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Thread: Otis Tyrone McKane - Texas Death Row

  1. #21
    Senior Member Frequent Poster Ted's Avatar
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    Calling it now, he’s going to death row
    Violence and death seem to be the only answers that some people understand.

  2. #22
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    I’d say you’re right since this is Bexar County
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

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  3. #23
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    8 jurors qualify so far to serve in trial of Otis McKane

    SAN ANTONIO – The jury selection process had qualified eight jurors in the capital murder trial of Otis McKane when it was temporarily suspended Friday by Bexar County District Judge Ron Rangel.

    The judge cited concerns over the growing number of positive COVID-19 cases in Bexar County as reason for halting the proceedings.

    ”I’m going to evaluate the situation every week,” Rangel said. “Because of the spikes that we’ve seen, there’s been an indication by the lawyers that they’re starting to feel a bit uncomfortable.”

    Defense attorney Raymond Fuchs said Friday that attorneys were not the only ones feeling uncomfortable.

    “You could see that concern developing among the jury panel as we were bringing them in,” Fuchs said.

    The state is seeking the death penalty for McKane, 31, who is accused of fatally shooting veteran San Antonio Police Department Detective Ben Marconi. The detective was shot in the head execution-style as he sat in his patrol car outside police headquarters on Nov. 21, 2016.

    Given the gravity of the charges, Fuchs said he agrees with Rangel’s decision.

    ”What he wants ultimately, in our case, is that the justice system and the jury decide our client’s fate. That it not be decided by a virus,” he said.

    https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2020...-murder-trial/

  4. #24
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    Jury selection in capital murder trial of accused cop killer to resume Monday

    By KSAT San Antonio

    Jury selection will resume Monday in the capital murder trial of a man accused in the execution-style slaying of a San Antonio Police Department detective in 2016.

    It has been four and a half year years since veteran San Antonio Police Department Detective Benjamin Marconi was shot in the head at point blank range as he sat in his patrol car outside police headquarters.

    Jury selection in the capital murder trial of 35-year-old Otis McKane, Marconi’s accused killer, began last fall. It was halted in December over health concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “As it relates to memories gone, folks forget things after a certain period of time, and that can be a benefit as it relates to finding a jury,” said 379th District Court Judge Ron Rangel when asked whether the delay would make jury selection easier since the murder occurred in November 2016

    The case attracted considerable public interest at the time, which Rangel feared could have made finding prospective jurors difficult.

    Still, Rangel, who will preside over the trial, said he isn’t considering a change of venue.

    “The parties have had an opportunity to request a change of venue, and they have not asked for that at this point,” Rangel said. “If they were to ask, which I doubt they would, I wouldn’t grant it.”

    A total of eight jurors have been chosen so far. Rangel plans to select a panel of 12 jurors and three alternates.

    A trial date has not been set.

    https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021...resume-monday/

  5. #25
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    Trial date set for man accused of killing San Antonio Police Det. Benjamin Marconi in 2016

    By Erica Hernandez, KSAT

    After five years and a delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a trial date is finally set in the murder case of San Antonio Police Detective Benjamin Marconi.

    Otis McKane will stand trial on July 12 in Judge Ron Rangel’s courtroom in the first death penalty case in Bexar County in five years.

    McKane, 35, is accused of shooting and killing San Antonio Police Detective Benjamin Marconi in 2016.

    The detective was shot to death as he sat in his patrol car outside Public Safety Headquarters in what prosecutors described as “a cold-blooded, unprovoked execution.”

    A massive manhunt ensued until McKane was captured two days later in San Antonio.

    A jury has also been chosen for this case after jury selection resumed last month.

    https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021...rconi-in-2016/
    Last edited by Julius; 04-14-2021 at 07:34 AM.

  6. #26
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    Long-awaited McKane capital murder trial in death of SAPD's Marconi set to start Monday

    SAN ANTONIO - The high profile Otis McKane capital murder case is finally set to begin on Monday, more than four a half years after SAPD's Benjamin Marconi was killed.

