Texas court grants stay of execution for death row inmate Melissa Lucio


Melissa Lucio's execution was postponed until Wednesday when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals gave her a stay of execution, remanding her case back to the trial court to consider fresh evidence.


Lucio claims she was unfairly convicted of capital murder in the 2007 death of her baby Mariah, according to her family, activists, and attorneys.


"I am grateful to God for my life. I've always had faith in Him "In a statement released by her legal team, Lucio stated. "I'm grateful to the Court for allowing me to live and establish my innocence. Mariah will always have a special place in my heart."


During the trial, prosecutors said Lucio was an abusive mother who was responsible for her daughter's murder. Mariah's injuries, according to Lucio and her counsel, were caused by a fall down a stairway outside the family's second-floor apartment two days before she died, not by mistreatment.


The appeal court directed the trial court to evaluate four of the nine arguments Lucio made in her habeas petition, including her claims that she is innocent and that fresh scientific evidence prohibits her conviction. Lucio also claimed that the state fabricated evidence and concealed evidence that was advantageous to her defense.


Prosecutors have been contacted by CNN for comment.


According to her legal team, Lucio will remain on execution row notwithstanding the postponement.


Lucio's execution has been postponed while the trial court evaluates the merits of her petitions.


The trial court in Brownsville, according to Lucio's counsel, will hold sessions to hear proof of Lucio's innocence. Tivon Schardl, one of Lucio's attorneys, said during a virtual press conference Monday that the court would next make a recommendation to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which would finally decide whether Lucio should have a new trial.


"There's still a long way to go in Melissa's case, and there's a lot more that stands between Melissa and an exoneration," said Vanessa Potkin, the Innocence Project's director of special litigation, whose attorneys are also working on Lucio's case.


"However, today's stay and remand to conduct hearings on fresh evidence of her innocence actually open the door to the possibility of a second trial in her case, and eventually, total vindication," Potkin told reporters.


Lucio's family attended the news conference and expressed gratitude to her legal team.


Separately, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected to recommend mercy in Lucio's case on Monday, citing the stay of execution as a reason.


Reasons for doubt 'are innumerable'


Lucio's case gained national attention after it was featured in the documentary "The State of Texas vs. Melissa," which was released in 2020.


In recent weeks, there have been more pleas for leniency: A bipartisan majority of the Texas legislature, as well as celebrities like Kim Kardashian, have appealed for mercy. Perhaps most importantly, five members of Lucio's jury have spoken out, claiming that her execution should be halted or that she should be given a new trial based on information they did not hear.


Mariah's body was covered with bruises "in different states of healing" when she died, according to court filings. Her arm had been broken some weeks prior, and she had a bite mark on her back.


These injuries, according to the state's case, were caused by maltreatment. Mariah died with blunt-force damage to the skull, according to the medical examiner who testified for the state at trial, labeling her a "battered infant." The "very worst" case of child maltreatment, according to an ER doctor who attempted to resuscitate Mariah.


Lucio, a mother of 14, and her lawyers, on the other hand, maintain that she is innocent and that Mariah's injuries were caused by a fall down a steep staircase outside the family's apartment. According to Lucio's counsel, officials suppressed or rejected evidence that may have shown her innocence because of a misunderstanding regarding the fall.


They claim Lucio never mistreated her children, citing over a thousand pages of Child Protective Services records from the time period.


According to her clemency petition, the documents "convey a tale of Melissa's love for the children, as well as her incapacity to adequately care for them," referring to the family's poverty and Lucio's drug use as contributing factors. However, her defenders claim that none of the children ever reported Lucio as a child abuser in the CPS records.



Melissa Lucio poses next to her daughter Adriana, who is holding her baby, Mariah.


Lucio was convicted in part because of a coerced "confession" she provided investigators in an "aggressive" late-night questioning the night her daughter died, according to her counsel. However, Lucio's lawyers claim she merely "suggested" she was to blame for her daughter's injuries and never admitted to being to blame for Mariah's death.


Lucio was particularly vulnerable to compulsion because of her history of sexual abuse and domestic violence, according to her attorneys, who cited medical specialists who evaluated the case.


Other reasons for Mariah's injuries have been presented by Lucio's legal team, citing medical professionals yet again: They believe Mariah's bruises were caused by her fall and a blood coagulation issue, and that a fractured arm is not unusual in toddlers, especially those with a history of falling.


In Lucio's clemency appeal, her counsel argued, "The reasons for doubt here are many." "Texans should be outraged at the idea of the State spilling innocent blood for a murder Melissa Lucio did not cause, much less plan."


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