Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 24

Thread: Alfonso Sanchez - Pennsylvania Death Row

Hybrid View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    Guest
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    5,534

    Alfonso Sanchez - Pennsylvania Death Row




    Facts of the Crime:

    Sentenced to death in Bucks County on October 3, 2008 in the murder of Lisa Diaz, 27, at a Warminster apartment in October 2007. That night in the Bucks Landing apartment, Sanchez also murdered Mendez Thomas, 22, shooting him in the head at point-blank range.

  2. #2
    Guest
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    5,534
    October 3, 2008

    As the family of the convicted murderer sat tensely in the courtroom alongside relatives of the slain, a Bucks County judge addressed the jury Thursday, making the day's business clear.

    “There are two choices before you,” said Judge Alan M. Rubenstein. “Life imprisonment. Or death.”

    Eleven hours later, the jury sentenced convicted first-degree murderer Alfonzo Sanchez, 26, to death for shooting and killing Lisa Diaz, 27, at a Warminster apartment last October.

    That night in the Bucks Landing apartment, Sanchez also murdered Mendez Thomas, 22, shooting him in the head at point-blank range.

    For that act, the jury sentenced him to life in prison. But the ultimate penalty imposed for the slaying of Diaz takes precedence, and Sanchez will soon be moving into a cell on death row.

    Pointing to the facts that came to light in a six-day trial, Rubenstein told the jury candidly, “No one can have a quarrel with your verdict.”

    Prosecutor Gary Gambardella praised the jurors for having the “courage” to sentence Sanchez to death. “Clearly this case cried out for that verdict,” Gambardella said. “This man tore apart many lives.”

    Mendez Thomas's family, including his sister and mother, clung to each other after the verdict was read. “Justice was served,” said Deborah Thomas, Mendez's mother.

    Tears were evident among Sanchez's supporters. Four people testified on his behalf Thursday. They included a day care owner whose daughter had dated Sanchez for years.

    A woman whose son was best friends with Sanchez while growing up flew from Arizona overnight to testify for him. Both she and her daughter characterized Sanchez as a caring, respectful, non-violent person. “He's a teddy bear,” said Jennifer Gitlin.

    Jack McMahon, Sanchez's lawyer, argued he did not deserve death because he does not have a violent criminal history and was drunk and high when the slayings occurred, rendering him incapable of realizing the ramifications of his actions.

    The jury didn't agree.

    A death sentence was warranted in the murder of Diaz because he killed her just after murdering Thomas in the presence of Thomas' two young children while committing a burglary, the jury ruled.

    Diaz was at Thomas' apartment baby-sitting the night of the murders. Thomas' girlfriend, Jessica Carmona, was shot in the leg as she tried to shield her 2-year-old son.

    Sanchez and Steven Miranda, 20, and another man, Alexander Martinez, 23, of Warminster, went to the apartment that night on the pretext of buying drugs.

    Miranda faces the prospect of life in prison for his actions that night. Martinez pleaded guilty to lesser crimes and testified against the others.

    (Source: phillyburbs.com)

  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Pennsylvania v. Sanchez

    Opinion Date: December 17, 2013

    Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

    Appellant was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder for the shooting deaths of Mendez Thomas and Lisa Diaz. On appeal, appellant challenged the sufficiency of the evidence presented against him at trial. After review of the trial court record, the Supreme Court found the evidence sufficient to support appellant's murder convictions.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

  4. #4
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    On April 15, 2014, Sanchez filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/pen...cv02231/490084

  5. #5
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    A death-row inmate from Bucks County waited 12 years for a retrial. Now, the coronavirus has delayed the case further.

    Alfonso Sanchez was sentenced to death in 2008 for killing two people at the height of a drug feud. But three years ago, he was granted a reprieve, when a county judge ordered a retrial because prosecutors had withheld relevant DNA evidence at his trial.

    After more legal wrangling, including a failed Superior Court appeal to try to get the entire case thrown out, Sanchez was given a new court date: March 23. But now that the coronavirus has closed local courts, the 38-year-old will have to wait even longer.

    Bucks County President Judge Wallace H. Bateman this week suspended all jury trials in the county through April 10 amid concerns about the virus.

    Sanchez’s case was already complicated, given the arrangements that had to be made with witnesses who have since moved to other parts of the country, according to Sanchez’s attorney, Niels Eriksen.

    Court administrators have not yet set a new date for the trial, but it will likely be continued until the early summer.

    “We got a strong indication that it was being continued last week because witnesses needed to make airline arrangements and be flown in,” Eriksen said Tuesday. “The court was proactive in advising us early that it was being continued.”