    McKane was arrested on Nov. 21, 2016, a day after Marconi was shot while sitting in his police car.

    "There’s a common phrase that death is different, and it’s very true when it comes to the law of capital murder," says Joey Contreras a local defense attorney who is also a former prosecutor and judge.

    The case will be heard in Judge Ron Rangel's 379th District Court.

    "All police officer murders are interesting because they bring out real emotion in everyone," Contreras says, "especially when someone is gunned down for seemingly no reason whatsoever."

    Marconi was in front of SAPD headquarters when he was shot, apparently at random. McKane could face the death penalty if convicted.

    "Texas was a killing machine at one time when it came to the death penalty especially certain counties,' Contreras says. "They would ask for it and get it every time. Those numbers are down across the whole country, including Texas."

    Seating a jury is a more rigorous process for a capital case.

    "Each side is allowed to interview each potential juror to find out whether there are any biases," says Donna Coltharp, a law professor at St. Mary's University, "and their ability to impose a death penalty if the law should require that. Or not impose a death sentence should the facts and the law point them in that direction."

    There was another factor in the trial's delay.

    "Covid has changed everything. (Things have) pretty much stood still for 18 months," Coltharp says.

    Jury selection actually started last year, then stopped for the pandemic. It finally concluded several months ago.

    Capital cases are also extraordinarily expensive and time consuming.

    "I would say a million (dollars) plus," Coltharp says. "A good capital case can consume half of a defense attorney's docket."

    That's because the ultimate punishment looms as a possibility, if McKane is found guilty.

    The death penalty is always a hot topic.

    "There’s been so much discussion of people being exonerated that I think the public in general is having second thoughts," Contreras says.

    Will this be the case to buck that trend?

    "Support for the death penalty is waning. The number of times the death penalty is sought has dropped dramatically," Contreras says. "The burdens on defense and the prosecution have gone up dramatically.

    "This case is being tried with all these factors present, so it will be incredibly interesting."

    McKane got married just before he was arrested.

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/foxsana...o-start-monday
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

  7. #27
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    Jury watches a video of a detective being killed on the first day of the Otis McCain trial in San Antonio

    By David Dalpe
    Texas News Today

    San Antonio – – Editor’s Note: KSAT Livestreams the entire Otis McKane trial Here..Sign up for free and send a daily summary like this to your inbox Open Court Newsletter..

    Security footage shot in front of public security headquarters where police officers in San Antonio were shot dead by patrols show the suspect who killed him at the crime scene, prosecutors said.

    The clip was part of the evidence presented on the first day of the Otis McCain capital murder trial charged with murdering San Antonio police detective Benjamin Marconi in November 2016.

    According to the prosecution, the video shows McCain pulling up a car behind Marconi’s troops, walking to the driver’s side window of the troops, and firing two shots at a police car.

    Another clip shows the suspect stepping into headquarters after the incident.

    The 379th District Court, where the trial was taking place, was full and was gloomy and tense with members of Marconi’s family in attendance.

    Prosecutor Tamara Strauf made the opening statement of the state, showing the jury a timeline of evidence presented during the trial.

    Prosecution makes opening statement in Otis McCain’s murder trial

    Strauf told the jury that when Marconi was shot twice in the head from behind, he “had never seen it come” and “had no chance to react.”

    “‘It felt good to shoot him.’ Strauf told the jury about what McCain had told police while being stroked at the detention center of the Justice of the Peace office after being arrested for the shooting. It was.

    Prosecutors said several witnesses to the shooting would run for trial. One of them is Ricky Martinez, a driver Marconi pulled in front of public security headquarters just before the police were shot dead.

    “Ricky says he gets out of the car, goes to the police and asks Detective Marconi if ​​he’s okay, and Detective Marconi can’t reply,” Strauf told the jury.

    Other witnesses to testify are Alexandria, Jennifer Patterson, and Ruling’s mother and daughter, who said Strauf had witnessed the shooting.

