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Thread: Brian Cliff Suniga - Texas Death Row

  1. #21
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    BRAIN SUNIGA v THE STATE OF TEXAS

    In today's opinions, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals AFFIRMED Suniga's conviction and sentence of death on direct appeal.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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  2. #22
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Suniga appears in Lubbock court for hearing on appeal in death penalty case

    By GABRIEL MONTE
    LubbockOnline.com

    Judge Jim Bob Darnell testified Wednesday that he believed it was better for him to speak with a juror in Brian Suniga’s death penalty case away from attorneys and the defendant in case a report he received about a confrontation she had with Suniga in the courthouse were true.

    Darnell, who presided over Suniga’s capital murder trial in 2014, said he could not remember who reported the alleged confrontation to him that resulted in the conversation.

    He was one of seven witnesses called to testify during a hearing requested by the Court of Criminal appeals to clarify an issue on Suniga’s appeal of his death sentence.

    Suniga, who was present during the hearing, was convicted in May 2014 of capital murder by a jury in connection with the Dec. 26, 2011, fatal shooting of David Rowser during an armed robbery at One Guy From Italy restaurant on 50th Street, where Rowser and his younger brother, Jonathan, worked.

    During they jury selection process before the trial, Darnell said he received the report about a confrontation or exchange between the defendant and the juror, who was also a courthouse employee at the time and worked organizing records in a room near a staging area for jail inmates who were set to appear in court.

    The juror denied to the judge any confrontation or even seeing Suniga while she was at the courthouse basement, Darnell said. Had the report been true or if she even saw the defendant in the basement, where he would have been shackled, the juror would have been dismissed, he said.

    However, after the conversation he said he believed she would still remain impartial and kept her as a juror.

    “I felt like she was a person who, from my standpoint, would be a good juror,” he said.

    The juror told the court on Wednesday she never saw the defendant during her time working at the courthouse except in the courtroom during the trial.

    Following his conviction, Suniga was sentenced to death. Death sentences are automatically subjected to a direct appeal reviewed by the Court of Criminal Appeals.

    The Court of Criminal Appeals initially affirmed Suniga’s sentence in February. However, the justices abated their ruling after Suniga’s attorneys challenged the assumption justices made that the conversation between Darnell and the juror took place in court before the prosecutors and defense attorneys.

    The justices returned the case to the trial court level and issued an order for a hearing to get more information about the conversation to set the record straight. Darnell recused himself from the case, believing he would be called to testify. Senior Judge Brad Underwood was appointed to preside over the case.

    Suniga’s attorney, Hilary Sheard, also called on multiple sheriff’s deputies who worked in the courthouse to ask about the origins of the report that Darnell received. None said they had any information about the report.

    A supplemental record based on the testimony from Wednesday’s hearing will be submitted to the Court of Criminal Appeals by February 2018.

    http://lubbockonline.com/crime-and-c...g-appeal-death

  3. #23
    Senior Member CnCP Legend FFM's Avatar
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    Conviction and death sentence reaffirmed....

    http://search.txcourts.gov/SearchMed...c-cd85ae4f7f6a

  4. #24
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  5. #25
    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
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    Lubbock man on death row, claims prosecutorial misconduct

    LUBBOCK, Texas - Brian Suniga was in court Monday morning in Lubbock as part of an effort to overturn his death sentence against him.

    https://www.everythinglubbock.com/ne...al-misconduct/
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  6. #26
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    ARTICLE 11.071 APPLICATION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS DENIED WITH WRITTEN ORDER:

    https://search.txcourts.gov/handdown...ate=06/08/2022

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  8. #28
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Death sentence in 2012 One Guy From Italy fatal robbery affirmed again by appeals court

    By Gabriel Monte
    Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

    Brian Michael Suniga, the condemned killer in the 2011 shooting at a Lubbock pizzeria, remains on death row after justices with Texas' highest court on criminal matters recently upheld his conviction and death sentence.

    At present, Suniga, 42, is the only inmate on death row awaiting execution who was convicted out of a Lubbock district court.

    Suniga can still file an appeal at the federal level. His attorneys have until 15 days after last Wednesday's ruling to file an appeal in federal district court.

    Suniga was convicted and sentenced to death by a Lubbock jury in 2014 for fatally shooting David Rowser during a Dec. 26, 2011, armed robbery at the One Guy From Italy restaurant near the intersection of Quaker Avenue and 50th Street.

    During Suniga's trial, which started on May 13, 2014, prosecutors put on evidence that showed Suniga and his cousin were the robbers who entered the restaurant approached the register and pointed handguns at Jonathan Rowser’s head. The pair demanded money from the cash register, but ended up stealing the tip jar from the counter.

    As they made their way out, David, Jonathan’s brother and co-worker at the pizzeria, walked out of the bathroom with a mop in his hands. Suniga then shot at David Rowser three times, striking him twice in the chest and once in the neck and yelled, “That’s what you get!”

    David was taken to a hospital, where he died.

    Eye witnesses gave police descriptions of the robbers which resembled Suniga and Lopez. A search of their getaway vehicle yielded a handgun, a box of ammunition, and the tip jar lid taken from the restaurant.

    Business cards found at the restaurant immediately after the shooting had DNA evidence that came from Suniga.

    He and his cousin, Cecilio Lopez Jr., were arrested two days later in Taylor County.

    Defense attorney's case was that the evidence failed to show that Suniga and his cousin were the robbers.

    Jurors found Suniga guilty and prosecutors asked for the death sentence.

    In his closing argument, Lubbock County District Attorney Matt Powell Powell told jurors Suniga will continue to be a threat to those around him. He said a life sentence would endanger not only other inmates but prison workers as well.

    Defense attorneys asked jurors for a life sentence, saying Suniga was essentially shoved toward destruction by a family who raised him in an environment mired in alcohol, drugs, violence and sexual misconduct.

    Jurors handed a death sentence and an automatic direct appeal was filed with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

    Meanwhile, Lopez pleaded guilty to his role in the fatal shooting in exchange for a life sentence without the chance of parole.

    On Feb. 1, 2017, the Court of Criminal Appeals overruled Suniga's direct appeal that claimed 17 points of error and upheld his conviction and death sentence.

    Wednesday's opinion follows a recommendation by Senior District Judge Sid Harle in the 140th District Court who presided over a two-week evidentiary hearing that began May 3, 2021 that explored 10 claims Suniga's attorneys raised for a new trial or sentence.

    During the hearing, Suniga's appellate attorneys called on witnesses that included former Lubbock County District Attorney Matt Powell, defense attorneys Dennis Reeves and Ray Keith and jurors who deliberated at the trial.

    In his appeal, he accused his trial attorneys of failing to produce a coherent case for a life sentence for their client. He also accused prosecutors of withholding information that might have changed his attorney's defense.

    However, justices with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeal rejected Suniga's appeal, saying he failed to prove that any of his claims were true.

    https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/...ry/7584847001/
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  9. #29
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    On June 23, 2022, Suniga filed a habeas petition in federal district court.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/te...cv00124/364137
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