Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 25

Thread: Kent William Sprouse - Texas Execution - April 9, 2015

  1. #11
    ganeshn2
    Guest
    Today, they acquired new batch of drugs. So drug shortage is no more a problem

  2. #12
    Senior Member Member nmiller855's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Posts
    191
    Great to hear. Now line them up & carry out their imposed sentences.

  3. #13
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    An Austin Chronicle article.

    Death Watch: Meth, Madness, and Death

    Those closest to him would say that Kent Sprouse had been acting differently of late – that he'd begun seeing and hearing things that weren't there. People were "out to get him," one friend would testify. "People in camouflage with glowing eyes and guns were hiding behind the trees watching him." He'd grown paranoid, possibly schizophrenic. Frightened, upset, and easily agitated.

    Those imbalances came to a head on Oct. 6, 2002, in Sprouse's hometown of Ferris, Texas, when Sprouse, still reeling from the effects of methamphetamine, pulled into the Ferris Food Mart with a shotgun in his car. He purchased a soda and some cigarettes, then returned to his car and had some trouble starting it. He asked a man standing nearby to help him, who declined, so Sprouse shot and killed that man, Pedro Moreno. Police responded almost immediately. A shootout ensued (Sprouse suffered injuries to his chest, leg, and hand), that resulted in the responding officer – Officer Marty Steinfeldt – being shot to death, as well. In the ambulance after the shootout, Sprouse told an attending officer that he believed both his victims were cops.

    "Y'all think I didn't know it, but he was an undercover officer," Sprouse, then 30, said of Moreno. "And I shot the officer that was in uniform."

    An Ellis County jury spent 35 minutes deliberating and concluding Sprouse's guilt (as well as reviewing claims that he was clinically insane), before taking another two hours and 25 minutes to sentence him to death. A direct appeal was promptly denied, as have been all other subsequent appeals; Sprouse is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, April 9.

    Efforts to save Sprouse have hinged on a number of issues relating to both ineffective counsel at trial and questions concerning Sprouse's potential as a "future danger" (the state responds that it took 30 years for Sprouse to kill Moreno, and only two minutes and 19 seconds to kill Ofc. Steinfeldt, though Sprouse previously had no criminal record). Mostly, however, attorneys Clinton Broden and John Helms have argued that the court erred when it allowed members of the trial jury to be instructed that they should not consider voluntary intoxication as a basis for temporary insanity. They say that instruction violated Sprouse's Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

    Courts denying Sprouse's appeals have noted that he had an opportunity to contest those instructions throughout the course of his trial and his counsel chose not to do so. Further, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals noted in an April 2014 ruling, the jury determined there stood a great probability that Sprouse was a continuing threat to society, and that there was not sufficient mitigating evidence to warrant a life sentence. In November, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal, without comment. He received his execution date on Jan. 9.

    Sprouse, now 42, nearly received a brief reprieve last month, while the Texas Department of Criminal Justice scrambled for more pentobarbital, the lethal injection drug it uses to kill Death Row inmates. Had the state killed Randall Mays on March 18 (and not subsequently acquired enough pentobarbital to move forward with the four scheduled April executions), Texas' death chamber wouldn't have had enough juice to kill Sprouse next Thursday. Alas, on Wednesday, March 25, TDCJ acquired its additional death serum.

    Should Sprouse be executed April 9, he'll be the fifth Texan executed this year under Governor Greg Abbott and the 523rd since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976.

    http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/...ess-and-death/
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  4. #14
    Senior Member CnCP Legend FFM's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    1,363
    Ferris Police Officer’s Killer Set To Die

    HUNTSVILLE (AP) – Kent Sprouse acknowledged almost immediately after he was apprehended that he fatally shot a police officer and another man outside a Dallas-area gas station convenience store.

    The 42-year-old Sprouse faces lethal injection Thursday evening more than a decade he gunned down Ferris Police Officer Marty Steinfeldt and a customer, Pedro Moreno, about 20 miles south of Dallas.

    Attorneys have filed no late appeals to try to block Sprouse’s punishment. The Boone County, Missouri, native would be the fifth Texas inmate executed this year.

    Courts turned aside earlier appeals contending Sprouse was mentally ill and should be spared from execution.

    Sprouse was wounded in a shootout with Steinfeldt. He told police he believed Moreno was an undercover officer, so he shot him, then shot the uniformed Steinfeldt.

    http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2015/04/08/f...er-set-to-die/

  5. #15
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Media advisory: Kent William Sprouse scheduled for execution

    Pursuant a court order by the 40th Judicial District Court of Ellis County, Kent William Sprouse is scheduled for execution after 6:00 p.m. on April 9, 2015.

    In 2004, an Ellis County jury found Sprouse guilty of murdering Ferris City Police Officer Harry Marvin Steinfeldt III while in the line of duty.