    “They will tell you that they heard the shot. Alexandria will tell you that she looked closely at the shooter. Then the shooter runs back to his car, the black car and takes off,” Strauf said. Said.

    Strauf also told the jury what he had told reporters when he was attending police before being transferred to the Justice of the Peace’s office. The reporter asked McCain why he blamed Marconi for not being able to see his son.

    “I have experienced some custody disputes, and I was angry with the situation, and I was furious at someone who didn’t deserve it. I’m sorry,” Strauch said in the opening statement for an hour and three minutes. I quoted McKane in.

    The defense chose not to make the opening statement and conducted few cross-examinations, but challenged some of the 911 calls presented as evidence. One of the calls they disputed was from a man who recognized McCain and his car the day after the shooting. The defense claimed that the call was a hearsay, not an emergency call to 911. Judge Ron Rangel decided that the phone could be revisited when the witness ran for office.

    Another 911 phone came from a witness who reported the shooting.

    Caller: “It’s in Santa Rosa and Nueva, (I can’t hear) … well, I just shot the policeman.”

    Police Dispatcher: “Man? Did you say the man shot the cop?”

    Caller: “Yeah”

    One of the witnesses who stood up on Monday was Kevin Wilkinson, who was working at the front desk of the Public Security Headquarters when Marconi was murdered.

    Wilkinson, a service agent at SAPD, testified that McCain came into the building that morning and wanted to file a report because he hadn’t seen his son for a while. McCain left when police officers could not receive the report immediately.

    Wilkinson testified that he could not identify the suspect from the photo lineup the morning of the shoot, but the next day.

    The case is the largest criminal justice in Bexar County since the jury trial resumed from the pandemic in March 2020. The trial is the first death sentence in more than five years in Bexar County.

    Marconi, 50, was a father and grandfather and was in police for over 20 years when he was killed. He worked in a special victim unit investigating domestic violence cases.

    The trial will resume on Tuesday at 12:30 pm and will last for approximately two weeks.

    The prosecution team includes lawyers Mario del Prado, Jessica Schulze and Tamara Strauf. The defense team consists of lawyers Raymond Fuchs, Joel Perez and Daniel de la Garza.

    https://texasnewstoday.com/jury-watc...ntonio/358787/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  8. #28
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    Prosecutors: Man accused of killing San Antonio cop said he ‘felt justified’ after 2016 shooting

    Bexar County prosecutor Tamara Strauch used defendant Otis Tyrone McKane’s own words in her opening statement to jurors on the first day of his capital murder trial.

    McKane is charged in the 2016 shooting death of San Antonio police Detective Benjamin Marconi, a 20-year veteran of the department who was shot twice while writing a traffic ticket in the front seat of his patrol vehicle outside police headquarters.

    “He says, ‘I’m not trying to prove a point. I’m just mad. I took it out on the first person I’ve seen because I had nothing to live for. And I wanted to f— somebody’s life up,'” Strauch said, repeating to jurors comments McKane made to detectives after he was arrested. “He goes on to say, ‘I wanted to make the police station feel the burn that I felt in my heart.'”

    She shared one more statement of McKane’s with jurors: “It felt good to shoot him.”

    McKane pleaded not guilty Monday before Judge Ron Rangel in the 379th District Court. McKane’s defense team, Raymond Fuchs, Joel Perez, and Daniel De La Garza, opted to defer their opening statement.

    This is the first death penalty case in Bexar County in more than five years. It was originally set to take place last year, but court proceedings were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. KSAT-TV will continue to livestream each day of the trial, which is expected to last two weeks.

    Strauch gave the jury a preview of the evidence and testimony they’ll hear throughout the trial, from the eyewitness who identified McKane as the killer, to doctors who attempted to save Marconi’s life.

    The prosecution’s first witness, SAPD special projects manager Aric Jimenez, walked the jury through surveillance footage from Nov. 20, 2016, the day Marconi was shot.

