T lursday, February 1, 2001
ebruary I
STATE
THE BATTALION
Page 7 A
selCourt orders new trial for
■convicted Galveston man
Jiseasel®
filiation AUSTIN (AP) — A Galveston man convicted and
unterget.
pntenced to death in the murder of his toddler step-
| 1r j 0 . daughter had an ineffective lawyer and should be given
. ^ a new trial, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled
lle , one -Wednesday.
wa y-’ In a 5-4 ruling, the court found that Santiago Varelas’
iseaseis attorney did not ask for specific jury instructions on how
cow and to consider some of the evidence against him.
J.S. beef. Because the evidence in question was similar in na-
’sreven ture t0 t * le eharged offense, the omission prejudiced
|( j s tile jury against Varelas and severely reduced his
cnances of being convicted only of a lesser charge, the
s sj y s ' cpurt said.
I Varelas, 25, was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to
pie for the beating death of his 2-year-old stepdaughter,
'thingyoiy During trial, prosecutors presented evidence that the
submit a gi'' 1 had suffered physical abuse over the six weeks be-
tmail.cor/ ore her death, including fractured ribs, bruises, and burn
on her arm and a cut on her face.
I Prosecutors also presented evidence of several priors
«ts allegedly committed by Varelas: that he had dunked
ilmm i| e gj r p s head in a swimming pool, thumped the back of
1 «r head, made her sit still on a couch for two hours and
■ gt her the night before her death.
--■• - Although Varelas’ attorney suggested the girl’s moth-
eir was the killer, prosecutors said the alleged acts showed
a pattern of abuse.
“The evidence he committed those injuries was far
from definite,” said Varelas’ appeals attorney, Gary Hart
of Austin.
Galveston County District Attorney Michael Guarino
did not immediately return telephone message.
Varelas’ trial attorney should have requested the jury
be told that it cannot consider extraneous acts of evidence
unless they believe beyond a reasonable doubt the acts
occurred, the court said.
Because the extraneous acts were central to the state’s
case, the omission fell below a reasonable standard of rep
resenting a client, the court said.
In other court rulings Wednesday:
• The court rejected a claim of ineffective trial coun
sel from death row inmate Brent Ray Brewer, 30, who
was convicted of the 1990 robbery and stabbing death of
Robert Doyle Laminack in Amarillo. Brewer complained
that his trial attorney should have requested that he be ex
amined by a mental health expert.
• The court upheld the capital murder conviction of
Lonnie Wayne Pursley, 39, who was sentenced to die for
the 1997 beating death of Robert Earl Cook, 47, in Liv
ingston.
• The court denied an appeal from death row inmate
Melvin Wayne White, 51, who was convicted in 1999 of
the sexual assault and beating death of 9-year-old Beth
Gravell of Ozona.
Police seek couple thought
to given inmates getaway car
»
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A Cen-
al Texas couple who might have
supplied the getaway car for seven
prison escapees was sought Wednes
day by law officers who reportedly
have talked to the man who sold the
vehicle to the pair.
I The CMC Suburban was waiting
for admitted ringleader George Rivas
and other fugitives from the Connal-
ly Unit when they arrived at a store
larking lot at nearby Kenedy, law of
ficers believe.
' “We have learned that the vehicle
was sold in San Antonio a couple of
days before the escape,” John Moriar-
ty. lead investigator for the Texas De
ment of Criminal Justice in Austin,
Id the San Antonio Express-New’s.
1C
sion
)0I
>r
He said investigators learned that
a San Antonio individual sold the
We have learned
that the vehicle was
sold in San Antonio
a couple of days
before the escape.”
— John Moriarty
lead investigator for
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Suburban two days before the Dec.
13 escape to a Hispanic man and
woman in their 40s or 50s.
Investigators believe the Subur
ban was then left, in the Wal-Mart
parking lot with the keys inside the
vehicle, perhaps within hours after it
was purchased, enabling the convicts
to flee before prison officials could
set up roadblocks. .
“We believe it was left (for the
fugitives) within 48 hours of the es
cape,” Moriarty said.
The San Antonian who sold the
Suburban through a newspaper ad
is not a suspect in the case, author
ities say.
“All I did was sell my car. I’m not
involvedin any of this other stuff,”
the man, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, told The Dallas Morning
News in Wednesday’s editions.
SO MSC Film Society presents
*2 *3
tUD
GHT
Feb
2
Tickets: $3.50 at the door or $3.00 in advance at the
MSCBox Office (845-1234).
Or avoid long lines and buy a season pass for $15.
AH films shown in Rudder Theatre Complex.
Persons with disabSKtics please call 84S-151S to
inform us of your special needs.
Questions? Cali the Aggie Cinema Hotline - 847-8478.
Website: http://films.tamu.edu
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