softheart
02-03-2003, 06:00 PM
Feb. 3
TEXAS:
Opening statements begin in 4th escapee trial
Dallas County prosecutors portrayed prison escapee Joseph Garcia as a
gun-wielding bully who taunted Oshman's robbery victims before an Irving
patrol officer was gunned down on Christmas Eve 2000.
Defense attorneys urged the 7 women and 5 men on the panel to carefully
listen to the evidence and "pinpoint what exactly Joseph Garcia did or
did not do."
"Was he an accomplice in the taking of a life?" defense attorney Hugh
Lucas asked.
Mr. Garcia is the 4th of the 5 surviving prison escapees to face capital
murder charges in the fatal shooting of Irving patrol Officer Aubrey
Hawkins.
Mr. Garcia, who was serving a 50-year term for stabbing a casual
acquaintance to death, escaped Dec. 13, 2000, from a South Texas prison
with 6 other convicted felons.
Prosecutors say that 11 days later, Mr. Garcia and the other escapees
robbed Oshmans SuperSports USA at gunpoint and killed Officer Hawkins as
he arrived to investigate a suspicious-person call.
The convicts fled to Colorado, where they were captured after a
nationwide manhunt. Mr. Garcias trial may last as long as 2 weeks.
The 3 escapees tried before him, including ringleader George Rivas, were
each convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death.
(source: Dallas Morning News)
***********************
Texas 7 trial testimony starts today
In Dallas, testimony begins today in the trial of the 4th escaped
prisoner accused of killing an Irving police officer during a crime spree
more than 2 years ago.
Joseph Garcia was serving 50 years for murder when he and 6 other inmates
broke out of the Connally prison unit in Kenedy.
The group is suspected of robbing two stores in Houston before coming to
the Dallas area. On Christmas Eve 2000, Officer Aubrey Hawkins was shot
to death as he attempted to stop the group from robbing an Oshman's store
on Texas 183, prosecutors say.
Garcia, 31, has pleaded not guilty to capital murder and faces either the
death penalty or a life sentence if convicted. 3 other escapees have
already been sentenced to death: ringleader George Rivas, Donald Keith
Newbury and Michael Anthony Rodriguez.
Before his escape, Garcia spent most of his early years in prison
appealing his murder conviction. Garcia claimed that it was in
self-defense that he had fatally stabbed a San Antonio man in 1996. Trial
testimony showed that Garcia stabbed Miguel Luna 19 times. An appeals
court rejected Garcia's claim of self-defense.
Testimony in the three previous escapees' trials painted Garcia as one of
the gang's most violent members. Lead prosecutor Toby Shook declined to
discuss the case against Garcia, citing a gag order from the court.
During the Oshman's robbery, Garcia taunted 1 of the store employees:
"We've got a big boy here. I want him to try something."
Moments later, Hawkins was shot 11 times as he tried to block the group's
getaway car. After one inmate pulled Hawkins' body from the car, Garcia
slid into the driver's seat and backed the car out of the way, jamming
the trunk under a storage trailer. Then Rivas backed over Hawkins' body
with the getaway car.
The killing led to one of the largest manhunts in Texas history. Hundreds
of city, state and federal officers chased dozens of leads.
4 of the convicts were caught Jan. 22, 2001, after their crimes were
featured on Fox TV's America's Most Wanted. A woman who lived at an RV
park in rural Colorado recognized the men and reported them to the local
sheriff.
A SWAT team surrounded Rivas, Rodriguez and Garcia as they drove into a
gas station in Woodland Park, Colo. Even as an officer pointed a rifle at
his chest, Garcia twitched his hands as if he were reaching for a gun,
according to previous testimony.
Another escapee was arrested that day, and one killed himself rather than
surrender. The last 2 were captured the following day at a Colorado
Springs hotel.
Garcia was the only one of the surviving escapees who didn't make a
written confession to police, Shook said.
