Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 12

Thread: Mario Dion Woodward - Alabama Death Row

  1. #1
    Guest
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    5,534

    Mario Dion Woodward - Alabama Death Row


    Officer Keith Houts


    Mario Dion Woodward


    Facts of the Crime:

    Sentenced to death in 2008 for killing Montgomery police officer Keith Houts during a traffic stop in September 2006.

  2. #2
    Guest
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    5,534
    September 25, 2008

    Mario Woodward Gets Death Penalty

    Convicted murderer Mario Woodward has been sentenced to death for the murder of Montgomery police officer Keith Houts.

    Houts was shot to death in September of 2006 after pulling Woodward over on a routine traffic stop.

    Woodward was convicted by a jury on two counts of capital murder back in August.

    The jury had recommended life in prison without the possibility of parole by an 8 to 4 decision, but according to Alabama law a judge has the final say on punishment.

    Circuit Judge Truman Hobbs, Jr. overruled the jury recommendation and issued the maximum penalty.

    Woodward will receive an automatic appeal.

    (Source: The Associated Press)

  3. #3
    Alexxx74
    Guest
    Direct appeal denied on December 16, 2011.

    The decision is here: http://law.justia.com/cases/alabama/...r-08-0145.html

  4. #4
    Jan
    Guest
    In today's United States Supreme Court orders, Woodward's petition for writ of certiorari was DENIED.

    Lower Ct: Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
    Case Nos.: (CR-08-0145)
    Decision Date: December 16, 2011
    Rehearing Denied: August 24, 2012
    Discretionary Court
    Decision Date: April 19, 2013

    You can find Justice Sotomayor's dissent starting on page 25: http://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/c...13zor_7mi8.pdf

  5. #5
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    Attorneys still fighting for Mario Woodward’s innocence

    Attorneys flew in from New York to argue in front of Judge Truman Hobbs in Montgomery County Circuit Court for the opportunity to present evidence regarding Mario Woodward’s case, which they believe could prove him innocent of capital murder.

    The crux of Thursday’s hearing hinged on what Woodward’s post-conviction attorneys contend was the failings of Woodward’s trial attorneys Joe Van Heest and co-counsel Richard Keith to put forth sufficient evidence.

    Hobbs, who was the judge in Woodward’s murder trial, effectively ruled against all motions from the post-conviction attorneys which requested the opportunity to present evidence they believe was overlooked.

    Woodward was convicted in 2008 of two counts of capital murder for the slaying of Montgomery Police Officer Keith Houts, court documents state. One count stemmed from murdering an on-duty police officer, the other from shooting out of a vehicle.

    Geoffrey Young, with the New York based Reed Smith LLP law firm, argued that Woodward’s trial attorneys should have had experts testify about video evidence of what was alleged to be Woodward’s arm extended from a vehicle.

    Young said that a biometrics expert had been able to determine the measurements of the person’s arm extended from the vehicle, and that it did not match the size of Woodward’s arm.

    “There was absolutely no analysis (entered into evidence) determining who the person is in the vehicle … that was never presented at the trial, and as best we can tell it was never investigated,” Young said.

    Young also argued that Woodward’s attorneys didn’t provide sufficient evidence about the cell towers that prosecutors used to place him at the scene, and that mitigation specialists did not have nearly enough time to properly investigate Woodward’s background.

    “The evidence against Woodward was so overwhelming,” Hobbs said. “It wasn’t beyond reasonable doubt, it was beyond all doubt. Therefore I don’t think anything you could have said or done is going to change the outcome of his case.”

    Hobbs said he would indulge Young’s request to re-examine the jury that served on Woodward’s trial after Young argued that it was not made up of peers similar to Woodward.

    After finding him guilty, the jury recommended life in prison without parole, “But Hobbs said the 34-year-old should die for killing Montgomery police officer Keith Houts in September 2006,” the Advertiser reported at the time of the sentencing.

    Hobbs overrode the jury’s recommendation, and sentenced Woodward to the death penalty.

    Woodward’s case was ultimately appealed to the Supreme Court, which ruled against him with the exception of Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Gerald Breyer, who dissented.

    “There’s got to be an end to this,” Hobbs said at the end of the hearing to a packed courtroom. “It’s time to give everybody in this case a final.”

    http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/...ence/72768122/

  6. #6
    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Newport, United Kingdom
    Posts
    2,454
    Judge rules AL's death penalty scheme unconstitutional

    JEFFERSON COUNTY, AL (WBRC) - A Jefferson County circuit judge has ruled Alabama's death penalty scheme unconstitutional in a landmark decision for the state.