    FACTS OF THE CASE

    In its opinion on direct appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeals summarized the facts relating to both guilt/innocence in the murder of Officer Steinfeldt:

    On October 6, 2002, [Sprouse] stopped at a gas station and food mart in Ferris, Texas. When he entered the store to make his purchases he had a shotgun hanging from his shoulder. A short time after returning to his vehicle, [Sprouse] fired his weapon in the direction of two men at a pay telephone on the premises. Startled by the shot, another customer, Brad Carroll, asked [Sprouse] if he was “okay.” [Sprouse] responded that the gun was not real and asked Carroll if he would help him get his car started. Carroll agreed and pulled his truck in front of [Sprouse’s] car to use booster cables. While [Sprouse] was working on his car, Carroll noticed several boxes of buckshot in [Sprouse’s] vehicle, determined that the gun was real, and decided to leave. As Carroll drove away, he heard another gun shot. When he turned to look, he saw a bleeding man lying on the ground, and [Sprouse] was pointing his shotgun in the man’s direction. Just after he left the property, Carroll saw a police officer’s car pull into the station. He then heard two more shotgun blasts and pistol fire.

    While waiting to get diesel gasoline, Brandon O’Neill saw [Sprouse] working on his vehicle and Pedro Moreno filling his truck with gas. O’Neill noticed that [Sprouse] appeared to speak to Moreno, but Moreno did not respond. [Sprouse] then reached into his vehicle, pulled out a gun, and shot Moreno.

    In response to a 911 call, Officer Harry Marvin Steinfeldt, III, dressed in a police uniform and driving a police vehicle, responded to the shooting at the gas station. When he arrived at the station, Steinfeldt first noticed Moreno on the ground and then turned toward [Sprouse’s] car, at which time [Sprouse] shot Steinfeldt twice. Steinfeldt returned fire after he hit the ground. After Steinfeldt collapsed, [Sprouse] walked to the side of the food mart. As [Sprouse] was walking, a second officer, Brad Lindsey, arrived on the scene and managed to take him into custody.

    Moreno and Steinfeldt both died from their injuries. Several witnesses stated that [Sprouse] showed no emotion and was rather nonchalant throughout the incident. In the ambulance on the way to the hospital to receive treatment for the wounds he suffered in the exchange of gunfire, [Sprouse] gave his name and address to the officer accompanying him. [Sprouse] then stated several times without prompting that he had killed an undercover officer at the gas pumps and had shot a second officer in uniform.

    PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY

    Under Texas law, the rules of evidence prevent certain prior criminal acts from being presented to a jury during the guilt-innocence phase of the trial. However, once a defendant is found guilty, jurors are presented information about the defendant’s prior criminal conduct during the second phase of the trial – which is when they determine the defendant’s punishment.

    In its opinion on direct appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeals summarized the State’s additional evidence of Sprouse’s future dangerousness:

    At punishment, the State called former Ellis County Deputy Sheriff Adam Irwinsky who testified that he and his trainee were called out to [Sprouse’s] home on July 22, 2002, with regard to a “disturbance with possibly a gun involved.” When Irwinsky asked [Sprouse] to step outside, [Sprouse] responded that he would not come out because they would jump on him. Irwinsky assured [Sprouse] that they would not jump on him, and [Sprouse] laid down a .357 magnum handgun he was holding and came out. [Sprouse] told the officers that he and his parents were having an argument that day. No arrests were made, no guns were seized, and [Sprouse] did leave the premises with a friend.

    PROCEDURAL HISTORY

    On Dec. 20, 2002, an Ellis County jury indicted Sprouse for the capital murder of Ferris City Police Officer Harry Marvin Steinfeldt, III.

    On Feb. 27, 2004, having been convicted of capital murder, Sprouse was sentenced to death.

    On Jan. 31, 2007, Sprouse’s conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on direct appeal.

    Sprouse’s application for state habeas relief was denied on Feb. 10, 2010, by the Court of Criminal Appeals.

    Sprouse filed petition for federal habeas corpus relief in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division. The federal district court denied Sprouse’s petition on March 29, 2013. After oral argument, the Fifth Circuit rejected Sprouse’s appeal on April 7, 2014, and affirmed the district court’s denial of habeas relief. A petition for certiorari review filed in the U.S. Supreme Court was denied on Nov. 10, 2014.

    On Nov. 19, 2014, the 40th Judicial District Court of Ellis Cournt scheduled Sprouse’s execution for April 9, 2015.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  6. #16
    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Newport, United Kingdom
    Posts
    2,454
    Has anyone seen Sprouse leave Polunsky in the paddy wagon? No last-day appeals either is Texas has nailed 523 as Kent Sprouse!!

  7. #17
    Junior Member Stranger
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Oklahoma
    Posts
    6
    So is this one a go?

  8. #18
    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Newport, United Kingdom
    Posts
    2,454
    Yes yes!! No last-day appeals prepared plus SCOTUS refused to review his case in 2014. Texas would be more than delighted to have a cop killer at the death house of the Walls Unit in Huntsville... Another cop killer, 34 year old Manuel Garza Jr. is scheduled for execution Wednesday next week.

  9. #19
    Junior Member Stranger
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Oklahoma
    Posts
    6
    That's right. Manuel Garza next week and Richard Vasquez later this month.

  10. #20
    Senior Member Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Germany / Bavaria
    Posts
    129
    I cannot be here in the chat tonight, it's too late for me in Germany, but I wish everyone a very nice x-night-chat. Greetings, bernhard

Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

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

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

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