Mauro Morris Barraza
Juvenile
Texas
Granted a stay of execution by the US Supreme Court pending a decision in Simmons.
Case Overview
Clemency Information
Case Overview
The Crime
On June 14, 1989, Barraza violently attacked and sexually assaulted 73- year-old Vilorie Nelson in her home during the course of a burglary. He murdered her by jumping on her chest and purposefully landing on her with his knees several times, crushing her heart and major blood vessels. Her dead body was found when her daughter, Joy Nelson, arrived home from work later that day. Barraza claimed he was intoxicated at the time of the offence; he was high on crack and cocaine.
The Trial
Mauro Morris Barraza was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death by lethal injection by a jury in Tarrant County. The defence was insanity. At his trial, Barraza presented expert testimony that he suffered from a drug psychosis, a severe mental disease that prevented him from forming the requisite intent to kill. On cross-examination, this same expert testified that Barraza suffered from an organic brain disorder as a result of his long-term addiction to drugs and alcohol. In the conclusion to his direct testimony, this expert testified that when Barraza is on a certain "collection of drugs" he could be expected to be violent, but that most of his life he had not shown violent behaviour. Based upon this evidence, the trial court allowed defensive charges on the issues of insanity and temporary insanity. The state countered with two experts who testified that Barraza had no mental disease or defect and understood that what he had done was wrong. They also contended that Barraza was faking.
After Barraza had exhausted his direct appeal, the state trial court set an execution date. Barraza's state habeas petition was then filed on June 29, 1995, and the execution date was lifted to allow the state habeas to proceed. The state habeas judge granted Barraza's request for money to obtain psychiatric testing, responding to the argument that the possibility of organic brain damage had been raised at trial.
On January 30, 1996, the trial court held an evidentiary hearing on the motion at which it heard the testimony of Barraza's expert, Dr. J. Douglas Crowder, a forensic psychiatrist and professor at Southwestern Medical School. Dr. Crowder expressed the opinion that the testing done by Drs. Coons, Peek, and Parker, who all testified at trial, was inadequate and that more testing would be necessary to rule out the possibility of organic brain damage. The trial court did not rule immediately. Rather, it asked that Barraza be examined by a competent expert appointed by the court. Then in a hearing held on May 6, 1996, Dr. Melissa Renee Ferguson, the court-appointed expert, testified that Barraza understood the death penalty, was competent to be executed, and had no significant deficits which would indicate the need to go further. The court then refused to fund more testing, finding no objective reason for more testing. These findings were adopted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
A similar request for funding to the United States District Court followed, supported by an affidavit of Dr. Crowder, essentially stating that he adhered to his view that further testing was needed despite Dr. Ferguson's testimony. The federal district court found no objective reason for more testing and refused the requested funding.
Clemency Information
In Texas, the Board’s clemency recommendation is binding on the governor. This procedural rule means the Governor cannot grant clemency without the Board’s recommendation. However if the Board does recommend clemency, the Governor does not have to follow that recommendation. Below is the contact information for the Board and the Governor.
Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711
Chairwoman Rissie Owens
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
P.O. Box 1340
Austin, Texas 78711-3401
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