    They watched a man prosecutors say is McKane park a black Mitsubishi sedan at a nearby parking lot and enter police headquarters before 8 a.m. Marathon runners pass by the building as the man enters and exits.

    McKane said he wanted to “file a report” regarding the visitation rights for his son, testified officer Kevin Wilkinson on Monday. But before Wilkinson could get an officer to take McKane’s statement, McKane said “never mind” and walked out.

    The brief encounter led Wilkinson to track McKane with exterior cameras until he got back into his car.

    “I thought it was a little unusual for him to come in that early in the morning to want to make a report and then just walk out,” said Wilkinson.

    Prosecutors say McKane returned hours later, this time pulling his car behind Marconi’s vehicle as he was engaged in a routine traffic stop near the building’s parking lot entrance. In the video, a woman pushes a child in a stroller by the patrol vehicle just moments before the black sedan arrives. In the video, a man exits the vehicle and runs up to Marconi’s open door. Prosecutors say McKane shot Macroni twice before running back to his vehicle.

    The black sedan then plows through two parking lot entrance/exit arms before disappearing from view on West Nueva Street.

    Later, the jury viewed a video taken from the dashboard of Marconi’s vehicle. They will watch another video, taken from the back seat, tomorrow.

    Several bystanders and police officers rushed to Marconi, slumped over in his seat, Strauch said, including the driver that Marconi originally pulled over. Several called 911 and administered assistance before EMS arrived.

    He was pronounced dead at 12:22 p.m. at San Antonio Military Medical Center.

    The ensuing citywide manhunt involved local and state law enforcement. McKane was arrested without incident the following day. He was in a different vehicle with his wife, identified in court as Christian Fields, whom he married on the same day the shooting occurred.

    After his arrest, McKane told reporters he didn’t know Marconi.

    “I’ve been through several custody battles and I was upset at the situation I was in and lashed out at somebody that didn’t deserve it,” he said at the time.

    In a jailhouse interview with KSAT in December 2016, McKane said his comments were “misconstrued.” He refused to answer questions about the shooting but repeated his earlier assertion that he was upset because of a custody battle involving his son. He also claimed his identity has been stolen and that an impersonator has led to him being falsely accused of various crimes.

    After his arrest, Strauch said McKane told a mental health counselor he knew what he did was wrong, but he “felt justified.”

    On Monday, the prosecutor offered jurors a roadmap to conviction.

    “After all the evidence has come in and you’ve heard it,” Strauch told the jury, “you will know by this defendant’s actions and his words that he committed the capital murder of San Antonio Police Department detective Benjamin Marconi, coming by shooting him at close range twice in the head.”

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/sananto...n-marco/%3famp
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

  9. #29
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    ‘I was afraid to help’: Witness who found slain SAPD detective delivers gripping testimony in second day of Otis McKane trial

    Ricky Lee Martinez testifies in second day of capital murder trial of Otis McKane

    By David Ibañez and Ericka Hernandez
    KSAT News

    A man recalled to a jury the moments he heard gunshots and finding San Antonio Police Detective Benjamin Marconi slain in his patrol car.

    Ricky Lee Martinez’s gripping testimony came in the second day of the capital murder trial of Otis Mckane, who is charged in the shooting death of Marconi in November 2016.

    Martinez, who was visibly nervous on the witness stand, said he had been pulled over for a traffic violation by Marconi that morning. Driving a Pontiac Firebird to visit the River Walk with his pregnant girlfriend and their three children, Martinez was parked in front of Public Safety headquarters — in front of Marconi’s cruiser — just before the shooting.

    Martinez said when he asked Marconi why he pulled him over, the detective told him he would get back to him and went to his patrol car.

    Moments later, Martinez testified, he saw a black car pull up behind Marconi’s police unit, and witnessed the fatal encounter unfold in his rearview mirror.

    “I realized that a Black male went to a cop car and shots (were) fired,” Martinez said. “I heard like two shots nearby, and it was a Black male who shot the officer. I was scared.”

