20120515_wrong spanic man was executed in texas

8/17/2019 20120515_Wrong Spanic Man Was Executed in Texas

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Wrong man was executed in Texas, probe

says

By Chantal Valery | AFP – 10 hrs ago

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2/3

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"et museum goers #loat through $Cloud City$


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%orway &iller 'nders (ehring (reivi&


See latest photos »

He was the spitting image of the killer, had the same first name and was near the scene of the

crime at the fateful hour: Carlos eLuna paid the ultimate price and was e!ecuted in place of

someone else in e!as in #$%$, a report out uesda& found'

()en "all the relati)es of both Carloses mistook them," and eLuna was sentenced to death ande!ecuted based onl& on e&ewitness accounts despite a range of signs he was not a guilt& man,

said law professor *ames Liebman'

Liebman and fi)e of his students at Columbia School of Law spent almost fi)e &ears poring o)er

details of a case that he sa&s is "emblematic" of legal s&stem failure'

eLuna, +, was put to death after "a )er& incomplete in)estigation' -o .uestion that the

in)estigation is a failure," Liebman said'

he report/s authors found "numerous missteps, missed clues and missed opportunities that let

authorities prosecute Carlos eLuna for the crime of murder, despite e)idence not onl& that hedid not commit the crime but that another indi)idual, Carlos Hernande0, did," the %12page

in)estigation found'

he report, entitled "Los oca&os Carlos: 3natom& of a 4rongful (!ecution," traces the facts

surrounding the Februar& #$%5 murder of 4anda Lope0, a single mother who was stabbed in thegas station where she worked in a .uiet corner of the e!as coastal cit& of Corpus Christi'

"()er&thing went wrong in this case," Liebman said'

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/met-museum-goers-float-through-cloud-city-slideshow/;_ylt=AhNVQsrBDn2M0HkTK9ZmrZe1qHQA;_ylu=X3oDMTRkbG5rZ3ZuBG1pdANIb21lIEZlYXR1cmVkIExlZnQgUmFpbARwa2cDZDYwZDIxYmUtMWU0YS0zMTZhLWJlOGEtMGUyMTY0NzNkYmFmBHBvcwMyBHNlYwNNZWRpYUZlYXR1cmVkTGlzdFRlbXAEdmVyA2ZkMTNiMmQzLTllYTMtMTFlMS1iYWZiLWE3ZjdiYjAxOGMwZg--;_ylg=X3oDMTJqbnAxYmYwBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDMTE1NDU1NjQtZTNjZC0zYmI5LWFlYjYtY2QzMTEwZmY3NDIyBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdl;_ylv=3http://news.yahoo.com/photos/norway-attacker-anders-behring-breivik-slideshow/;_ylt=Ap1oqbZ.AzsiijZ05jOoI9K1qHQA;_ylu=X3oDMTRkMjJlYWN0BG1pdANIb21lIEZlYXR1cmVkIExlZnQgUmFpbARwa2cDMGJkMzA3NTYtMzAxZS0zNWY4LWIyNjEtZTM0ZmJhYmQ2ZDA2BHBvcwMzBHNlYwNNZWRpYUZlYXR1cmVkTGlzdFRlbXAEdmVyAzI2MDNiYTQxLTllYTAtMTFlMS05ZTgzLTE4ODUzMjg0OTBhMw--;_ylg=X3oDMTJqbnAxYmYwBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDMTE1NDU1NjQtZTNjZC0zYmI5LWFlYjYtY2QzMTEwZmY3NDIyBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdl;_ylv=3http://news.yahoo.com/photos/;_ylt=Avg8lmV_7WvTGBEjjRT7B.61qHQA;_ylu=X3oDMTFyYzlwcjdrBG1pdANIb21lIEZlYXR1cmVkIExlZnQgUmFpbARwb3MDNARzZWMDTWVkaWFGZWF0dXJlZExpc3RUZW1w;_ylg=X3oDMTJqbnAxYmYwBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDMTE1NDU1NjQtZTNjZC0zYmI5LWFlYjYtY2QzMTEwZmY3NDIyBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdl;_ylv=3http://news.yahoo.com/photos/norway-attacker-anders-behring-breivik-slideshow/;_ylt=Ap1oqbZ.AzsiijZ05jOoI9K1qHQA;_ylu=X3oDMTRkMjJlYWN0BG1pdANIb21lIEZlYXR1cmVkIExlZnQgUmFpbARwa2cDMGJkMzA3NTYtMzAxZS0zNWY4LWIyNjEtZTM0ZmJhYmQ2ZDA2BHBvcwMzBHNlYwNNZWRpYUZlYXR1cmVkTGlzdFRlbXAEdmVyAzI2MDNiYTQxLTllYTAtMTFlMS05ZTgzLTE4ODUzMjg0OTBhMw--;_ylg=X3oDMTJqbnAxYmYwBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDMTE1NDU1NjQtZTNjZC0zYmI5LWFlYjYtY2QzMTEwZmY3NDIyBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdl;_ylv=3http://news.yahoo.com/photos/met-museum-goers-float-through-cloud-city-slideshow/;_ylt=AhNVQsrBDn2M0HkTK9ZmrZe1qHQA;_ylu=X3oDMTRkbG5rZ3ZuBG1pdANIb21lIEZlYXR1cmVkIExlZnQgUmFpbARwa2cDZDYwZDIxYmUtMWU0YS0zMTZhLWJlOGEtMGUyMTY0NzNkYmFmBHBvcwMyBHNlYwNNZWRpYUZlYXR1cmVkTGlzdFRlbXAEdmVyA2ZkMTNiMmQzLTllYTMtMTFlMS1iYWZiLWE3ZjdiYjAxOGMwZg--;_ylg=X3oDMTJqbnAxYmYwBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDMTE1NDU1NjQtZTNjZC0zYmI5LWFlYjYtY2QzMTEwZmY3NDIyBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdl;_ylv=3http://news.yahoo.com/photos/met-museum-goers-float-through-cloud-city-slideshow/;_ylt=AhNVQsrBDn2M0HkTK9ZmrZe1qHQA;_ylu=X3oDMTRkbG5rZ3ZuBG1pdANIb21lIEZlYXR1cmVkIExlZnQgUmFpbARwa2cDZDYwZDIxYmUtMWU0YS0zMTZhLWJlOGEtMGUyMTY0NzNkYmFmBHBvcwMyBHNlYwNNZWRpYUZlYXR1cmVkTGlzdFRlbXAEdmVyA2ZkMTNiMmQzLTllYTMtMTFlMS1iYWZiLWE3ZjdiYjAxOGMwZg--;_ylg=X3oDMTJqbnAxYmYwBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDMTE1NDU1NjQtZTNjZC0zYmI5LWFlYjYtY2QzMTEwZmY3NDIyBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdl;_ylv=3http://news.yahoo.com/photos/norway-attacker-anders-behring-breivik-slideshow/;_ylt=Ap1oqbZ.AzsiijZ05jOoI9K1qHQA;_ylu=X3oDMTRkMjJlYWN0BG1pdANIb21lIEZlYXR1cmVkIExlZnQgUmFpbARwa2cDMGJkMzA3NTYtMzAxZS0zNWY4LWIyNjEtZTM0ZmJhYmQ2ZDA2BHBvcwMzBHNlYwNNZWRpYUZlYXR1cmVkTGlzdFRlbXAEdmVyAzI2MDNiYTQxLTllYTAtMTFlMS05ZTgzLTE4ODUzMjg0OTBhMw--;_ylg=X3oDMTJqbnAxYmYwBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDMTE1NDU1NjQtZTNjZC0zYmI5LWFlYjYtY2QzMTEwZmY3NDIyBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdl;_ylv=3http://news.yahoo.com/photos/;_ylt=Avg8lmV_7WvTGBEjjRT7B.61qHQA;_ylu=X3oDMTFyYzlwcjdrBG1pdANIb21lIEZlYXR1cmVkIExlZnQgUmFpbARwb3MDNARzZWMDTWVkaWFGZWF0dXJlZExpc3RUZW1w;_ylg=X3oDMTJqbnAxYmYwBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDMTE1NDU1NjQtZTNjZC0zYmI5LWFlYjYtY2QzMTEwZmY3NDIyBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdl;_ylv=3


