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Thread: Shelton Denoria Jones - Texas

  1. #31
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Harris County DA to seek death penalty on resentencing of convicted cop killer

    By Keri Blakinger
    Houston Chronicle

    The Harris County District Attorney is once again seeking the death penalty against a convicted cop killer who won a new punishment trial nearly three decades after the slaying of a Houston police officer.

    Shelton Jones was originally sent to death row for the April 1991 murder of Officer Bruno D. Soboleski, but a federal district court overturned his sentence in light of bad jury instructions.

    "We put police officer's in harms way to protect us from violence, and it is our duty to protect society from this killer," District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement Monday. "Sgt. Soboleski's family was forever changed by this horrific attack, and no matter how long it takes, Jones deserves the ultimate punishment."

    The night of the slaying, Soboleski was on patrol and driving in his squad car with a grand juror when he spotted two men at the intersection of Calhoun and Hull near the University of Houston.

    Soboleski stopped the pair, though it's not entirely clear why. As he searched them, Jones pulled out a 9mm pistol and started shooting, according to court records. After the officer fell to the pavement, Jones shot him again, then fled with his confederate.

    Afterward, a third man opened fire, getting off six rounds but missing the officer. Instead, he shot up the lawman's patrol car where the grand juror was trying to radio for help.

    The grand juror escaped unscathed, while Soboleski lingered in the hospital for five days, undergoing multiple surgeries before dying in intensive care.

    Longtime Harris County District Attorney Johnny Holmes prosecuted the case personally, winning a guilty verdict and a death sentence.

    But for nearly three decades, Jones has fought his sentence, raising a slew of concerns including claims about the effects of widespread publicity and police presence in the courtroom.

    The media coverage at the time included a letter to the editor suggesting Jones be hung from a "tall tree" with a "short rope," according to court filings. He tried for a change of venue in light of the press, and later argued that the 15 to 25 officers in the courtroom had prejudiced jurors, implicitly demanding a guilty verdict with their presence.

    At one point, Jones also asked for additional funding for investigative findings and discovery, but the courts determined that they weren't "reasonably necessary." Even though the courts denied his appeals on those grounds, Jones won a new punishment phase over on bad jury instructions.

    And, since life without parole was not a sentencing option at the time of his crime, Jones could be eligible for parole some day if the jury rejects a death sentence, Ogg said. Defense attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    https://www.chron.com/news/houston-t...n-13804920.php
    "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."
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    "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.”
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  2. #32
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mastro Titta's Avatar
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    Shelton Denoria Jones's jury retrial will start on October 31st, 2022, at 9.00 AM. Harris County DA's office is seeking the death penalty in this case.

    https://www.hcdistrictclerk.com/edoc...J52rVmdA%3d%3d

  3. #33
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    Shelton Jones killed Houston Police Sgt. in 1991, taken off death row to get life in prison

    By Fox 26 Digital News

    HOUSTON - A former death row inmate was taken off of death row after he was sentenced to a plea deal on Wednesday in the death of an officer in 1991.

    Shelton Jones was given the death penalty after he killed Houston Police Sergeant Bruno Soboleski in April 1991.

    Reports say Sgt. Soboleski was shot three times during a traffic stop on April 7, 1991, and died from those injuries on April 12, 1991. He saw two men at the intersection of Calhoun and Hull near the University of Houston and stopped them but no one is sure why.

    While Soboleski searched the two, Jones pulled out a gun and shot him, records say. When Soboleski fell to the ground, Jones shot him one more time and ran with the other man he was with.

    He was sentenced to life in prison in a plea deal that took him off death row according to Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.

    "We always hope to carry out the verdict of the people—that is our job—but so much time has passed that it makes re-trying the case extremely difficult and risky," Ogg said. "The Soboleski family made a terribly difficult decision in deciding that this plea bargain was the way to go, and our prosecutors drafted an agreement that is as airtight as a legal agreement can be—the defendant waived all of his legal rights and he will spend the rest of his life in prison."

    Records say a federal district court overturned the sentence in light of bad jury instructions. The case went through various courts of appeal before it was sent back to Harris County for a retrial in 2019.

    The county's District Attorney's Office committed to retrying the punishment phase of the death penalty trial but more than 12 witnesses are dead or have been declared incompetent since the 1991 trial. This meant the death penalty would not have been assured.

    Officials say because Shelton would be tried under the 1991 law, if he wasn't given the death sentence he would be eligible for parole.

    Jones pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery for an armed robbery he committed but was never convicted instead of going back to trial reports said. He agreed to a life sentence for that robbery.

    It was said Jones also agreed that he used a deadly weapon during the crime, which prohibited him from being eligible for parole for 30 years.

    As part of the plea deal, Jones reportedly agreed to never try to appeal the sentence or seek a pardon and if he does, he can be re-tried for capital murder.

    Reports say Joshua Reiss, Chief of the Post-Conviction Writs Division in the District Attorney's Office, said the plea deal should keep Jones in prison for the rest of his life.

    "We have an agreement, which is as ironclad as an agreement can be, that it is his desire to spend the rest of his natural life in prison," Reiss said. "If Mr. Jones violates the agreement, the deal is over and we can come back to court and seek the death penalty."

    https://www.fox26houston.com/news/sh...life-in-prison
    "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

  4. #34
    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
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    Sentence reformed from death to life on 12/21/22.

    https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/death_row...ger_on_dr.html
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  5. #35
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    He’s eligible for parole in 2037. Some life sentence huh? He’s also at the Byrd Unit atm, which is TDCJ’s main intake unit for men.

    https://inmate.tdcj.texas.gov/Inmate...n?sid=04491455
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