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Thread: John Lezell Balentine - Texas Execution - February 8, 2023

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    John Lezell Balentine - Texas Execution - February 8, 2023


    Mark Edward Caylor’s Grave


    Kai Brooke Geyer


    Steven Brady Watson


    John Balentine


    Summary of Offense:

    On January 21, 1998, in Amarillo, Balentine fatally shot three young men: 17-year-old Edward Mark Caylor, 15-year-old Kai Brooke Geyer and 15-year-old Steven Brady Watson, once each in the head with a 32-caliber pistol. Balentine entered the residence during the night and committed the murders while the victims were sleeping.

    Balentine was sentenced to death in Potter County on April 19, 1999.

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    On April 13, 2009, Balentine was denied a Certificate of Appealability by the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

    Opinion is here:

    http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions...0014.0.wpd.pdf

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    April 14, 2009

    Edited

    The appeals court Monday also rejected appeals from two other Texas death row inmates, John Balentine, convicted of killing three people in Amarillo in 1998, and Kevin Varga, condemned for the 1998 robbery-slaying of a man in Greenville in North Texas.

    Balentine, 40, who had a lengthy criminal record in Arkansas, was condemned for the January 1998 shooting deaths of Edward Caylor, 17, Kai Brooke Geyer, 15, and Steven Watson, also 15, at a home in Amarillo. Caylor was the brother of Balentine's former girlfriend and prosecutors said the shootings capped a feud between Caylor and Balentine.

    Balentine was arrested in Houston six months after the slayings. Evidence showed all three victims were shot once in the head as they slept.

    In his unsuccessful appeal to the 5th Circuit, Balentine wanted to expand an earlier appeal to include arguments that his trial attorney was ineffective. He also contended some evidence improperly was allowed into his trial.

    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6373183.html

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    July 30, 2009

    Execution date set for convicted murderer

    The state has scheduled the execution of a man who killed 3 Amarillo teenagers in 1998.

    John Lezell Balentine, 40, will be executed by lethal injection Sept. 30, officials said. In 1999, a Potter County jury convicted and sentenced Balentine to death for killing Mark Edward Caylor Jr., 17; Steven Brady Watson, 15; and Kai Brooke Geyer, 15, as the trio slept in a home at 510 E. 17th Ave. in January 1998.

    Each was shot once in the head. A 4th person asleep in a back bedroom was not harmed.

    Randall Sims, 47th District attorney, said Wednesday the state contacted his office to schedule the execution as Balentine nears the end of his appeals process. Sims' office then filed paperwork to request the date of execution.

    Sims said the victims' families were notified of the date.

    Prosecutors have said Balentine confessed to the slayings.

    They said he told police investigators that he targeted Caylor in his home because he had repeatedly threatened Balentine and his friends after Balentine had physically abused Caylor's sister, with whom he previously had a relationship.

    Balentine also told officials he was angered that Caylor and his friends used drugs in the home while a baby also lived there, investigators said during the trial.

    According to his confession presented during trial, Balentine said he went to Caylor's home and saw him asleep in the living room along with Watson and Geyer.

    When his .32-caliber pistol jammed, he fired the gun in the alley, then crawled through a window, went to the living room and shot the teens as they slept, according to his statement.

    (Source: The Amarillo Globe-News)

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    September 23, 2009

    Media Advisory: John Balentine scheduled for execution

    AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott offers the following information about John Lezell Balentine, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Wednesday, September 30, 2009. A Potter County jury sentenced Balentine to death in April 1999 for killing three youths.

    FACTS OF THE CRIME

    In the early morning hours of January 21, 1998, Balentine, armed with a .32 automatic pistol, crawled through a window to enter a home which he used to share with Misty Caylor. Once inside, Balentine shot and killed three teens, Mark Caylor, Jr., 17, Misty’s brother; Kai Geyer, 15; and Steven Brady Watson,15, as they slept. Each victim was shot in the head. Balentine fled to New Mexico but was later arrested in Houston, where he confessed to the crimes.