    Deputy District Attorney Antonetta Stancu, the lead prosecutor in the case, declined to comment on the pending trial.

    In October 2007, prosecutors say, Sanchez shot Lisa Marie Diaz, 27, and Mendez Thomas Jr., 22, in the head at point-blank range because Diaz owed him money for cocaine. Sanchez, then-25, went on the run after the murder, but was captured by police days later.

    While reviewing the the case for the appeal, Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub discovered that in 2008, prosecutors had failed to turn over key lab reports of DNA testing, including one that showed that DNA evidence found under Diaz’s fingernails matched Miranda’s.

    While prosecutors acknowledge that the DNA evidence should have been turned over to defense lawyers, they maintain that Sanchez was the one who pulled the trigger.

    Sanchez’s wait for his day in court is not unique. Across the region, criminal trials and other court proceedings have been delayed because of worry about the global pandemic. As in Bucks County, Philadelphia court officials have suspended all new civil and criminal trials for at least two weeks.

    That news hit hard for Msgr. William J. Lynn, the former secretary for clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Lynn’s retrial on a child endangerment charge related to his handling of allegations of sexual abuse by priests had been scheduled to begin Monday.

    When Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Gwendolyn N. Bright announced that she was postponing the proceedings until January because, amid concern about the virus, “there are no jurors,” Lynn’s lawyer Thomas Bergstrom protested.

    “My client was charged in 2011,” he said. “If we go forward with this date, he’ll have been dealing with this for nearly a decade."

    https://www.inquirer.com/news/alfons...-20200317.html
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

  6. #6
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    7,317
    Convicted PA Murderer Who Was Supposed To Get Death Sentence Ran Drug Ring In Jail: DA

    By Nicole Acosta
    dailyvoice.com

    A convicted murderer in Pennsylvania who was supposed to get the death sentence was sentenced to nearly 10 to 40 years in state prison for running a drug ring inside a Bucks County jail, authorities announced Friday, April 22.

    Alfonso Sanchez, 40, was in the county correctional facility awaiting a retrial in a 2007 double homicide when he conspired with at least 10 others to smuggle suboxone from May 2020 to December 2020, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said.

    An investigation by BCCF investigators and the Bucks County Detectives Drug Strike Force discovered that Sanchez was buying the suboxone strips for a couple of dollars each on the outside and selling them to inmates for approximately $100 to $200 a strip, they said.

    Sanchez, a high-ranking member of the Latin Kings gang, tried having the strips sent to him or other inmates meant for him through mailed packages, Deputy District Attorney Mary Kate Kohler said. Some were apparently disguised as legal mail coming from the Federal Defender's Office and others were inside the bindings of books.

    When the mail scheme failed, Sanchez tried to have people with active warrants smuggle suboxone strips inside their bodies and then turn themselves in to the jail or secrete them inside Bibles, again through the mail, Kohler said.

    While investigators were able to find some of the drugs before they entered the jail, they estimated that conservatively between 100 and 150 suboxone strips made it into the jail, she said.

    Inmates paid for the drugs through various means such as mobile payment apps, a change.org fund, and putting money directly on his books, Kohler said.

    BCCF Director David Kratz testified that Sanchez had six misconducts against him while he was in jail awaiting his retrial for the October 2007 killings of Lisa Marie Diaz, 27, and Mendez Thomas Jr., 22, in Warminster, the DA's office said.

    In 2008, Sanchez was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death, prosecutors said. He later appealed his conviction and the District Attorney’s Office agreed to a retrial in 2017. In addition to the retrial, Sanchez is also awaiting trial on charges he plotted to have a key witness in the double homicide case killed.

    In the drug ring case, Sanchez pleaded guilty to corrupt organizations, delivery of a controlled substance, conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, conspiracy to dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, possession of contraband, conspiracy to possession of contraband, criminal use of a communication facility and conspiracy to criminal use of a communication facility.

    He was also sentenced to 10 years of state probation.

    https://dailyvoice.com/pennsylvania/...ail-da/830780/
    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

  7. #7
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Pennsylvania
    Posts
    4,795
    District Attorney Weintraub to join prosecutors as Warminster double-murder retrial begins

    By Christopher Dornblaser
    The Bucks County Courier-Times

    A man whose guilty verdict in a Warminster double murder was reversed six years ago will face a second jury.

    And Alfonso Sanchez, now 41, will have a familiar foe as District Attorney Matt Weintraub plans to join his deputies at the prosecution table.

