[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS

[Rick Halperin]

December 4




TEXAS----execution

'Texas 7' Inmate Executed for Officer's Killing


A member of the notorious "Texas 7" gang of escaped prisoners was executed 
Tuesday evening for the fatal shooting of a suburban Dallas police officer 
during a Christmas Eve robbery nearly 18 years ago.

Joseph Garcia received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in 
Huntsville for the December 2000 shooting death of 29-year-old Irving police 
officer Aubrey Hawkins.

Asked by the warden if he had a final statement, Garcia replied: "Yes, sir."

"Dear heavenly Father, please forgive them, for they know not what they do," 
Garcia said.

He then paused, for nearly a minute, before speaking again as the muffled 
revving of motorcycles ridden by a group of bikers who support police could be 
heard inside the death chamber.

"To some of you," Garcia said, pausing again as the lethal dose of the sedative 
pentobarbital apparently had already started.

"They've already started and I ain't even finished," he said.

He gasped 3 times and snored twice before all movement stopped. He was 
pronounced dead at 6:43 p.m.

Garcia, 47, who was serving a 50-year sentence for murder, was among a group of 
inmates who escaped from a South Texas prison that month and committed numerous 
robberies, including the one in which they shot Hawkins 11 times, killing him.

Hawkins had just finished Christmas Eve dinner with his family when he 
responded to the call about the robbery at a sporting goods store and was 
ambushed.

The escaped inmates were eventually arrested in Colorado, ending a 6-week 
manhunt. One of them killed himself as officers closed in and the other 6 were 
convicted of killing Hawkins and sentenced to death.

Garcia was the 4th of the group put to death. 2 others remain on death row.

Garcia's attorneys had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop his execution, 
arguing he never fired his gun at Hawkins or intended to kill him. One of his 
lawyers, J. Stephen Cooper, said prosecutors didn't have any information that 
showed his client was one of the shooters.

"He didn't do anything violent or prepare or encourage anybody else to do 
anything violent," Cooper said.

The high court rejected Garcia's appeals Tuesday evening.

Garcia was convicted under Texas' law of parties, in which a person can be held 
responsible for another individual's crime if he or she assisted or attempted 
to help in the commission of that crime.

At the time of the prison break, Garcia was serving time for the slaying of 
Miguel Luna in San Antonio. Luna's parents and his three daughters were among 
witnesses to Garcia's execution, along with 2 friends of Hawkins. They did not 
make themselves available to reporters following the punishment.

Toby Shook, the lead prosecutor who handled Garcia's case and the five others 
who were tried, said that while authorities couldn't narrow down which escaped 
inmate used which gun to shoot Hawkins, the inmates acted as a team to commit 
the robbery and the officer's murder.

Shook said Garcia's case is a clear example of why the law of parties is needed 
in certain cases.

"He was up to his ears in murder and mayhem out there. He was actively 
participating in everything," said Shook, now a defense attorney in Dallas.

Shook said Garcia's execution will be another step to getting closure for 
Hawkins' family and law enforcement.

"Ultimately, we can finally close the book on them when the punishments are all 
completed," he said.

Garcia becomes the 12th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas 
and the 557th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 
1982.

Garcia becomes the 39th condemned inmate to be put to death in Texas since Greg 
Abbott became governor of the state in January 2015.

Garcia becomes the 22nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the 
USA and the 1487 overall lsince the nation resumed executions on January 17, 
1977.

(sources: nbcdfw.com & Rick Halperin)



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Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present----39

http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/death_row/dr_scheduled_executions.html



Executions in Texas:  Dec. 7, 1982----present-----557

Abbott#--------scheduled execution date-----name------------Tx. #


40---------Dec. 11----------------Alvin Braziel, Jr.------558

41---------Jan. 15----------------Blaine Milam------------559

42---------Jan. 30----------------Robert Jennings---------560

43---------Feb. 28----------------Billy Wayne Coble-------561

44---------Apr. 11----------------Mark Robertson----------562

(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)