© 2014 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate – (August 27) – Award-winning lawyers at Carrington, Coleman Sloman & Blumenthal in Dallas have reached a plea agreement for former death row inmate Manuel Valez, a pro bono client who was wrongfully convicted of murdering an infant on Halloween of 2005.
Monday’s plea agreement in Brownsville’s 404th Judicial District marks the near end of almost nine years of legal trouble for Velez and more than five years of pro bono hours Carrington Coleman attorneys have tirelessly devoted to bring justice to Velez.
During the hearing, Velez pleaded no contest to a lesser degree than capital murder: the injury of a child. The court followed the state’s recommendation of sentencing Velez to 15 years in prison, but he is immediately eligible to pursue parole, based on the amount of time he has already served (nearly nine years).
“I’m surprised it’s actually over and relieved our client has the chance of hopefully being free soon,” said Carrington Coleman partner Neil Burger, one of Velez’s pro bono attorneys who represented him for his habeas proceedings.
Burger implied the battle with the state felt endless, saying he and others on Velez’s habeas team “worked for years to demonstrate the weaknesses in the state’s case,” and how difficult it would be to prove prosecutors’ claims within a reasonable doubt.
They finally got a break a couple months ago, when the state decided it would no longer pursue the death penalty for Velez.
If Velez had gone through with his second jury trial, which was scheduled for November, Burger said Velez would have risked receiving life in prison.
“He maintained his innocence and wants to be free as soon as possible, but given the risk of a trial and a jury, this was the necessary decision,” Burger said.
Burger’s Carrington Coleman colleagues, partner Lyndon Bittle and associate Jenny Smith, also played pivotal roles in the pro bono work. Local counsel in Brownsville (where Velez is serving his time) included Edmund Cyganiewicz and Reynaldo G. (Trey) Garza, III, who happens to be the grandson of Judge Reynaldo G. Garza, the first Mexican-American federal judge in United States history.
Velez was wrongfully convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in October 2008 for allegedly murdering his girlfriend’s 11-month-old son by causing severe head injuries to the baby.
Due to substantial evidence Velez’s lawyers failed to present at trial that would have defended him, Carrington Coleman and the Colorado law firm Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons decided to represent Velez pro bono for his habeas proceedings as part of the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project.
They got to work shortly after Velez’s conviction and have spent countless pro bono hours valued at millions of dollars since. They even received an award from the ABA last September for their efforts.
The team scored a victory at the state level in April 2013, when District Judge Elia Lopez issued an opinion recommending that Velez receive a new trial due to ineffective assistance of his previous counsel. The Texas Criminal Court of Appeals affirmed Lopez’s opinion later that year.
Click here to read the Lawbook’s previous in-depth report of Velez’s journey.
© 2014 The Texas Lawbook. Content of The Texas Lawbook is controlled and protected by specific licensing agreements with our subscribers and under federal copyright laws. Any distribution of this content without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.
If you see any inaccuracy in any article in The Texas Lawbook, please contact us. Our goal is content that is 100% true and accurate. Thank you.