"Mistake": Leonel Herrera Story

"I am innocent, innocent, innocent. Make no mistake about this; I owe society nothing. Continue the struggle for human rights, helping those who are innocent, especially Mr. Graham. I am an innocent man, and something very wrong is taking place tonight. May God bless you all. I am ready."

- Herrera's last statement prior to execution by the State of Texas.*

Leonel Herrera, Hispanic, was convicted and sentenced to death in January 1982 for the murder of police officer Enrique Carrisalez in September 1981. The officer had been fatally shot by the driver of a speeding car which he tried to stop. Moments earlier, another police officer was found shot dead on the same stretch of road. Herrera was arrested days later and charged with both murders. After being sentenced to death for Carrisalez' murder, he pleaded guilty at a separate trial in July 1982 to the murder of the other officer. According to his attorneys, Herrera was severely beaten after his arrest and was hospitalized. The case against him at trial included evidence that the car he used was involved in both crimes, plus eye-witness identification made by another police officer and Carrisalez before he died.
However, in February 1992, Leonel Herrera's appeal lawyers presented new evidence alleging that his brother Raúl Herrera Sr - who died in 1984 - had committed both murders. This was presented in the form of sworn affidavits from several people, including a former cell-mate and a former attorney of Raúl Herrera, who both said that Raúl had told them that he had carried out the killings. In February 1992, Raúl Herrera's son, Raúl Jr, also signed an affidavit stating that he had been in the car when the killings had taken place and had witnesses his father kill the officers. It was also alleged that the killings were related to drug trafficking, and that police had threatened Raúl Sr not to reveal the truth behind them. This new evidence was discovered too late to be presented in the Texas courts, as Texas law requires a new trial motion based on newly discovered evidence to be made within 30 days of sentence (a more restrictive time limit than in most other US states and in the federal system).
 * THE SHORT MOVIE: "MISTAKE"




Leonel Herrera lodged a petition alleging that he was innocent of the murders and that his execution would therefore violate the US Constitution. Although two execution dates were set, in February 1992 and in April 1992, stays were granted to allow the US Supreme Court to rule on the issue. On 25 January 1993, by a majority of 6 votes to 3, the Supreme Court denied Herrera's appeal. The ruling, cited as 'Herrera vs Collins', held that there was no constitutional right to federal relief based on newly discovered evidence of actual innocence, when the defendant's original trial had been free from procedural error. The majority opinion assumed, for the sake of argument, that a "truly persuasive post-trial demonstration of actual innocence" in a capital case would render an execution unconstitutional. However, it found the affidavits in Herrera's case insufficiently credible to meet the standard required, citing discrepancies in the new testimony and evidence presented at trial.

The majority opinion also said that "Clemency ... is the historic remedy for preventing miscarriages of justice where judicial process has been exhausted". However, since the death penalty was reinstated, the Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles has never recommended clemency in a capital case, despite strong grounds presented in a number of cases.

The dissenting opinion criticized the Court for dismissing Herrera's claim when no hearing had been held into the substance of the new evidence...

*Source:  

http://www.come-and-hear.com/editor/cp-herrera-ai