    Sanchez goes to trial April 24 on charges he fatally shot Lisa Diaz, 27, and Mendez Thomas, 22, in Warminster in 2007. He also faces newer charges that he tried to have a witness killed while awaiting retrial.

    Sanchez, formerly of Philadelphia, was granted a retrial in 2017.

    His co-defendant, Anthony Sparango, of Souderton, will also be tried next week. County detectives allege Sparango had helped Sanchez while he was in prison.

    Weintraub and deputy district attorneys Edward Furman and Matthew Lannetti are seeking the death penalty.

    Weintraub said he was the DA who sought a new trial. He wanted to be a part of the prosecution team this time to ensure some continuity for the survivors given turnover in his office over the years.

    Sanchez is charged with two counts of homicide, burglary, aggravated assault and related offenses. In the second case, he is charged with four counts of solicitation to commit homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, witness intimidation, and solicitation and conspiracy of that offense

    Sanchez was among three people charged in the deaths of Diaz and Thomas.

    Warminster police said Sanchez shot the victims at the Bucks Landing apartments on Street Road on Oct. 17, 2007. Sanchez allegedly shot them in the head at close range during a dispute over a crack cocaine debt.

    Sanchez was found guilty in 2008 of first-degree murder, and was sentenced to death.

    One of the three men charged testified against Sanchez, and was sentenced to four to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to burglary in the case. The other man was found guilty of second-degree murder, and was sentenced to life in prison.

    Why was Sanchez granted a retrial in the case?
    In 2017, Sanchez was granted a new trial after it was discovered that DNA lab reports were not handed over to his attorneys during his initial trial, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said at the time.

    Prosecutors said at the time that the failure was "inadvertence and oversight," in which both sides went to trial under the belief that no DNA testing was done.

    County detectives allege Sanchez ordered the killing of a witness while in prison. Detectives also alleged Sanchez's friend, Sparango, 38, had taken steps to get information on the witness and planned killing the witness in a way that eluded authorities.

    Sparango is charged with solicitation to commit homicide and conspiracy to intimidate witness. He is currently in Bucks County Prison on $1 million bail.

    Investigators were made aware of Sanchez's plan in 2020, when a confidential informant spoke to them about it, charging documents allege.

    Detectives intercepted prison phone calls, as well as viewed text messages that showed Sanchez's plan, according to officials.

    The witness and their family, who authorities did not identify, were placed in a protection program, court documents state.

    Last year, Sanchez pleaded guilty to running a drug smuggling ring inside Bucks County Jail. He was sentenced to 10 to 40 years in prison.

    Sanchez's trial is expected to last at least a week.

    https://www.phillyburbs.com/story/ne...y/70134381007/
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  8. #8
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Pennsylvania
    Posts
    4,795
    I might pop in to court for a couple of hours to watch this.
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  9. #9
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court declined to review Sanchez's petition for certiorari.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Eastern District
    Case Nos.: (No. 605 CAP)
    Decision Date: December 17, 2013
    Rehearing Denied: February 14, 2014
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

  10. #10
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Man on death row for shooting of York City man among five execution warrants signed by Governor Corbett

    Governor Tom Corbett signs execution warrants for five men including one man sentenced to die for the 2008 murder of a York City man.

    Kevin Mattison, of Baltimore, was convicted for the December 9, 2008, robbery and shooting death of Christian Agosto. Records show that Mattison shot Agosto over a pound of marijuana. He was convicted in 2010 and handed the death penalty. Mattison’s execution is scheduled for March 12th.

    The four men in the other warrants are:

    * Terrance Williams, convicted of murder for the beating death of a man on June 11, 1984 during a robbery in Philadelphia County.

    * Kenneth Hairston, convicted of killing his wife and son on June 11, 2001 in Allegheny County

    *Alfonso Sanchez, convicted for the shooting deaths of a man and woman in 2007 in Bucks County

    *Robert Diamond, convicted for the shooting deaths of two men on August 1, 2008 in Bucks County;

    All five men are incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution at Greene. Williams’ execution has been scheduled for March 4, 2015; Hairston’s for March 5, 2015; Sanchez’s for March 10, 2015 and Diamond’s for March 11, 2015.

    The execution warrants signed today for Mattison, Williams, Hairston, Sanchez and Diamond represents Governor Corbett’s 44th through 48th warrants signed, respectively, since taking office.

    Executions in Pennsylvania are carried out by lethal injection. For more information, visit the Department of Corrections online at www.cor.pa.gov.

    http://fox43.com/2015/01/13/man-on-d...ernor-corbett/
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

Page 1 of 2 12 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
  •