3/3

hat night Lope0 called police for help twice to protect her from an indi)idual with a

switchblade'

"he& could ha)e sa)ed her, the& said /we made this arrest immediatel&/ to o)ercome theembarrassment," Liebman said'

Fort& minutes after the crime Carlos eLuna was arrested not far from the gas station'

He was identified b& onl& one e&ewitness who saw a Hispanic male running from the gas station'

6ut eLuna had 7ust sha)ed and was wearing a white dress shirt 22 unlike the killer, who an

e&ewitness said had a mustache and was wearing a gre& flannel shirt'

()en though witnesses accounts were contradictor& 22 the killer was seen fleeing towards the

north, while eLuna was caught in the east 22 eLuna was arrested'

"8 didn/t do it, but 8 know who did," eLuna said at the time, sa&ing that he saw Carlos

Hernande0 entering the ser)ice station'

eLuna said he ran from police because he was on parole and had been drinking'

Hernande0, known for using a blade in his attacks, was later 7ailed for murdering a woman with

the same knife' 6ut in the trial, the lead prosecutor told the 7ur& that Hernande0 was nothing but

a "phantom" of eLuna/s imagination'

eLuna/s budget attorne& e)en said that it was probable that Carlos Hernande0 ne)er e!isted'

Howe)er in #$%9 a local newspaper published a photograph of Hernande0 in an article on the

eLuna case, Liebman said'

Following hast& trial eLuna was e!ecuted b& lethal in7ection in #$%$'

p to the da& he died in prison of cirrhosis of the li)er, Hernande0 repeatedl& admitted to

murdering 4anda Lope0, Liebman said'

"nfortunatel&, the flaws in the s&stem that wrongfull& con)icted and e!ecuted eLuna 22 fault&e&ewitness testimon&, shodd& legal representation and prosecutorial misconduct 22 continue to

send innocent men to their death toda&," read a statement that accompanies the report'

20120515_wrong spanic man was executed in texas

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