    CRIMINAL HISTORY

    In 1983, Balentine committed burglary and theft of property by breaking into a high school JROTC building and stealing several rifles and pairs of military fatigues. In December 1986, Balentine broke into a Wal-Mart store, and attempted to steal a large quantity of firearms. Balentine was convicted of burglary and attempted theft of property arising over the Wall-Mart incident, and received a five-year prison sentence. In 1989, Balentine was convicted of an additional robbery and received a five-year prison sentence.

    In November 1996, Balentine broke into a Newport, Arkansas, home and abducted the female resident, forcing her into a two-door car. The resident escaped, when Balentine stopped at a convenience store to get cigarettes.

    Finally, in July 1998 while awaiting transfer to Potter County on the capital murder charge, Balentine became uncooperative and argumentative with Harris County sheriff's deputies. Balentine knocked down a female deputy’s hand and struck another officer in the mouth with his right elbow and knocked the officer into a wall. Several deputies were needed to restrain Balentine, who kept resisting, kicking, and throwing punches.

    PROCEDURAL HISTORY

    01/21/98 - Balentine killed Mark Caylor, Jr., Kai Geyer, and Steven Brady Watson.
    08/26/98 - A Potter County grand jury indicted Balentine for capital murder.
    04/16/99 - A Potter County jury convicted Balentine of capital murder.
    04/19/99 - The Potter County 320th District Court sentenced Balentine to death.
    04/03/02 - The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Balentine’s conviction and sentence, denying relief on four points of error.
    12/04/02 - The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied habeas corpus relief on twenty-one claims based on the findings and conclusions of the trial court and on the appellate court’s own review.
    12/01/03 - Balentine petitioned for federal habeas relief on nine claims.
    03/31/08 - A U.S. district court denied habeas relief and issued final judgment.
    05/30/08 - The federal district court granted a certificate of appealability (COA) for Balentine to appeal two issues.
    09/15/08 - Balentine appealed the federal district court’s decision and applied to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for a COA.
    04/13/09 - The appeals court affirmed the district court’s denial of habeas relief and denies COA.
    06/23/09 - The Potter County 320th District Court scheduled Balentine’s execution for Wednesday, September 30, 2009.
    07/16/09 - Balentine asked the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for a stay of execution, which was denied.
    07/02/09 - Balentine petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for certiorari review of the appeals court's decision and applied for a stay of execution.
    08/21/09 - Balentine filed a successive state habeas application with the trial court. The application was transferred to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for a ruling.
    08/21/09 - Balentine petitioned the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles for clemency.
    09/22/09 - The Texas Court of Appeals dismissed Balentine’s successive state habeas application, denied his motion to stay his execution and denied his motion for the court to vacate the judgment entered in his initial state habeas proceedings.
    09/23/09 - Balentine filed for rule 60b relief and moved for a stay of execution in a U.S. district court.

    http://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagNews/release.php?id=3115

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    September 24, 2009

    Amarillo inmate seeks execution stay

    An Amarillo man facing the death penalty next week in the 1998 slayings of three Amarillo teenagers is asking a federal judge to halt his execution.

    John Lezell Balentine, 40, is scheduled to be executed Wednesday, but he has raised claims that his trial counsel was ineffective and claims his execution would be unconstitutional, according to court documents released Thursday.

    Balentine has asked U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson to stay the execution.

    In 1999, a Potter County jury convicted and sentenced Balentine to death for killing Mark Edward Caylor Jr., 17; Steven Brady Watson, 15; and Kai Brooke Geyer, 15, as the trio slept in a home at 510 E. 17th Ave. in January 1998.

    Each was shot once in the head. A fourth person asleep in a back bedroom was not harmed.

    http://www.amarillo.com/stories/092409/new_news.shtml

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    September 29, 2009

    HUNTSVILLE — A broken car taillight tripped up a suspect in a triple slaying after he managed to elude police for six months.

    When John Balentine got pulled over in Houston in July 1998 and gave a traffic cop a false name, the alias was detected as one used by a man wanted in the shooting deaths of three teenage boys earlier that year in Amarillo, 600 miles to the northwest.

