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Texas inmate set to die Tuesday for killing store clerk
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Say it loud: Attorney Daniel Kolber uses a megaphone to voice his opposition to the death penalty while standing just outside the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison grounds in Jackson, Ga., Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016. Lawyers for Georgia's oldest death row inmate, Brandon Astor Jones, filed last-minute appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court urging the justices to block the scheduled Tuesday evening execution of the 72-year-old man, who was convicted of the 1979 killing of a convenience store manager. (Associated Press/ Ben Gray)
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43-year-old Texas prisoner convicted of killing a liquor store clerk and accused in a similar fatal holdup a month later is set for execution on Tuesday.
Gustavo Garcia, now 43, is set for lethal injection in the 1990 slaying, when he was 18 years old. He'd be the third prisoner executed this year in Texas, which puts more inmates to death than any other state.
A federal judge said Friday he won't stop the execution, and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles refused a clemency petition. No additional appeals are expected, Seth Kretzer, one of Garcia's lawyers, said Monday.
In the federal court appeal, Garcia's attorneys had argued that lawyers at his trial and in earlier appeals failed to uncover details of an abusive and alcohol- and drug-influenced youth — disclosures that could have convinced jurors to spare him from a death sentence.
They also said they needed additional time to investigate those claims.
"Garcia's guilt is clear," responded Fredericka Sargent, an assistant Texas attorney general.
The U.S. Supreme Court last month refused to review an appeal that raised questions about deficient legal help, and last week turned down a request for a rehearing.
At least nine other Texas inmates have execution dates set for the coming months, including three in March. (ags)
