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Thread: Larry Ray Swearingen - Texas Execution - August 21, 2019

  1. #11
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    January 26, 2009

    College student killer get reprieve

    HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A federal appeals court has stopped this week's scheduled execution of a man condemned for abducting, raping and strangling a 19-year-old suburban Houston woman 10 years ago.

    Larry Swearingen, 37, faced lethal injection Tuesday evening for the death of Melissa Trotter, whose body was found Jan. 2, 1999, in the Sam Houston National Forest south of Huntsville. The discovery came 25 days after she was last seen leaving the library at Montgomery College near Conroe.

    The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the reprieve Monday after Swearingen's attorneys raised questions about the timing of Trotter's death. Swearingen insisted he couldn't have killed Trotter because he was in jail for outstanding traffic warrants when newly evaluated forensic evidence indicates the woman's body was dumped in the woods not far from his home.

    (Source: The Houston Chronicle)

  2. #12
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    US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stay order of January 26, 2009 is here:

    http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions...24-CV0.wpd.pdf

  3. #13
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    January 27, 2009

    Man in Montgomery County killing gets stay of execution

    Man convicted of killing Conroe student gets stay of execution Lisa Falkenberg: If no court will listen, does evidence of innocence matter? Lisa Falkenberg: Time running out for man despite forensic evidence (Jan. 21) For the second time, accused killer Larry Swearingen won a reprieve the day before he was to be executed by injection.

    Swearingen, who was convicted of kidnapping, raping and strangling 19-year Melissa Trotter more than a decade ago, was granted a stay of execution by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit on Monday. He was scheduled to be put to death Tuesday.

    Swearingen, who has been on death row since 2000, was scheduled to die 2 years ago, but 24 hours before his Jan. 24, 2007 execution date, the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals granted him a stay.

    Now, after many denied appeals, the federal appeals court has given Swearingen another chance to prove to his innocence. The court, in a unanimous decision, said his due process rights had been violated.

    The crux of Swearingen's petitions have focused on the time of Trotter’s death and new insect and pathology evidence that contradicts state evidence. His attorney, James Rytting, says the evidence proves that Swearingen could not have killed Trotter on Dec. 8, 1998, because he was in jail on an unrelated charge.

    Swearingen’s latest appeal, filed last week, includes additional new evidence — preserved heart tissue from Trotter’s autopsy — which further supports Swearingen’s innocence, Rytting said.

    "We're glad that someone has stepped in," Rytting said. "We think this is an extraordinary case of actual innocence. We're hopeful that the federal courts will give the evidence a fair review."

    The case will now go to a federal district court.

    Parents' reaction

    Monday's ruling was another blow to Trotter's parents, Charles and Sandra Trotter, who said they are disappointed.

    "The whole thing is just hard to comprehend," said Sandra Trotter. "How the federal court can make this ruling. ... It's almost like the federal courts are more concerned about the criminals' rights. What about Melissa's rights?"

    Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Marc Brumberger, who handles post-conviction cases, said he is confident the state's case will be upheld in federal district court.

    Representatives of The Innocence Project, a group that works to exonerate wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing, have been working consultants on Swearingen's federal court appeal.

    "We're gratified that they stayed the execution," said co-director Barry Scheck. "These are extremely important scientific issues that focus on whether Larry Swearingen is guilty or innocent. It's extremely important that all medical expert testimony be explored thoroughly in the court of law."

    Trotter disappeared from Montgomery College on Dec. 8, 1998. Witnesses said they last saw her on campus that day with Swearingen.

    Trotter's body was later discovered on Jan. 2, 1999, in the Sam Houston National Forest in Montgomery County with a piece of pantyhose around her neck.

    Autopsy findings

    Prosecutors contend that Trotter was killed on the same day she was abducted, and their evidence was bolstered by former Harris County medical examiner Dr. Joye Carter's autopsy report. She had determined that Trotter's body had been in the woods for 25 days, placing the date of death on Dec. 8.

    Carter later changed her opinion in 2007, concluding that Trotter's body could not have been left in the woods more than 14 days before her body was discovered.

    Her reversal came after Rytting found experts, including current Harris County Medical Examiner Dr. Luis Sanchez, who said Trotter died after Dec. 11 and as late as Dec. 18. Their opinions were based on when they say insect infestation of Trotter’s body occurred. Swearingen was arrested on Dec. 11 and was in jail until his trial.

    The experts also said Trotter's body and internal organs were too well preserved to had been exposed to the elements for 25 days. Her intact organs would have liquefied, they said.

    Carter noted in her original autopsy report that she had removed and dissected internal organs. In a signed affidavit, she said if she had been given additional information, her testimony about her autopsy findings would have been consistent with the experts' findings.