    Martinez, who said the incident still traumatizes him to this day, testified that he was in fear for his family’s lives and told them “to stay down and don’t move and don’t say nothing” and thought about “my family and I not making it.”

    The prosecution witness told jurors that the gunman ran back to his car and drove past an arm post and through a parking lot and eventually drove away. That’s when Martinez decided to check on Marconi.

    Martinez said he approached the police cruiser with his hands in the air and saw the driver’s door open.

    “I could see him laying there and saw blood coming out. I (froze) and stuff. I wanted to help but I was afraid to help,” Martinez said.

    Martinez said that the officer was bleeding from the neck and saw that his driver’s license was bent in Marconi’s hand. He said that moments later, police officers arrived and he told them what had happened.

    Martinez’s testimony came on the same day that a juror twice left the courtroom.

    The juror first left the proceedings after a video from inside Marconi’s patrol unit that showed the moment when Marconi was shot was shown in court.

    Members of Marconi’s family were also very emotional, as some turned away during the video and others watched. Some could be heard crying, according to KSAT court reporter Erica Hernandez, who is live Tweeting from the courtroom.

    After the video was shown, Judge Ron Rangel ordered a short recess.

    A second video was then brought into evidence of a reverse angle of what took place inside the vehicle. The defense objected to showing the video, saying it was prejudicial, which led to a tense debate.

    “One of the jurors became physically ill and had to leave the courtroom and had to get some kind of recovery to her before she could return. So, the idea that this wouldn’t be prejudicial is ridiculous,” said defense attorney Ramon Fuchs.

    “This video that we’re talking about shows the occurrence as it’s actually happening,” countered prosecutor Tamara Strauch. Rangel allowed the video to be shown for demonstrative evidence purposes, which he said makes it easier for the jury to understand and see what happened.

    About two hours later, the same juror left the courtroom again when Rangel called for another recess. A courthouse cleaning crew was seen mopping up an area inside the courtroom and a bailiff picking up water bottles that belonged to members of the jury.

    McKane could face the death penalty if he is found guilty.

    The trial will resume Wednesday at 9 a.m.

    https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021...content=ksat12
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  10. #30
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    DAY 3 LIVE: Trial of Otis McKane, accused of murdering SAPD Det. Benjamin Marconi

    KSAT will livestream the proceedings gavel to gavel

    By David Ibañez and Ericka Hernandez
    KSAT News

    Updated Wednesday at 11:10 a.m.:

    A VIA bus driver testified that he identified defendant Otis McKane out of a photo lineup at Public Safety Headquarters as the gunman who killed SAPD Detective Benjamin Marconi.

    Juan Enciso said that he was driving a group of military personnel to a USO facility downtown the morning of the shooting.

    Enciso testified that he slowed down immediately because “he heard a gunshot.”

    He also said he saw a man run to a black car after the shooting.

    Attorneys argued over whether his testimony was admissible because Enciso made a change on the lineup paperwork.

    He testified that he initially checked a box saying he couldn’t make a proper identification but then changed the paperwork indicating that he could identify McKane as the suspect. He testified that he was not pressured to change his answer but said he did so after realizing his mistake.

    Updated Wednesday at 11:10 a.m.:

    A VIA bus driver testified that he identified defendant Otis McKane out of a photo lineup at Public Safety Headquarters as the gunman who killed SAPD Detective Benjamin Marconi.

    Juan Enciso said that he was driving a group of military personnel to a USO facility downtown the morning of the shooting.

    Enciso testified that he slowed down immediately because “he heard a gunshot.”

    He also said he saw a man run to a black car after the shooting.

    Attorneys argued over whether his testimony was admissible because Enciso made a change on the lineup paperwork.

    He testified that he initially checked a box saying he couldn’t make a proper identification but then changed the paperwork indicating that he could identify McKane as the suspect. He testified that he was not pressured to change his answer but said he did so after realizing his mistake.

    https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021...in-marconi/#//
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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