    Four Jefferson County capital murder defendants asked Judge Tracie Todd to rule Alabama’s death penalty unconstitutional on Thursday.

    Florida and Alabama were the only two states in the nation where a judge could override a jury's recommendation and sentence someone to death.

    In January, the Supreme Court struck down Florida's law as unconstitutional in their decision in the Hurst vs. Florida case.

    Now, defense attorneys in Alabama are filing motions and using that example to try to make that happen here.

    There are four big cases in the Montgomery area where a judge overrode a jury’s recommendation and imposed the death penalty.

    In Montgomery County, Mario Woodward was convicted of killing MPD Officer Keith Houts in 2006. The jury recommended life in prison, but the judge overrode that recommendation and sentenced Woodward to death.

    In Crenshaw County, Wesley Harris was convicted of killing six members of his girlfriend's family in 2002: a mom, dad, grandmother and three children. All were shot to death. The jury recommended life in prison without parole but the judge sentenced Harris to die by lethal injection.

    In Lee County, Courtney Lockhart was convicted of killing Auburn University student Lauren Burk. The jury recommended life in prison without parole, but Judge Jacob Walker overrode and sentenced Lockhart to death. Judge Walker said he based the decision on evidence that was never brought before the jury.

    In Elmore County, Calvin McMillan was convicted in the shooting death of Bryan Martin. It happened in 2007 in the Millbrook Walmart parking lot so McMillan could steal his truck. In this case, the jury recommended life without parole, but the judge overrode and sentenced McMillian to death.

    http://www.wbtv.com/story/31377781/j...l?sf21922861=1

  7. #7
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Pennsylvania
    Posts
    4,795
    Appeal denied for man convicted of killing MPD officer in 2006

    MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - The latest appeal from a man convicted of shooting and killing a Montgomery Police Officer in 2006 was denied on Monday by a Montgomery Circuit Judge.

    Mario Woodward was convicted of killing officer Keith Houts during a routine traffic stop, and was sentenced to death in 2008.

    Recently, Woodward submitted an appeal based on Rule 32, stating that his trial counsel was ineffective and that the death penalty was unconstitutional.

    That appeal was denied by Judge Truman Hobbs.

    Woodward claimed that the counsel should have called a mitigation expert and/or a domestic violence expert to the stand.

    Hobbs states that the experts would not have introduced new evidence into the equation, but rather they simply would have explained the existing evidence to the jury. Hobbs claims that the testimony from the experts, had they been called to the stand, would not have altered the outcome of the trial.

    http://www.wbrc.com/story/31542028/a...fficer-in-2006
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  8. #8
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Court of Criminal Appeals Upholds Death Sentence for Man Convicted of Murdering Montgomery Police Officer

    By Alabama News Network Staff

    Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld the capital murder conviction and death sentence of Mario Dion Woodward for the murder of Montgomery Police Officer Keith Houts in 2006. Woodward was convicted in Montgomery County Circuit Court in 2008.

    “This case is a tragic reminder of the debt we owe to law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line every day,” said Attorney General Marshall. “Officer Houts was carrying out his routine duties and during the course of a simple traffic stop, he was viciously murdered. Even after the killer’s first shot cut down his victim, he proceeded to shoot the fallen officer four more times. The death penalty is a fitting punishment for Mario Woodward’s evil actions.”

    Evidence was presented at trial regarding the crime. During his patrol in north Montgomery on September 28, 2006, Officer Houts conducted a traffic stop at about 12:30 p.m. He entered the license tag of a gray Impala vehicle into a mobile data terminal, and a video camera in his patrol car recorded the events that followed. Officer Houts walked toward the car and when he got there, Woodward shot him in the jaw, with the bullet entering his neck and severing his spine so that he instantly collapsed. Still, Woodward shot Officer Houts four more times before fleeing the scene and eventually, the state.

    The Impala was registered to the father of Woodward’s girlfriend, and the evidence at trial showed that Woodward had been using her car, that he had the keys, and that he and the car were gone the morning of the shooting. After the shooting, Woodward asked his girlfriend and a friend of hers to take him to Birmingham. As the three were traveling together to Birmingham, Woodward told them he had messed up and shot a police officer who had pulled him over. He made a cell phone call telling someone to get rid of the girlfriend’s Impala, and threw something from the vehicle they were riding in, which the friend identified as a gun. In Birmingham, Woodward met up with another friend and continued his flight from the state, destroying evidence and confessing to one other person along the way.

