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Thread: Ronald James Hamilton, Jr. - Texas Death Row

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    Ronald James Hamilton, Jr. - Texas Death Row




    Facts of the Crime:

    On November 7, 2001, in Houston, Hamilton and a co-defendant entered a convenience store armed with a handgun and fatally shot two men. Hamilton then removed a cash register and left the store.

    Hamilton was sentenced to death in Harris County in November 2002.

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
    OF TEXAS

    NO. WR-78,114-01
    EX PARTE RONALD JAMES HAMILTON

    ON APPLICATION FOR POST-CONVICTION WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS
    CAUSE NO. 901049 IN THE 180TH DISTRICT COURT
    HARRIS COUNTY
    Per Curiam.

    O R D E R

    In November 2002, a jury found applicant guilty of the offense of capital murder. The jury answered the statutory punishment questions in such a way that the trial court set applicant's punishment at death. On May 3, 2004, the State filed in this Court its brief on applicant's direct appeal. Pursuant to Article 11.071 §§ 4(a) and (b) (1), applicant's initial application for a writ of habeas corpus was due to be filed in the trial court on or before September 15, 2004, assuming a motion for extension was timely filed and granted. It has been more than seven years since the application was due in the trial court. Accordingly, we order the trial court to resolve any remaining issues within 90 days from the date of this order. The clerk shall then transmit the complete writ record to this Court within 120 days from the date of this order. Any extensions of time shall be obtained from this Court.

    IT IS SO ORDERED THIS THE 1ST DAY OF AUGUST, 2012.

    http://law.justia.com/cases/texas/co...78-114-01.html

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend FFM's Avatar
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    ARTICLE 11.071 APPLICATION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS DENIED WITH WRITTEN ORDER:

    http://www.search.txcourts.gov/Searc...4-9024ba547c23

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On July 13, 2015, Hamilton filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/te...v01996/1279558

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Article

    Higher court greenlights Houston death row inmate's appeal

    By Keri Blakinger
    The Houston Chronicle

    A Texas appeals court has bounced back to a lower court the case of a Harris County man on death row, after forensic evidence showed he never committed a second slaying he was accused of in court.

    Ronald James Hamilton was sentenced to die 16 years ago for the 2001 killing of Ismail Matalkah during a convenience store robbery on Yellowstone. In a rare move, he pleaded guilty to the crime - and instead focused on begging the jury for a life sentence during the punishment phase of trial.

    But to show that he was a future danger and deserved a death sentence, prosecutors presented evidence that Hamilton was responsible for another murder, the 2001 slaying of Son Vinh Huynh at a convenience store on Holman

    An eyewitness spotted the shooter putting down a beer just before the murder, according to court records. Yet, the fingerprint on the bottle turned out to match another man, one who had a long criminal history and matched the police sketch circulated at the time.

    Though Houston police had DNA and fingerprint from the beer at the time, it either wasn't tested at all or else was tested and the results never turned over to Hamilton's trial lawyers, according to court papers.

    "This new evidence establishes that Hamilton is actually innocent of this extraneous offense," his attorneys wrote in court filings, "that the State failed to reveal this exculpatory evidence and false and misleading evidence regarding the extraneous Holman murder.

    On appeal, Hamilton's attorney raised three main issues, including the fingerprint evidence, as well as concerns about earlier bad lawyering.

    The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals didn't let the defense move ahead with two claims about sub-par legal representation, but on Wednesday the CCA remanded the case to a Harris County court for further review on the claim that Hamilton didn't commit the earlier murder.

    "We have 120 days to file our response," said Dane Schiller, a spokesman for the district attorney's office. Hamilton's current lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.

    https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...w-13235277.php

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Houston judge sides with death row prisoner

    By Keri Blakinger
    The Houston Chronicle

    Whether or not the state of Texas executes Ronald Hamilton could all come down to the fingerprints left more than 15 years ago on a half-empty 40-ounce malt liquor bottle found sitting outside a Houston convenience store. They were the likely fingerprints of a killer - a killer who was not 42-year-old Hamilton, a Harris County court found last week.

