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Thread: Anthony Bartee - Texas Death Row

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    Anthony Bartee - Texas Death Row


    David Cook







    Summary of Offense:

    On August 15, 1996, in San Antonio, Bartee murdered 37-year-old David Cook by using a nine-millimeter pistol to fatally shoot him in the head and neck. Bartee then took Cook's motorcycle and fled the scene. Bartee was on parole for two counts of aggravated rape when he committed the murders.

    Bartee was sentenced to death in Bexar County in September 1998.

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    On July 31, 2009, Bartee was denied a Certificate of Appealability by the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

    Opinion is here:

    http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions...0035.0.wpd.pdf

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    August 3, 2009

    A federal appeals court has rejected the latest attempt by a San Antonio death row inmate to have his 11-year-old capital murder conviction reconsidered.

    The decision means Anthony Bartee's only option for relief is appealing directly to the U.S. Supreme Court — meaning he likely has months, not years, until an execution is scheduled if he fails to convince the high court justices to examine his case, attorneys said Monday.

    A Bexar County jury gave Bartee, 52, the death penalty in 1998 after prosecutors said he stabbed a friend in the back with a pocket knife, shot him twice during a struggle over a gun and then slashed his throat after the friend already had died. Relatives found David Cook's body at his Northwest Side home several days after the Aug. 15, 1996, slaying.

    Prosecutors told jurors that Cook, a 37-year-old computer data company supervisor who had recently befriended Bartee, was killed for his red Harley-Davidson motorcycle and credit cards. Two witnesses testified Bartee had approached them before the killing, asking them to participate.

    The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans issued its 20-page ruling Friday. In it, the court rejected claims from Bartee that he had ineffective counsel; that prosecutors unfairly tainted the jury during closing arguments by bringing up his decision not to testify; and that the Bexar County district attorney's office oversaw improper plea deals with witnesses. Bartee also referred to a DNA report from last year that he said shows someone else was present at the crime. However, the report did not note if the other person could have been the victim, the justices pointed out. And under Texas' law of parties, it doesn't matter if someone else was there, they opined.

    Richard Langlois, who represented Bartee earlier before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, acknowledged Monday that the end of the inmate's appeals process seems to be near.

    District Attorney Susan Reed agreed, adding the latest ruling didn't surprise her.

    “I always appreciate the courts recognizing that there wasn't an error,” Reed said Monday.

    http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/loc.../52386657.html

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    On March 22, 2010, Bartee was denied certiorari by the US Supreme Court.

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    EX PARTE ANTHONY BARTEE

    In an opinion dated September 14, 2011, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals DENIED Bartee habaus relief on the ground of ineffectiveness of counsel.

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    As per the TDCJ, an execution date of February 28, 2012 has been set for Anthony Bartee.

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    Judge grants reprieve to convicted rapist set to die next week for San Antonio slaying

    An ex-con convicted of killing a San Antonio man and stealing his prized motorcycle won a stay of execution Thursday when a judge in Houston agreed to new forensic tests.

    Anthony Bartee, 54, had been scheduled for lethal injection Tuesday evening in Huntsville.

    Bartee's lawyers argued in appeals that more DNA testing should be conducted on two strands of hair found in victim David Cook's hands. A third strand of hair was tested earlier and identified as belonging to the 37-year-old victim. Prosecutors argued the other two were scientifically insufficient for meaningful tests.

    "What we're doing now is looking into which labs are capable of doing the testing in the shortest amount of time," Rico Valdez, an assistant Bexar County district attorney who handles capital case appeals, said.

    State District Judge Mary Roman withdrew the execution warrant Thursday.

    State District Judge Mary Roman said Thursday she's withdrawing Tuesday's execution date for 54-year-old Anthony Bartee.

    The night of August 16, 1996, a neighbor heard gunshots from Cook's home, then heard Cook's motorcycle fire up. When Cook failed to show up for work, concerned relatives went to his house and found his body. He'd been stabbed in the back, his throat was cut and he had two gunshot wounds to the back of his head from what would be determined as his own 9 mm pistol. Both the gun and his cherry red Harley were missing.

    Court records show investigators determined that the night before the shooting, Bartee — who was on parole after spending almost 12 years locked up for two rape convictions — tried to hire someone to kill a man he identified as David. The day after the killing, he was seen with the motorcycle and told people it was his.

    When police questioned Bartee, he said he was unaware of Cook's death. But when police told him they knew he had the Harley, he said he had been working on it in Cook's garage and took off after hearing gunshots because he feared for his own safety. He wouldn't acknowledge participating in the murder but didn't deny being present at the scene, according to court documents.

    At his trial, defense attorneys tried to pin the slaying on two gang members Bartee identified only as "Snake" and "Throw Down."

    Prosecutors said his story was a fabrication.

    George Rivas, 41, is scheduled for execution on Wednesday. Rivas was the leader of the notorious "Texas 7" gang that escaped from a South Texas prison in 2000 in the state's biggest prison break ever and then killed a suburban Dallas police officer during a Christmas Eve robbery of a sporting goods store.

    http://www.therepublic.com/view/stor...xas-Execution/

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    I did not know that Mr. Bartee was possibly innocent until recently, to be honest. But there are one or two backup websites proclaiming his innocence....hopefully, the hairs being analysed for DNA will exonerate him (On a related note, Claude Jones sadly did not get this before his probably wrongful execution in December 2000, it was only done after the state of Texas killed him.) or they will just confirm his legal guilt de facto. Overall,though,post-conviction petitioners need better access to DNA testing in the US. I am from the UK,just so you know,and thankful the UK abolished capital punishment 43 years ago.

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    Quote Originally Posted by couldheshebeinnocent? View Post
    I did not know that Mr. Bartee was possibly innocent until recently, to be honest. But there are one or two backup websites proclaiming his innocence....hopefully, the hairs being analysed for DNA will exonerate him
    Personally I do not have a problem with the DNA test being done, but let me ask you this. Are these two backup websites "actively looking" for Snake and Throwdown?

    Quote Originally Posted by couldheshebeinnocent? View Post
    (On a related note, Claude Jones sadly did not get this before his probably wrongful execution in December 2000, it was only done after the state of Texas killed him.)
    The single hair had been the only piece of physical evidence linking Claude Jones to the crime scene. But the DNA analysis found it did not belong to Jones and instead may have come from the murder victim.

    Silly Allen Hilzendager, how dare he leave his own DNA at the murder scene?

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    Heidi, no, they are not looking for 'Snake' and 'Throwdown', they just try to back up Anthony Bartee's claim that despite being present at the scene, he did not kill David Cook. Also, regarding the Texas Law of Parties appellate judges mentioned, that law is unjust and technically unlawful (mostly) in the US due to US Supreme Court decision Enmund v. Florida, 1981.

    You are correct about the DNA analysis from hair part,Heidi. It is not known for strong reliability any more than polygraph tests are.

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