    Rytting has since found another expert, Tarrant County's Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Lloyd White, who says Trotter's heart tissue — the new evidence in the federal appeal — shows well-defined cells that could only have come from a body dead less than 2 or 3 days.

    In granting the stay, the federal appeal court on Monday said Swearingen's due process rights were violated because his trial attorney failed to develop evidence from Trotter's cardiac tissue.

    The court also agreed that his trial attorney did a poor job in cross-examining Carter on the pathology evidence and that the "state sponsored false and misleading forensic testimony regarding when Trotter's body was left in the forest."

    These 2 arguments were previously rejected by the state courts.

    Brumberger said he believes the federal appeals court ruling was based on a misunderstanding of Carter's affidavit.

    "Dr. Carter stated that in her affidavit that she was not asked about the internal organs during the trial, so she didn't take it into consideration," Brumberger said. "The (federal appeals) court took that to mean the state didn’t present the evidence to her. She gave us the information to us. She had the information.

    "I think this is a misunderstanding that will be cleared up in the federal district court," he said.

    Brumberger said the state has sought own its own experts to refute the new cardiac tissue evidence.

    (Source: The Houston Chronicle)

  4. #14
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    February 10, 2010

    Condemned killer of college student loses appeal

    The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected a request Wednesday from the condemned killer of a 19-year-old Montgomery County student to submit evidence in his case to additional DNA testing.

    Larry Swearingen, 38, is on death row for abducting and strangling Melissa Trotter, a student at what then was known as Montgomery College, near Conroe. Her body was found in January 1999 some 20 miles away in Sam Houston National Forest south of Huntsville, nearly a month after she was last seen leaving the school library.

    Swearingen and his attorneys have argued he was in jail on outstanding traffic warrants when Trotter was killed. Montgomery County prosecutors insist evidence shows Trotter was killed before Swearingen was in jail.

    A year ago, a federal appeals court spared Swearingen a day before he was scheduled to die. It was the 2nd time a court stopped his punishment a day before it was to be carried out.

    Swearingen's trial court in Conroe has rejected at least three previous requests for additional DNA testing.

    In his appeal to the Texas appeals court, Swearingen wanted retesting of blood and scrapings from under Trotter's fingernails so it could be compared with DNA samples in a national criminal database and retesting of scrapings from her clothing and other items.

    The court said the "mere fact" technology exists and potentially could be successful "is not enough to create the right to testing." The court also said the trial record "is void of any concrete evidence that biological material existed on the evidence sought to be tested."

    Even if it granted Swearingen's request, overwhelming evidence pointing to his guilt likely would not change his trial's outcome, the court wrote in its denial.

    Swearingen's lawyer, James Rytting, did not immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press.

    Swearingen won't get a new execution date until additional federal court appeals are resolved, Marc Brumberger, an assistant Montgomery County district attorney, said Wednesday.

    Swearingen said at his trial he met Trotter at the college campus the day she disappeared, but they both left separately.

    Evidence showed Trotter was in Swearingen's trailer in Willis and in his pickup truck, where detectives found hair forcibly pulled from her head. Pantyhose used to strangle Trotter was found in the trash outside Swearingen's trailer. Cell phone records from the day Trotter vanished showed he was in the area where her body was discovered.

    Swearingen had at least two accusations of rape against him plus an allegation of assault on an ex-wife, but charges never were brought. He had a previous burglary conviction.

    (Source: The Associated Press)

  5. #15
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On November 18, 2009, Swearingen's habeas petition was DENIED in Federal District Court.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/tex...v00300/639482/

  6. #16
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    Larry Swearingen v. Rick Thaler, Director

    In an opinion dated April 7, 2011, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals AFFIRMED the District Court's DISMISSAL of Swearingen's successive habeas corpus petition.

    and...

    Petition denied for inmate on death row

    After granting Larry Ray Swearingen a stay of execution more than two years ago, the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans put the convicted killer back on track to die by lethal injection when it upheld the dismissal of a successive habeas corpus petition

    Swearingen, now 39, originally was sentenced to death in 2000 for the abduction and murder of 19-year-old college student Melissa Trotter. Her body was found Jan. 2, 1999, in the Sam Houston National Forest, 25 days after she was last seen leaving the Lone Star College-Montgomery campus on Texas 242.

    Swearingen was scheduled for execution Jan. 27, 2009, but the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals allowed him to file a successive petition for writ of habeas corpus Jan. 26. Swearingen claimed in his appeal that he first learned of tissue samples in 2008 that would exonerate him from Trotter’s murder.

    He further contends his attorneys provided “constitutionally ineffective” assistance by failing to uncover and employ that evidence, the judges stated in their decision.