    Judge DaSean Jones on Wednesday recommended consideration of a new punishment in light of the condemned man’s claims that the state withheld evidence tying the fingerprint to another possible suspect. The case still has to go up to the conservative Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for approval before the local court can move forward, but it’s not often that death row prisoners get this far in their appeals.

    “The Judge’s decision was correct and is supported by the evidence,” Hamilton’s lawyers Jonathan Landers and Bryan Garris said in a joint statement. “Mr. Hamilton was not given a fair trial, and the court’s decision is a positive step in ensuring that the State of Texas turns over favorable evidence in capital cases.”

    But the booze bottle forensics won’t exonerate him from the crime that landed him on death row. In that slaying, he already admitted years ago to his guilt. Instead, the fingerprints would help prove he did not commit a second murder, which was part of the evidence used to show that he was so dangerous he should be put to death.

    If the state appeals court sides with him, he could go back to trial just for a new punishment - life in prison, or death. But Harris County prosecutors last week were dismissive of the possibility the case would make it that far.

    “With all due respect to Judge Jones, we do not believe the Court of Criminal Appeals will have confidence in his recommendation,” said prosecutor Joshua Reiss, the post-conviction division chief. “The findings are contrary to the facts and the law.”

    The crime that landed Hamilton on death row was the November 2001 slaying of Ismail Matalkah, a clerk shot during a botched robbery at a convenience store on Yellowstone Boulevard. On the first day of trial, Hamilton pleaded guilty to the killing - and instead focused on begging the jury to spare his life.

    But during the punishment phase of his trial, prosecutors presented evidence that he was a future danger if left alive, based on his past drug history, misbehavior in jail and his alleged role in the capital murder of a second store clerk - Son Vinh Huynh - that same year.

    At trial, a witness named Wanda Johnson testified that she’d seen the shooter urinate over a Schlitz bottle before walking inside to rob the place.

    Her recollections over the years varied some in records, testimony and interviews - but when she showed up in court earlier this year for hearing, she was certain of something else: The killer had set down the bottle on a metal rail, urinated over it, and then walked into the store.

    “I would put my life on it,” she said at a hearing earlier this year in Jones’ court, averring her certainty.

    Any fingerprints on the bottle, the defense argued, would belong to the real killer. Prosecutors countered that Hamilton could still be guilty of the second slaying - and that it wouldn’t matter anyway, because the jury considered plenty of other evidence in deciding whether or not to spare Hamilton’s life.

    Months after the hearing, Jones ruled last week in Hamilton’s favor , both recommending a new punishment trial and calling out the state for failing to turn over the fingerprint evidence years earlier.

    Before trial, court records show, Houston police tested the prints and found they didn’t match Hamilton - so they never made a report. And, though trial prosecutors would have likely known, they didn’t tell the defense about the findings, or that there were fingerprints recovered at all.

    The defense team only found out after they requested testing in 2017, and later learned that police had reviewed the prints years earlier.

    “The court finds that both the Houston Police Department and trial prosecutor Colleen Barnett actively suppressed exculpatory evidence that Mr. Hamilton was excluded from contributing the fingerprints at the Holman murder scene,” Jones’ findings read, “and particularly on the 40-ounce bottle that witness Johnson saw the shooter set down.”

    Now, Hamilton’s case moves on the CCA.

    https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...s-14806519.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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    - Rev. Richard Hawke

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    Application for writ of habeas corpus denied/dismissed with written order:

    WR-78,114-02
    HAMILTON, RONALD JAMES JR. HARRIS COUNTY

    DENIED/DISMISSED WITH ORDER - PER CURIAM [ PDF/241 KB ]

    JUDGE YEARY AND JUDGE NEWELL CONCURRED

    NON-PUBLISHED

    http://search.txcourts.gov/handdown....ate=11/11/2020
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    Distributed for conference September 27, 2021.

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/search....c/20-7687.html
    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

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  10. #10
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    Petition for certiorari denied.

    Lower Ct: Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
    Case Numbers: (WR-78,114-02)
    Decision Date: November 11, 2020

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/search....c/20-7687.html
    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

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