Wednesday, February 28,1990
The Battalion
Judge may sentence dead man
to prison to save lawyer bond
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A state district judge may pears-to be no precedent to guide him, aid
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SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A state district judge may
sentence a dead man to prison this week.
But he probably won’t get life.
It’s all part of a bizarre case involving the late San
tiago Alfred Gallegos, who was killed while awaiting re
sentencing on a charge of aggravated sexual abuse of a
child.
“I
I think you’ll find Mr. Gallegos was hit
over the head with a blunt object. I think
it is a logical presumption that he’s not
voluntarily absent.”
— Harry Mass,
defense attorney
Before he died, after years of appeals in his case, his
first lawyer posted a $30,000 bona with the promise of
producing his client in court. That lawyer, Morris Col
lins, doesn’t want to be held responsible for paying that
money in light of the defendant’s death.
So the game plan now appears to be to have the
judge sentence Gallegos, have defense attorneys ask for
a new trial, and then have the prosecutor dismiss the
charge.
“Pretty weird, heh?” quipped a state’s attorney Mon
day.
State District Judge Phil Chavarria Jr. says there ap
pears-to be no precedent to guide him, although he's
not convinced that the law allows him to send a dead
man to prison.
“It’s one of those queer deals where there is no provi
sion in the books for this,” the judge said.
Gallegos was found guilty in October 1986, but
elected to let Chavarria, rather than a jury, decide his
punishment. Because he was convicted of an aggra
vated offense, the judge had no choice but to put him in
prison. A jury could have put him on probation.
Chavarrio sentenced Gallegos to eight years.
Defense attorney Harry Nass appealed the convic
tion and punishment to the 4th Court of Appeals on the
grounds Gallegos wasn’t told by his lawyer that Chavar
ria had no other recourse but to sentence him to prison.
The appellate court upheld the conviction but
granted Gallegos a new punishment phase of his trial.
But Gallegos wasn’t satisfied and appealed to the
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. It refused to con
sider his case.
Last December, as 54-year-old Gallegos was waiting
to be sentenced by Chavarria, the defendant was found
beaten to death in his home.
Assistant District Attorney Ed Shaughnessy said Cha
varria cannot just dismiss the charge, because the appel
late courts already have upheld the conviction. On the
other hand, Nass said, Collins shouldn’t be liable for the
$30,000 when Gallegos fails to appear in court.
“I think you’ll find Mr. Gallegos was hit over the
head with a blunt object. I think it is a logical presump
tion that he’s not voluntarily absent,” Nass said.
Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack
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