If nobody had intervened, Melissa Lucio was scheduled to die on Wednesday.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday issued a stay in Lucio’s scheduled execution and sent the case back to Cameron County, where she was originally convicted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah. There, her case will be examined to see if she is innocent and whether prosecutors hid evidence and presented false testimony.
The move came the same day that the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles was due to decide whether to recommend a 120-day stay of execution to Gov. Greg Abbott.
“I thank God for my life. I have always trusted in Him,” Lucio said in a statement. “I am grateful the Court has given me the chance to live and prove my innocence. Mariah is in my heart today and always. I am grateful to have more days to a mother to my children and a grandmother to my grandchildren.”
A growing number of people have taken up her cause, including a majority of the state legislature. State Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano), has been providing daily updates on Lucio’s case via Twitter and Facebook, and said Monday over the phone (shortly before the appeals court made its announcement) that the bipartisan push to save Lucio was an “unprecedented effort.”
“You’ve now got over 110, 115 legislators who are speaking out and saying, ‘We’re putting our differences aside, this isn’t a partisan issue, this isn’t Republican versus Democrat, this is right versus wrong,” he said. “And I’m so grateful that so many have spoken out.”
At least five jurors from Lucio’s trial also asked the parole board and Gov. Greg Abbott to stop her execution. Foreperson Melissa Quintanilla told the board in an affidavit that she “didn’t have all the evidence I needed to make that decision,” adding that the trial left her thinking “Melissa Lucio was a monster.”
Since 1982, when states began executing death row inmates once again, more than a third of the more than 1,500 executions that have happened nationally occurred in Texas.
The National Academy of Sciences estimates that at least 4 percent of all people on death row are likely innocent, and Death Penalty Information Center says there have been 186 death row exonerations.
In Texas, 10 people have been executed since 1989 despite there being strong evidence of their innocence, the center said.
Those statistics haven’t escaped Leach’s attention, especially since he chairs the interim Criminal Justice Reform Committee.
“I am not in the judicial branch—I’m not the fact-finder, I’m not the judge or the jury. My role as a legislator is to do everything we can to make sure the system works and that it’s fair, trustworthy, and reliable,” he said. “We can put all of our partisan and political differences aside, because what every Texan wants and deserves and demands is a government they can trust.
“And yeah, it’s concerning when you hear about wrongful convictions and the growing number of exonerations based on evidence or a trial that went wrong, or the ineffective assistance of counsel—all of that stuff went wrong in Melissa’s case, by the way.”
Leach says that legislators can see those problems and do nothing, “or we can stand up and say, ‘No, I’m elected to fix things, to make things work.’”
Right now, he said, he’s focused on Lucio’s case, but he does hope that conversations about potential legislation happen before the next time lawmakers convene.
“Every tool is in our toolbox, every option and solution is on the table,” he said. “There’s not a conversation we’re going to be afraid to have, or a question we’re not going to ask. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure the system works and can be trusted.”
Leach’s advocacy of Lucio’s case, he says, isn’t because he’s anti-death penalty, but it does tie into his ardent pro-life stances. His pro-death penalty feelings, he adds, don’t mean he’s anti-justice, either.
“I’ve historically been a death penalty supporter in the most heinous cases, and remain a death penalty supporter in the most heinous cases,” he said. “But that’s contingent on the system being reliable and the system working.
“I am a pro-life Texan, and I believe strongly that our most important duty is to protect the fundamental liberties of the people of Texas,” he continued. “When it comes to a potentially innocent Texan who’s about to be—let’s not mince words—murdered by the state of Texas, we have an obligation to speak out and stop that from happening.”
The news also probably comes as a relief for Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz, who was under pressure to withdraw Lucio’s death warrant, which would have effectively stayed the execution.
“I’m hoping that the Board of pardons and paroles, that the court of criminal appeals, the federal courts, or the Cameron County District Attorney will step up and do the right thing — push pause on her execution and work hard to get her a new trial,” Leach said Monday morning. “That’s all we’re asking for — is for the pause button so that this execution of a potentially innocent Texan does not go forward. Pushing the pause button on this execution hurts no one, it strengthens the system, and there is no reason it should not be granted.”
During a meeting with the Texas House Criminal Justice Reform committee on April 12, current Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz indicated that he would withdraw the warrant if the board of pardons — or the court — didn’t issue a stay.
“I believe that the court is going to step in and issue a stay,” Saenz said at the meeting. “This case is not over; it has not been finally decided. I do not believe that the execution is going to be carried out on that day.”
It’s a promise that Leach said he was prepared to hold Saenz to.
“Well see — that’s what he committed to us,” he said. “There will be hell to pay if he doesn’t do the right thing.”
While Saenz is now off the hot seat when it comes to the death warrant, Lucio’s case has been sent to the 138th Judicial District Court of Cameron County, where new evidence will be examined. The unanimous decision by the court said the lower court will need to rule on the new issues before asking for further action.
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