Judge grants motion declaring death penalty unconstitutional
A Houston judge this afternoon declared the death penalty unconstitutional in a pretrial hearing in response to a motion from defense lawyers.
State District Judge Kevin Fine's ruling is unlikely to withstand appellate review.
Fine granted a motion from defense attorney Bob Loper to declare Texas' death penalty unconstitutional. Further details about the motion were not immediately available.
Fine, a judicial maverick, was elected in the 2008 Democratic near sweep of Harris County's benches. The judge came under fire last year for questioning a victim during the punishment phase of rape trial.
The defendant in Thursday's hearing, John Edward Green, Jr., is accused of fatally shooting a Houston woman and injuring her sister on June 16, 2008.
Green, 23, faces charges in the shooting death of Huong Thien Nguyen, 34. Nguyen and her sister, My Huong Nguyen, had returned to their home in the 6700 block of Bellaire Gardens about 1:20 a.m. Sunday, when police said Green approached them, made a demand and shot them.
Huong Thien Nguyen died at the scene. Her sister was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital in critical condition.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/6897252.html
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