softheart
07-07-2004, 12:14 PM
July 7, 2004
Supreme Court stayed Troy Kunkle's execution.
Because the stay came from the Supreme Court and not the 5th Circuit,
there will not be no execution today. He will have the stay u
til the Supreme Court decides his cert petition and the Court can take as much or as little time as they want. And then if and when he gets a new date,he will get at least 30 days notice (under Texas law).
High court blocks execution of rock-chanting killer
Associated Press
The U.S. Supreme Court today blocked the scheduled execution of a man
convicted of a murder nearly 20 years ago.
Troy Kunkle, 38, was set for lethal injection tonight for fatally shooting
a Corpus Christi man during a robbery there when he was an 18-year-old
high school student in San Antonio. The court issued an indefinite stay.
He would be the 11th Texas prisoner executed this year.
Kunkle's appeal before the high court contended jurors who deliberated his
death sentence were not allowed to properly consider his drug and alcohol
abuse history and that he was on drugs and alcohol the night of Aug. 12,
1984, when Steven Horton, 29, was shot in the head and robbed of $13.
"Evidence demonstrated that Mr. Kunkle was the product of a troubled and
turbulent home environment, including parents who had been medically
treated for depression, which would naturally have left him
psychologically and emotionally scarred," his appeal said.
Kunkle's rights to due process also were violated when his trial judge
refused to allow his appeals lawyers to have a state-paid full transcript
of nearly six days' worth of questioning of potential jurors, his appeal
said.
The Texas attorney general's office, contesting the appeals, accused
Kunkle's lawyers of "trawling ... the record for possible errors" in the
jury selection questioning.
State lawyers also contended that if jurors believed Kunkle's drug and
alcohol use and home environment were mitigating factors, they could have
expressed that in their answers to questions that determined punishment.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles earlier this week rejected requests
that his sentence be commuted to life or he be given a six-month reprieve.
According to evidence at his capital murder trial, Kunkle, after shooting
Horton, said: "Another day, another death, another sorrow, another
breath." The words are lyrics from a song called "No Remorse" from an
album "Kill 'Em All" by the heavy metal rock group Metallica.
Kunkle declined to speak with reporters in the weeks preceding his
execution date but told the San Antonio Express-News in 1996 his life was
transformed while on death row thanks to prison religious ministers.
"I feel better about myself now," he said. "I get along better with
others, which I had a problem with in the past. ... But I do think about
my victim every day."
Kunkle and four friends got high on LSD and marijuana and were drinking
large amounts of beer when they decided to drive from San Antonio to the
beach at Corpus Christi, 140 miles to the southeast.
Court records show they robbed a man of $7 at a convenience store, then
drove around Corpus Christi looking for someone else to rob.
Horton was walking home after playing pool at a bar and the youths offered
him a ride. When he got into their car, testimony showed Kunkle urged one
of his companions to shoot Horton. When the friend refused, Kunkle grabbed
the .22-caliber pistol. As they drove behind a skating rink, Horton was
shot in the back of the head. His body was pushed out of the car and his
wallet taken.
Kunkle, identified as the shooter, and his friends were arrested later
back in San Antonio.
"I can't forgive him," Horton's mother, Mary, told the Corpus Christi
Caller-Times in a story published this week. "He had no reason to do that.
... I guess the worst thing is it was a senseless murder."
Kunkle's girlfriend, Lora Lee Zaiontz, received a life prison term. Two
others received 30-year sentences for murder and have since been released
from prison. No charges were filed against a fifth person in the car.
Kunkle, whose father was in the military, was born in Germany and was
almost a teenager before he moved to the United States.
---
Source : Associated Press
Supreme Court stayed Troy Kunkle's execution.
Because the stay came from the Supreme Court and not the 5th Circuit,
there will not be no execution today. He will have the stay u
til the Supreme Court decides his cert petition and the Court can take as much or as little time as they want. And then if and when he gets a new date,he will get at least 30 days notice (under Texas law).
High court blocks execution of rock-chanting killer
Associated Press
The U.S. Supreme Court today blocked the scheduled execution of a man
convicted of a murder nearly 20 years ago.
Troy Kunkle, 38, was set for lethal injection tonight for fatally shooting
a Corpus Christi man during a robbery there when he was an 18-year-old
high school student in San Antonio. The court issued an indefinite stay.
He would be the 11th Texas prisoner executed this year.
Kunkle's appeal before the high court contended jurors who deliberated his
death sentence were not allowed to properly consider his drug and alcohol
abuse history and that he was on drugs and alcohol the night of Aug. 12,
1984, when Steven Horton, 29, was shot in the head and robbed of $13.
"Evidence demonstrated that Mr. Kunkle was the product of a troubled and
turbulent home environment, including parents who had been medically
treated for depression, which would naturally have left him
psychologically and emotionally scarred," his appeal said.
Kunkle's rights to due process also were violated when his trial judge
refused to allow his appeals lawyers to have a state-paid full transcript
of nearly six days' worth of questioning of potential jurors, his appeal
said.
The Texas attorney general's office, contesting the appeals, accused
Kunkle's lawyers of "trawling ... the record for possible errors" in the
jury selection questioning.
State lawyers also contended that if jurors believed Kunkle's drug and
alcohol use and home environment were mitigating factors, they could have
expressed that in their answers to questions that determined punishment.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles earlier this week rejected requests
that his sentence be commuted to life or he be given a six-month reprieve.
According to evidence at his capital murder trial, Kunkle, after shooting
Horton, said: "Another day, another death, another sorrow, another
breath." The words are lyrics from a song called "No Remorse" from an
album "Kill 'Em All" by the heavy metal rock group Metallica.
Kunkle declined to speak with reporters in the weeks preceding his
execution date but told the San Antonio Express-News in 1996 his life was
transformed while on death row thanks to prison religious ministers.
"I feel better about myself now," he said. "I get along better with
others, which I had a problem with in the past. ... But I do think about
my victim every day."
Kunkle and four friends got high on LSD and marijuana and were drinking
large amounts of beer when they decided to drive from San Antonio to the
beach at Corpus Christi, 140 miles to the southeast.
Court records show they robbed a man of $7 at a convenience store, then
drove around Corpus Christi looking for someone else to rob.
Horton was walking home after playing pool at a bar and the youths offered
him a ride. When he got into their car, testimony showed Kunkle urged one
of his companions to shoot Horton. When the friend refused, Kunkle grabbed
the .22-caliber pistol. As they drove behind a skating rink, Horton was
shot in the back of the head. His body was pushed out of the car and his
wallet taken.
Kunkle, identified as the shooter, and his friends were arrested later
back in San Antonio.
"I can't forgive him," Horton's mother, Mary, told the Corpus Christi
Caller-Times in a story published this week. "He had no reason to do that.
... I guess the worst thing is it was a senseless murder."
Kunkle's girlfriend, Lora Lee Zaiontz, received a life prison term. Two
others received 30-year sentences for murder and have since been released
from prison. No charges were filed against a fifth person in the car.
Kunkle, whose father was in the military, was born in Germany and was
almost a teenager before he moved to the United States.
---
Source : Associated Press