A Texas judge recommends overturning the conviction and death sentence of Melissa Lucio

(CNN) — A Texas judge last week recommended that the conviction and sentence of a death row mother be overturned, finding that prosecutors concealed key evidence that would have convicted her in the 2007 death of her 2-year-old daughter. Could have prevented it from being found.

According to a filing submitted by her lawyers and prosecutors on Friday and signed by the judge, the evidence, a report from Child Protective Services and interviews with inmate Melissa Lucio’s surviving children, may have confirmed the defense’s theory at trial: Lucio’s daughter. , María Álvarez died from injuries caused by an accidental fall down the stairs, not from abuse at the hands of her mother, as the state claimed.

The case is now back in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which halted Lucio’s execution two days ago two years ago, sending his claims back to the Cameron County Trial Court for review. The appeals court has the authority to overturn Lucio’s conviction, and it is unclear when it might make a decision.

Lucio’s case received widespread support in recent years, especially before his scheduled execution. Kim Kardashian – a celebrity and businesswoman who has defended the cases of several death row inmates – as well as a bipartisan group of Texas legislators called for clemency for Lucio, as did five members of his jury.

At least 197 people on death row in the United States have been exonerated since 1973, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, 16 of them in Texas.

The recommendation from Arturo Nelson, the judge who presided over Lucio’s murder trial, comes more than a year after Lucio’s attorneys and the Cameron County Prosecutor’s Office filed a document agreeing to the facts and findings of the case, including It also includes a belief that the state has concealed evidence. Lucio friendly. Both sides agreed she was entitled to relief, they said in a joint statement this month.

On Friday, Nelson signed that statement, indicating that he agreed with its findings and concluding that Lucio had “met his burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence, that in light of the suppressed evidence He could not be held guilty.” ,

“We are grateful for the hard work of our mother’s legal team in bringing the truth to light and for the hard work of our mother’s legal team for re-examining our mother’s case and recognizing that she did not receive a fair trial and should be punished. ) are grateful to Saenz,” said Lucio’s two sons, Bobby Alvarez and John Lucio, and daughter-in-law Michelle Lucio, in a statement provided by Melissa Lucio’s attorneys.

Their statement read, “We hope and pray that the Court of Criminal Appeals will rule in favor of the District Attorney, the defense, and Judge Nelson and that our mother will be able to return home to her family.” “We’ve been without her for 17 years. We love her, we miss her and we can’t wait to hug her.”

Melissa Lucio and her five children pose in this undated photo. (Photo courtesy of Lucio’s family.)

A “reasonable possibility” that the outcome of the test would be different

According to Lucio, Maria, who was a young child at the time, died on 17 February 2007, after falling down the steep stairs outside the family’s apartment, possibly suffering a head injury and dying. Prosecutors, for their part, argued that Lucio was an abusive mother who was responsible for her daughter’s injuries, citing an alleged “confession” she gave to authorities on the night of Maria’s death.

Lucio’s lawyers have denied that he confessed, arguing that his statement was coerced during “aggressive” interrogation and that Lucio was innocent because of his history as a lifelong survivor of sexual abuse and domestic violence. There was a fear of coercion.

The key evidence now in question stems from Child Protective Services interviews with Lucio’s five other children and statements given to police by two of the oldest children – one a teenager, the other a 20-year-old – hours after Maria’s death. Is.

According to the facts and findings of fact agreed upon by defense and prosecution attorneys, several of Lucio’s children denied to Child Protective Services that their mother was abusive and said she never hit them or Maria. At least one of them saw Maria fall down the stairs.

Additionally, Lucio’s two older daughters gave sworn statements to police, detailing Maria’s deteriorating health and their mother’s increasing concern in the days before her death.

However, Lucio’s attorneys and prosecutors both agreed that this evidence was not disclosed to the defendant’s attorneys during the trial, a violation of the Brady doctrine. If the evidence had been shared, Lucio’s lawyers would have been able to present it as evidence that Maria had fallen and Lucio would have challenged the testimony as lying. According to the lawsuit, concealing evidence also prevented Lucio’s lawyers from fully investigating the true cause of Maria’s death.

Ultimately, if the evidence had been disclosed to Lucio’s attorneys and presented to the jury, “there is a reasonable possibility that the outcome of the trial would have been different,” the brief signed by the judge said.