texas. Prosecutors said that Mariah's injuries were the result of physical abuse, while Lucio's attorneys say that her death was caused by a fall down the stairs two days prior. Fellow exonerees, journalists, lawyers and activists applauded for Butler-Smith - and for Lucio, an innocent woman still on death row. Her story became the subject of the 2020. Dive in these women's lives full of horror, hope, death, and love, in one of the most terrible places in the USA, death row.60 women are waiting for their execution on death row. 2007)", "State supreme court blocks ex-cop's execution date", "Antoinette Frank case to stay in Marullo's courtroom", "Kim Anh trial judge's testimony sought during appeal seeking post-conviction relief", "Death Row for Ex-Cop Who Killed Partner and 2 Others", "Victims' family in cop killing, triple murder stunned by retrial", "Rogers LaCaze granted new trial in '95 eastern New Orleans triple homicide", "Appellate court overturns new trial order for Rogers Lacaze in 1995 New Orleans triple murder", "Louisiana women's prison shuttered after flood, nearly 1,000 inmates relocated to various lockups", "Rogers Lacaze, Antoinette Frank's co-conspirator, no longer facing death after resentencing", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Antoinette_Frank&oldid=1142930935, This page was last edited on 5 March 2023, at 02:18. [3][20][21], The imposition of a death sentence in Texas results in an automatic direct appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. It was later determined that Mariah's arm had been broken two to seven weeks before her death, and an autopsy also showed a head injury and bruising of the kidneys, lungs and spinal cord. When he met her at the police station on 16 May after she had been arrested, he asked her if the baby had been born, and she told him "not yet.". She has mainly focused on social issues such as underage sex trafficking, children in ultra-right-wing movements, women in prison and the Holocaust. Many potential applicants were shut out due to a requirement that all officers be residents of New Orleans a requirement that was only changed in 2014. Women Texas Continuing an unparalleled pattern of rulings adverse to Texas death-row prisoners, a divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has reinstated the conviction and death sentence of a mother convicted of killing her two-year-old daughter in what, the defense has argued, was actually an accidental fall. Wallace was restrained until a backup unit arrived on the scene when he was subsequently arrested and charged with attempted murder and armed robbery. In February 2021, the 2019 grant of relief was reversed. Who are they? Detained in Arizona, Shawna Forde, head of an anti-immigration militia, was convicted, along with his accomplices, for murdering a father and his daughter. Women on death row case 17. Trevor McDonald enters Death Row at one of America's oldest and most notorious maximum-security prisons to meet the very people whose crimes have led to the ultimate punishment. Aggressively interrogated for close to seven hours (partially shown in the documentary), the traumatized mother was coerced to confess, according to Melissa and her attorneys. She was sentenced to 10 years probation,[16] on the condition she would work as a drug informant. Good Morning Britain 's Susanna Reid meets death row inmate Darlie Routier in tonight's new documentary Death Row Women With Susanna Reid for ITV's Crime & Punishment strand. On February 21, she was sentenced to death by lethal injection. My gut told me that it was all messed up., Jason Flom, the founder of Lava Records who is an Innocence Project board member and the creator of the podcast Wrongful Conviction told Variety that the awful case of Melissa Lucio is an appalling example of just how broken our criminal legal system truly is., She was a victim, Flom went on, of a vicious and corrupt prosecutor who himself is currently serving time in federal prison [Armando Villalobos was convicted of bribery and extortion in 2014 for accepting over $100,000 in exchange for favorable outcomes in criminal trials and is currently serving a 13-year sentence in prison]; an incompetent and quite possibly compromised defense attorney; junk science; and above alla society in which the odds were stacked against her from birth., A court document highlights the horrific social conditions that afflicted Melissa and her children: The familys water has been turned off for a month. He concluded that Dr. Farley appeared to have jumped to wrong conclusions. In February, Lucio's family members gathered in Austin to say that she is innocent and should be released from prison.