    Balentine, who had a lengthy criminal record in his native Arkansas, was arrested and confessed. He was tried in Amarillo for capital murder, was convicted and sentenced to die.

    Balentine, 40, was set for lethal injection Wednesday evening. He’d be the 19th prisoner executed this year in the nation’s most active death penalty state.

    Balentine was condemned for the January 1998 shooting deaths of Mark Caylor Jr., 17; Kai Brooke Geyer, 15; and Steven Watson, also 15. Caylor was the brother of Balentine’s former girlfriend, and prosecutors said the shootings capped a feud between Caylor and Balentine.

    Evidence showed all three victims were shot once in the head as they slept in a tiny house where Balentine also once lived.

    In appeals to the courts, Balentine’s attorneys argued his trial lawyers were deficient for failing to develop mitigating evidence to show his childhood of poverty, domestic violence and abuse. They also contended a pool of state-appointed appeals lawyers to represent death row inmates like Balentine in initial appeals included unqualified or deficient attorneys.

    “The ability of a prisoner to obtain relief is wholly dependent upon the luck of the draw,” Lydia Brandt, a Dallas-area lawyer representing Balentine, told the U.S. Supreme Court in her petition seeking a review of the case. “Mr. Balentine was one of the unlucky death-sentenced prisoners.”

    She said the claims never were raised earlier, and were blocked now in the lower state courts, because of a broken system.

    “The state corrective process as a whole was ineffective,” Brandt insisted.

    Texas law provides for appointment of a lawyer in death penalty cases but “the provision does not create a right to complain” about the outcome of that legal representation, the Texas Attorney General’s Office responded. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has refused to hold that an inmate’s lawyer must be “constitutionally effective” and has declined to turn a “legislative act of grace” into a constitutional right, state attorneys added.

    In a tape recorded statement to police played at his trial, Balentine said he moved out of the Amarillo house because of drug use there, then said he learned later that Caylor was looking to kill him because he had “jumped on his sister.” He slipped into the house and “shot Mark in the head and shot the other two in the head,” he said.

    “Mark had threatened my life, threatened my brother, girlfriend and the kids, waving a gun and talking about what he was going to do to me and whoever else come over there looking for me and stuff,” he said.

    He also said he didn’t know the other two victims.

    A neighbor heard a gunshot and called police. An officer responding spotted Balentine walking down a street. Balentine identified himself as John Lezell Smith, had no identification but a records check showed outstanding traffic warrants for Smith.

    The officer handcuffed him and in a search found an unspent .32 caliber bullet in his pocket. A police supervisor told the officer since it was not illegal to be carrying a bullet, Balentine could be released.

    Later that day, police were called to scene of the three homicides, 50 yards from where Balentine was questioned.

    It would be six months before he was picked up in Houston.

    Balentine, from Jackson County, Ark., northeast of Little Rock, had previous prison terms in his home state for burglary, kidnapping, assault and robbery.

    “It was a strong circumstantial case,” Randy Sherrod, one of Balentine’s trial lawyers, recalled. “They found evidence that matched the bullet that was on him a very short time after the three kids were shot. The main thing I remember about that case is we raised enough questions with the prosecutors that they offered life sentence.”

    Balentine refused it, went to trial and got death. He declined to speak with reporters in the weeks preceding his scheduled punishment.

    He’s among at least seven Texas prisoners set to die over the next two months.

    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/6642757.html

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    September 30, 2009

    Death Row Inmate Gets Last Minute Reprieve

    HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- A death row inmate facing execution Wednesday night over a 1998 triple killing in Amarillo has won a reprieve.

    But the state is appealing in the case of John Balentine.

    The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday issued a brief order stopping the lethal injection of Balentine. Balentine's appeal to the federal appeals court said lower courts had not properly resolved his earlier appeals.

    Texas is appealing to get the order lifted. It's uncertain if the state's appeal will be decided before the execution warrant expires at midnight Wednesday.

    Prison spokeswoman Michelle Lyons says the department is proceeding as though an execution is not scheduled.

