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Thread: Juan Edward Castillo - Texas Execution - May 16, 2018

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    Juan Edward Castillo - Texas Execution - May 16, 2018




    Summary of Offense:

    On January 3, 2003, in Bexar County, Castillo and three co-defendants fatally shot Tommy Garcia, Jr., 19, after demanding his money.

    Castillo was sentenced to death in September 2005.

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    Death row inmate returns to S.A. courtroom

    A death row inmate dubbed the “lovers lane killer” returned to a Bexar County courtroom Tuesday, six years after a jury sentenced him to die for killing a teen during an attempted robbery.

    During an hours-long writ hearing, appellate attorney John Economidy argued that Juan Edwardo Castillo, 29, received ineffective legal counsel during the 2005 trial. He asked for a new trial.

    State District Judge Maria Teresa Herr, who oversaw the initial trial and Tuesday's hearing, disagreed. She described Castillo's original attorney, Denny Callahan, as having prepared thoroughly for the trial.

    “By his vast experience alone, this defendant was very well represented,” she said.

    Jurors found Castillo guilty of capital murder on what would have been the 21st birthday of Tommy “J.R.” Garcia Jr. Castillo's girlfriend told jurors she lured Garcia to a barren stretch of Clamp Avenue known as a lovers lane in December 2003. The plan, she testified, was for Castillo and another man to then rob her longtime friend. Instead, prosecutors said, Garcia was shot by Castillo seven times.

    Castillo fired his appointed attorney after the guilty verdict, representing himself during the punishment phase of the trial.

    Assistant district attorneys Crystal Chandler and Kevin Yeary spent much of Tuesday questioning Callahan about his work with Castillo. Castillo often ignored his legal advice, Callahan testified.

    About a half-dozen members of Garcia's family watched the proceedings Tuesday. “We thought we had it all over with when they convicted him,” the victim's father, Tommy Garcia Sr., said outside the courtroom. “I don't want to go through all this again. It was hard enough to come to the trial.”

    http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/...#ixzz1Cn3JOj1H

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    EX PARTE JUAN EDWARD CASTILLO

    In today's Texas Court of Criminal Appeals opinions, Castillo's post-conviction petition for habeas relief was DENIED.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

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    On October 1, 2012, Castillo filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/tex...v00924/583548/

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    2 death row inmates in court as one seeks new trial

    A death row inmate and a murder convict serving a life sentence each have testified this week in the same Bexar County courtroom as appellate attorneys for condemned killer Noah Espada continue their effort to get him a new trial.

    Espada, 28, has been awaiting execution since 2005 for the slayings a year earlier of a nightclub manager who had fired him and a neighbor of the manager whose apartment Espada mistakenly broke into.

    But when jurors ordered the death penalty for Espada — based in part on the determination that he would be a future danger to society even if left in prison — they had a false impression of the defendant due to perjured testimony by a former jailer, his appellate attorneys and witnesses have suggested.

    Testimony for the ongoing writ hearing, which started last month, is expected to resume in January. It will be months before visiting Judge Bert Richardson issues an opinion to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on the new trial request.

    After Espada was found guilty, the first witness called to testify for the punishment phase of his trial was Christopher Nieto, a former jailer who described a violent fight with another inmate that he said Espada prompted while awaiting trial.

    The ex-deputy told jurors at the time that he lost his job after his brother-in-law left a joint in the car Nieto drove to work.

    But it went well beyond that, appellate attorney Michael Gross said, pointing out this week that Nieto's car was searched because he had been under investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration for allegations he was smuggling cocaine into the Bexar County Jail.

    Prosecutors said they didn't know about the investigation when they called Nieto to the stand.

    Although Nieto never was arrested on the smuggling charges, he since has picked up a felony conviction and is awaiting trial on another felony charge, Gross said.

    More importantly, Nieto's description of Espada's fight also was inaccurate, death row inmate Juan Castillo and murder convicts Amed Boyce and Apolinar Soto each testified separately at the current hearing.

    The guard actually orchestrated an attack on Espada to make him look bad, the former Bexar County Jail inmates said.

    Prior to the confrontation, Nieto “was telling everybody, 'Get ready for the show,' making jokes,” Castillo testified Wednesday, explaining he warned Espada minutes before the attack took place. “He (Espada) was wondering why. He didn't know what was going on. He was new to jail.”

    Later, Castillo said, Nieto opened the doors only to the cells of Espada and Boyce, a much larger inmate.

    “I attacked that man. That's without a shadow of a doubt,” Boyce testified Thursday, confirming it was under the orders of the jailer. “He told me to make it look good. Don't go overboard but smash on him, you know? ... He said he was going to (expletive) him over.”

    Boyce said he was in the middle of the attack and about to throw Espada over the second-floor railing when the jailer stepped in and yelled for him to stop. Nieto then took over, jumping on Espada's back with his feet and knees as Espada lay on the ground, possibly unconscious, both Boyce and Castillo testified.

    Nieto had often taunted Espada, sometimes saying, “Dead man walking,” when the inmate would go by, Boyce said. Other deputies acknowledged that on a separate occasion, Nieto had been suspended for unnecessarily being in Espada's cell and threatening him.

    Nieto, who took the witness stand this week with an attorney by his side, repeatedly has denied setting up the fight or intentionally perjuring himself. But even prosecutors, who haven't yet had an opportunity to call witnesses, have acknowledged suspicions that Nieto wasn't completely honest with jurors.

    One question the judge will have to consider is whether Nieto's testimony, even if inaccurate, would have affected the jury's decision. Numerous other jailers testified, and all said Espada had a reputation for being an aggressive, problem inmate, according to media reports at the time of the trial.

    http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/loc...#ixzz2F3katbGz
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

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    On November 12, 2014, Castillo's habeas petition was DENIED in Federal District Court.

    http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal...0924/583548/23

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    On December 5, 2014, Castillo filed an appeal before the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/cir...s/ca5/14-70038

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    Juan Castillo v. William Stephens

    In today's Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals opinions, the court DENIED Castillo a certificate of appealability ("COA”).
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

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    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court declined to review Castillo's petition for certiorari.

    Appeals exhausted. Ruling could result in execution date.
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

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    Condemned killer in San Antonio robbery-slaying loses appeal

    The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review an appeal from a 35-year-old San Antonio man on death row for a fatal shooting during a robbery nearly 13 years ago.

    The high court, without comment, ruled Monday in the case of Juan Castillo. Earlier this year, a lower federal appeals court turned down Castillo's arguments that his trial legal help was deficient.

    Castillo was convicted of the December 2003 slaying of 19-year-old Tommy Garcia Jr. Evidence showed Garcia was lured to a San Antonio lovers lane by Castillo's girlfriend and then ambushed. She pleaded guilty before Castillo's 2005 trial and testified against him.

    Late in his trial, Castillo fired his lawyers and represented himself, cross-examined no witnesses during the trial's punishment phase and made no final argument to jurors.

    http://www.kxxv.com/story/33303244/c...g-loses-appeal
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

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