The 1st 3 trials drew extensive publicity. Selection of the jury of 7
woman and 5 men for Garcia's trial took about a month longer than
expected. (source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
softie
TEXAS:
Opening statements begin in 4th escapee trial
Dallas County prosecutors portrayed prison escapee Joseph Garcia as a
gun-wielding bully who taunted Oshman's robbery victims before an Irving
patrol officer was gunned down on Christmas Eve 2000.
Defense attorneys urged the 7 women and 5 men on the panel to carefully
listen to the evidence and "pinpoint what exactly Joseph Garcia did or
did not do."
"Was he an accomplice in the taking of a life?" defense attorney Hugh
Lucas asked.
Mr. Garcia is the 4th of the 5 surviving prison escapees to face capital
murder charges in the fatal shooting of Irving patrol Officer Aubrey
Hawkins.
Mr. Garcia, who was serving a 50-year term for stabbing a casual
acquaintance to death, escaped Dec. 13, 2000, from a South Texas prison
with 6 other convicted felons.
Prosecutors say that 11 days later, Mr. Garcia and the other escapees
robbed Oshmans SuperSports USA at gunpoint and killed Officer Hawkins as
he arrived to investigate a suspicious-person call.
The convicts fled to Colorado, where they were captured after a
nationwide manhunt. Mr. Garcias trial may last as long as 2 weeks.
The 3 escapees tried before him, including ringleader George Rivas, were
each convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death.
(source: Dallas Morning News)
***********************
Texas 7 trial testimony starts today
In Dallas, testimony begins today in the trial of the 4th escaped
prisoner accused of killing an Irving police officer during a crime spree
more than 2 years ago.
Joseph Garcia was serving 50 years for murder when he and 6 other inmates
broke out of the Connally prison unit in Kenedy.
The group is suspected of robbing two stores in Houston before coming to
the Dallas area. On Christmas Eve 2000, Officer Aubrey Hawkins was shot
to death as he attempted to stop the group from robbing an Oshman's store
on Texas 183, prosecutors say.
Garcia, 31, has pleaded not guilty to capital murder and faces either the
death penalty or a life sentence if convicted. 3 other escapees have
already been sentenced to death: ringleader George Rivas, Donald Keith
Newbury and Michael Anthony Rodriguez.
Before his escape, Garcia spent most of his early years in prison
appealing his murder conviction. Garcia claimed that it was in
self-defense that he had fatally stabbed a San Antonio man in 1996. Trial
testimony showed that Garcia stabbed Miguel Luna 19 times. An appeals
court rejected Garcia's claim of self-defense.
Testimony in the three previous escapees' trials painted Garcia as one of
the gang's most violent members. Lead prosecutor Toby Shook declined to
discuss the case against Garcia, citing a gag order from the court.
During the Oshman's robbery, Garcia taunted 1 of the store employees:
"We've got a big boy here. I want him to try something."
Moments later, Hawkins was shot 11 times as he tried to block the group's
getaway car. After one inmate pulled Hawkins' body from the car, Garcia
slid into the driver's seat and backed the car out of the way, jamming
the trunk under a storage trailer. Then Rivas backed over Hawkins' body
with the getaway car.
The killing led to one of the largest manhunts in Texas history. Hundreds
of city, state and federal officers chased dozens of leads.
4 of the convicts were caught Jan. 22, 2001, after their crimes were
featured on Fox TV's America's Most Wanted. A woman who lived at an RV
park in rural Colorado recognized the men and reported them to the local
sheriff.
A SWAT team surrounded Rivas, Rodriguez and Garcia as they drove into a
gas station in Woodland Park, Colo. Even as an officer pointed a rifle at
his chest, Garcia twitched his hands as if he were reaching for a gun,
according to previous testimony.
Another escapee was arrested that day, and one killed himself rather than
surrender. The last 2 were captured the following day at a Colorado
Springs hotel.
Garcia was the only one of the surviving escapees who didn't make a
written confession to police, Shook said.
The 1st 3 trials drew extensive publicity. Selection of the jury of 7
woman and 5 men for Garcia's trial took about a month longer than
expected. (source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
softie