    However, in a ruling less than three pages long, the 5th Circuit stated Swearingen failed to demonstrate ineffective legal assistance.

    “Swearingen’s trial counsel developed a reasonable strategy, including expert testimony regarding the time of Trotter’s death,” the judges stated in their ruling.

    “He (Swearingen) has never made a persuasive argument for his innocence,” said Bill Delmore, Assistant District Attorney with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Appellate Division.

    Montgomery County DA Brett Ligon said the next step is for his office to request an execution date with the 9th state District Court of Judge Fred Edwards.

    “Justice has been a long time coming for Melissa Trotter, and we’re anxious to help the state,” Ligon said.

    Swearingen can seek an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. Swearingen’s attorney, James Rytting, of Houston, declined comment.

    Meanwhile, Sandy Trotter, the mother of Melissa Trotter, was pleased with the court’s decision, but acknowledged the pace of the legal process has exacted a toll on her family.

    “That’s great news, but there’s still a ways to go,” Sandy Trotter said. “It’s hard to understand the appeal process because it is so slow, but he (Swearingen) is running out of time.”

    http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/couri...d8d1c607a.html

  7. #17
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    Swearingen’s execution date set for August 18

    More than 2 months after the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a successive habeas corpus petition, 9th state District Judge Fred Edwards set August 18 as the execution date for convicted killer Larry Ray Swearingen.

    Swearingen was sentenced to death in 2000 for for the abduction and murder of 19-year-old college student Melissa Trotter. Her body was found Jan. 2, 1999, in the Sam Houston National Forest, 25 days after she was last seen leaving the Lone Star College-Montgomery campus on Texas 242.

    But Swearingen's legal fight is not over. He filed a sixth writ of habeas corpus with the state Court of Criminal Appeals last week, said Assistant District Attorney Bill Delmore, of the Montgomery County District Attorney's appellate division.

    Swearingen, 40, has to show a "factual or legal basis" of the claim was not available at the time of an earlier habeas proceedings, Delmore said. Otherwise, Swearingen can seek an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, or with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

    The latter agency can recommend Gov. Rick Perry issue a stay or commute Swearingen's sentence.

    Sandy Trotter, Melissa Trotter's mother, felt "very relieved" Swearingen was given an execution date. But 12-1/2 years of appeals - and two stays of executions - have left Sandy Trotter "tired" of the entire judicial system.

    "I won't believe it (the execution) until it's done," she said. "I wonder what he's (Swearingen) is thinking, then I think about where's Melissa. I most definitely have to go through this because this is for Melissa. Her family is her voice."

    For years Swearingen and his attorney , James Rytting, of Houston, have based his innocence on forensic evidence that shows Swearingen could not have been at the time and place of the murder.

    Rytting remains convinced the evidence exonerates his client.

    "It's a good case," Rytting said.

    In an execution order signed June 24, Edwards notes he received the mandate from the state Court of Criminal Appeals "affirming the defendant's conviction and death sentence in this case."

    Edwards decreed Swearingen will remain in custody by the director of the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville until Aug. 18, when "at some time after the hour of 6 p.m., in a room arranged for the purpose of execution, the said Director, acting by and through the executioner ... is hereby commanded, ordered and directed to carry out this sentence of death by intravenous injection of a substance or substances in a lethal quantity sufficient to cause the death of the said Larry Ray Swearingen and until the said Larry Ray Swearingen is dead ..."

    http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/

  8. #18
    Senior Member Frequent Poster stixfix69's Avatar
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    Isn't everyone on death row innocent????

  9. #19
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    ... and if he isn´t innocent he´s a victim of the circumstances and not responsibel for his actions.

    I´m curious if he gets a stay again.

  10. #20
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    Criminal Appeals Court Grants Rare Execution Stay

    CONROE — In a rare move today, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest criminal court, stayed the scheduled August 18 execution of Larry Swearingen.

    He was convicted of the 1998 rape and murder of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter. The Montgomery Community College student’s body was discovered in the Sam Houston National Forest on Jan. 2, 1999, nearly a month after she disappeared from campus. Witnesses said they saw Trotter leaving the campus with Swearingen on Dec. 8, 1998 — the last time she was seen alive.

    Swearingen’s lawyers have filed repeated pleas in state and federal court urging jurists to consider their arguments that forensic science proves that the 40-year-old inmate could not have committed the crime, because he was in jail when Trotter was murdered.

    Swearingen was arrested on Dec. 11, 1998 — three days after Trotter disappeared — on unrelated traffic warrants. He has been incarcerated ever since.

    Swearingen admits he had lunch with Trotter the day she disappeared, and he said the two were friends and had sexual encounters. But he is adamant he did not rape and murder her.

    http://www.texastribune.org/texas-de...xecution-stay/

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