    Balentine was condemned for the shooting deaths of 17-year-old Mark Caylor Jr., 15-year-old Kai Brooke Geyer and 15-year-old Steven Watson. Caylor was the brother of Balentine's former girlfriend.

    http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/62867657.html

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    June 21, 2010

    HOUSTON — A Texas prisoner who came within a day of execution last year for a triple slaying in Amarillo has won a court hearing to determine if his trial lawyers' poor performance unfairly contributed to his death sentence.

    Convicted killer John Balentine is entitled to an evidentiary hearing after his appeals lawyer argued trial attorneys failed to develop mitigating evidence to show a jury about Balentine's childhood of poverty, domestic violence and abuse, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.

    Balentine, 41, was condemned for the 1998 slayings of Mark Caylor Jr., 17, and 15-year-olds Kai Brooke Geyer and Steven Watson. Caylor was the brother of Balentine's former girlfriend and prosecutors said the slayings capped a feud between Caylor and Balentine.

    Evidence showed all three were shot once in the head as they slept at an Amarillo house where Balentine also once lived.

    Last September, the 5th Circuit halted Balentine's punishment in a brief one-paragraph order a day before he was scheduled for lethal injection. The court's latest ruling Friday continues the reprieve and ordered a hearing to decide if there were "serious concerns that constitutionally ineffective lawyering occurred" because of the trial lawyer's failure to investigate evidence at the punishment phase of his 1999 trial in Amarillo.

    The appeals court also criticized Balentine's initial appeals attorney for making "a weak assertion" that argued the trial lawyer failed to present mitigating evidence.

    Balentine's current lawyer, Lydia Brandt, who took her arguments to the 5th Circuit and won the reprieve last year, did not immediately respond to e-mail and telephone messages left Monday by The Associated Press.

    In arguments as Balentine's execution date neared, Brandt said the claims about the lack of punishment phase evidence never were raised earlier but had been blocked in the state courts because of a broken system.

    "The state corrective process as a whole was ineffective," Brandt said.

    Balentine was pulled over in Houston in July 1998 and gave a traffic cop a false name, but the alias was detected as one used by a man wanted in the shooting deaths of the three teenage boys six months earlier in Amarillo, 600 miles to the northwest.

    In a tape recorded statement to police played at his trial, Balentine said he moved out of the Amarillo house because of drug use there, then said he learned later that Caylor was looking to kill him because he had "jumped on his sister." He slipped into the house and "shot Mark in the head and shot the other two in the head," he said.

    "Mark had threatened my life, threatened my brother, girlfriend and the kids, waving a gun and talking about what he was going to do to me and whoever else come over there looking for me and stuff," he said.

    He also said he didn't know the other two victims.

    Balentine, from Jackson County, Ark., northeast of Little Rock, had previous prison terms in his home state for burglary, kidnapping, assault and robbery.

    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7064274.html

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    Balentine's execution date set

    A triple-murderer from Amarillo on Wednesday learned he's scheduled to be executed in June.

    If all last-minute appeals fail, John Balentine, 42, will die by lethal injection June 15 in Huntsville for the Jan. 21, 1998, murders of Mark Caylor, 17; Kai Geyer, 15; and Steven Watson, 15, the 47th District Attorney's Office said.

    A jury determined Balentine entered the home at 510 E. 17th Ave. and fatally shot the teens as they slept in the living room. Prosecutors contend Balentine was angry at Caylor because the two had argued earlier about Caylor's sister, who was Balentine's former girlfriend. Prosecutors said Balentine killed the other two teens to eliminate any witnesses.

    Balentine then fled to Houston, where he was arrested and confessed, prosecutors said.

    Balentine was scheduled to die in 2009, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted the execution so it could look into arguments that Balentine's attorneys failed to tell jurors in 1999 about his childhood. Lawyers contended jurors should have been told about the poverty, violence and abuse he suffered.

    In November, the Appeals Court ruled that those arguments can't be considered.

    Balentine, who is originally from Arkansas, had previous convictions for burglary, kidnapping and robbery.

    http://amarillo.com/news/local-news/...ution-date-set

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