    In the meantime, an investigation by Montgomery police determined that Woodward had confessed to witnesses that he had shot the officer, and that he had gone to Atlanta. A deputy federal marshal saw Woodward at a gas station in Atlanta, and when he arrested Woodward, Woodward said, “What’s going on? I didn’t shoot anybody.” Records from cell phone towers verified calls placed from Woodward’s cell phone at various locations, including that he was in north Montgomery at the time and area where Officer Houts was murdered.

    The case was prosecuted at trial by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office in 2008, and Woodward was convicted of murder made capital because he had killed an on-duty law enforcement officer and because the murder was done by shooting from inside a vehicle. After Woodward’s conviction and sentence were upheld on appeal, Woodward raised new claims in state court. He primarily argued that his attorneys were ineffective for failing to present certain evidence during the guilt and penalty phases of his trial. The Attorney General’s Capital Litigation Division handled Woodward’s case in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County and during the appeals process, establishing that Woodward received effective counsel and a fair trial. The Circuit Court rejected Woodward’s claims and the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals agreed, affirming the Montgomery County Circuit Court’s decision on Friday, April 27.

    Attorney General Marshall commended Assistant Attorney Rich Anderson of the Attorney General’s Capital Litigation Division for his successful work in this case.

    http://www.alabamanews.net/2018/04/3...olice-officer/
    "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

  9. #9
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    New Jersey, unfortunately
    Posts
    4,382
    Alabama death row inmate denied rehearing after conviction, sentence upheld

    Mario Dion Woodward, 45, was convicted and sentenced to death in 2008. He recently appealed his conviction, arguing his attorneys failed to present certain evidence during the guilty and penalty phases of his trial. His conviction and sentence had already been upheld in a previous appeal.

    The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Woodward's conviction and death sentence in April.

    Woodward's application for rehearing was denied Friday, the ADOC said.

    Evidence presented at Woodward's trial in 2008 showed he fatally shot Montgomery police officer Keith Houts during a traffic stop on Sept. 28, 2006.

    Officer Houts stopped Woodward, who was driving a gray Impala, around 12:30 p.m. When Houts approached the vehicle, Woodward shot him in the jaw, severing Houts' spine. He shot the officer four more times, according to evidence presented at trial.

    After the shooting, Woodward asked his girlfriend and a friend of hers to take him to Birmingham. During that ride, he told them he had shot a police officer during a traffic stop. He also made a phone call, asking someone to get rid of the Impala and threw a gun from the car they were riding in.

    Woodward then met up with another friend, destroyed evidence and confessed his act to another person as he fled the state.

    Woodward was arrested by a deputy federal marshal at an Atlanta gas station.

    "This case is a tragic reminder of the debt we owe to law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line every day," Attorney General Steve Marshall said in April. "Officer Houts was carrying out his routine duties and during the course of a simple traffic stop, he was viciously murdered. Even after the killer's first shot cut down his victim, he proceeded to shoot the fallen officer four more times. The death penalty is fitting punishment for Mario Woodward's evil actions."

    https://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/20...ate_denie.html
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

  10. #10
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Montgomery police officer’s killer to stay on death row

    By WFSA Staff

    MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - Alabama’s highest court rejected a bid Friday for judicial review, meaning the man convicted of killing an on-duty Montgomery police officer in 2006 will remain on the state’s death row.

    This is the latest setback for Mario Woodward. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals upheld his conviction and sentence back in April.

    Woodward was found guilty of capital murder in 2008, two years after Montgomery police officer Keith Houts pulled over the car he was driving as part of a routine traffic stop. Houts was shot multiple times as he approached the driver’s door. Woodward fled the scene but was later captured.

    The jury in his trial voted 8-4 to impose a life sentence without the possibility of parole. In Alabama, law requires that 10 votes be made to sentence a defendant to death, but Circuit Judge Truman Hobbs used the state’s judicial override statute to flip the jury’s penalty to a death sentence.

    In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Woodward’s case despite justices Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer’s believing the Court should have considered the case. Sotomayor’s dissent was sharply critical of the state’s former sentencing scheme.

    In 2017, the Alabama Legislature passed a bill that ended judicial override.

    http://www.wsfa.com/2018/11/16/montg...h-court-rules/

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •