| That commercial that Taco Bell has, that on the border stuff, I want you think about that on the border. This is the line. I want you to think about the border. On this side of the border is all the law abiding citizens. On this side of the border is those that cross that border sometimes and commit crimes. - Prosecutor's Argument that race poses a threat of repeat violent offences |
| EXCERPTS FROM JESSY SAN MIGUEL’S TRIAL |
| NEWS ARTICLES ON JESSY |
Jessy Carlos San Miguel is scheduled to be put to death on June 29, 2000 for his role in the 1991 robbery of a Taco Bell restaurant in Irving, Texas in which four people were killed.
In the wake of the recent United States Supreme Court action in the case of Victor Hugo Saldaño, Mr. San Miguel has filed a Petition in the District Court of Dallas County, Texas, asking the court to vacate his death sentence on the grounds that his death sentence was based in part of his Mexican heritage. In Texas a defendant cannot be sentenced to death unless the jury finds that he would be a danger in the future. At Mr. San Miguel's sentencing trial, his own lawyer blamed his violent and aggressive behavior as a teenager on his Mexican ethnicity. Also, the prosecutor appealed to the jury's prejudice and fear of illegal immigrants from Mexico.
On June 5, 2000, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari and vacated the 1991 death sentence of Victor Hugo Saldaño, of Collins County, remanded his case to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, his death sentence because Dr. Walter Quijano, a clinical psychlogist testified for the state that the risk that person will commit acts of of violence is greater for black and hispanic prisoners. Dr. Quijano based his testimony that on evidence that blacks and Hispanics are over-represented in the criminal justice system.
In pleadings filed with
the United States Supreme Court, the State of Texas "confessed error, acknowledging
that, "the infusion of race as a factor for the jury to weigh in making
its determination violated [Saldaño's] constitutional right to be
sentenced without regard to the color of his skin." On behalf of the State
of Texas, the Attorney General said that "[b]ecause the use of race in
Saldaño's sentencing seriously undermined the fairness, integrity,
or public reputation of the judicial process, Texas confesses error and
agrees that Saldaño is entitled to a new sentencing hearing." The
Attorney General explained that importance of a racially
unbiased judicial process
is so great that the State will not hide behind procedural technicalities
and that the death sentence should be reversed even though Saldaon’s lawyer
did not object to the testimony and there was other evidence to support
the death sentence.
In addition to Saldaño,
the State has identified six other cases in Dr. Quijano gave similar testimony.
The State has indicated that it will not oppose requests for similar relief
in those cases should those litigants seek to supplement their pending
applications for review. Without
qualification, the Attorney
General noted that "it is inappropriate to allow race to be considered
as a factor in our criminal justice system." Although Dr. Quijano did not
testify in Mr. San Miguel's trial, race was considered as a factor in determining
"future dangerousness," so that Mr. San Miguel should be included in the
group of cases being re-considered.
Like the jury that sentenced Victor Saldaño to death, the San Miguel jury was impermissibly allowed and encouraged to consider race as a factor in sentencing San Miguel to death. During Mr. San Miguel's trial racist stereotypes of "macho" Mexican-Americans who "cross that border...and commit crimes" were invoked by both the defense counsel and the prosecutor. The petition filed last week on behalf of Mr. San Miguel charges that these overtly racist statements encouraged jurors to consider race in sentencing.
At the time of the offense
for which he was sentenced to death, Jessy San Miguel was only 19 years
old. As early as junior high, Jessy was involved in frequent altercations
with other students. Jessy's family background, his long term exposure
to domestic violence and history of childhood abuse potentially provided
an individualized, mitigating explanation for this
behavior. However, when
the state introduced testimony concerning Mr. San Miguel's combative attitude
and his fights with other students during junior high and high school,
defense counsel characterized them as merely a product of Mr. San Miguel's
Mexican-American heritage.
Mr. San Miguel is scheduled to be executed on the twenty-eighth anniversary of the release of the United States Supreme Court's opinion in Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972) which called a temporary halt to the imposition of the death penalty in the United States until procedures could be put in place to insure that the ultimate punishment was administered fairly and without regard to arbitrary factors such as race.
Should the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refuse to stop Mr. San Miguel's execution, he calls upon Mr. Bush and Mr. Cornyn to confess error as they did in Mr. Saldaño's case, and agree to a new sentencing hearing free from racial bias. A petition for clemency is pending before the Governor and the Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Excerpts from the transcript
of Mr. San Miguels trial are attached. A copy of the petition filed on
habeas of Mr. San Miguel can be obtain from his attorneys.
| EXCERPTS FROM JESSY SAN MIGUEL’S TRIAL |
| NEWS ARTICLES ON JESSY |
For more info.: Counsel for Mr. San Miguel
|
Danalynn Recer
636 Baronne St. New Orleans, LA 70113 Tel. (504)558-9867 Fax (504) 558-0378 Mobile (504)319-6553 |
Mandy Welch
Burr and Welch 1630 Castle Court, Suite A Houston, TX 77002 Tel. (713) 523-2299 Fax. (713) 523-3833 |
