tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post3937538997300470084..comments2024-03-25T20:06:39.794-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: Governor should pardon Hannah Overton if habeas petition failsGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-64590887011512931422014-04-02T19:49:36.025-05:002014-04-02T19:49:36.025-05:00Following up on rkollman's post from May 3, 20...Following up on rkollman's post from May 3, 2013 -- those trumped up perjury charges were dismissed -- 26 days after your post. (report from Lubbock online below)<br /><br />Oral arguments were heard in the Overton case today, Apr 2, 2014 by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. <br /><br />Re: BRADY violation: Anna Jimenez, 2nd chair of the prosecution team in the Overton case, agreed with all the defense attorneys, testifying that there was key evidence that defense kept "asking and asking and asking" for but were told did not exist. <br /><br />I'm not a lawyer -- but that sure sounds like a Brady violation to me. It was evidence favorable to the accused, and it was withheld. <br /><br />The evidence to which I'm referring is not Dr. Cortes -- that's another matter -- but was the vomit from Andrew Burd suctioned out at the first medical clinic to which he was taken AND the testing done on that vomit by the ME which showed that the saline level in his stomach matched what Overton said she fed him -- and was that of Wendy's Chili with extra Zatarain's.<br /><br />Neither of those pieces of evidence were turned over to the defense.<br /><br />Here's the TCCA doing the right thing.<br /><br />http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2013-05-29/perjury-case-dropped-against-former-south-texas-da#.UzytOq1dXhEAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-49663900619256232182014-03-26T20:06:26.893-05:002014-03-26T20:06:26.893-05:00sI pray that,"The Innocent Project of Texas&q...sI pray that,"The Innocent Project of Texas" helps with this tragic situation. Mike Ware's email: ware@mikewarelaw.com.<br />As the mother of six grown children, I doubt if many parents were aware of "salt poison", nor even after this attention. I had a son who received wrong treatment while as a patient in two different hospitals, a doctor failed to read the chart correctly and prescribed wrong medicine which caused a seizure, at another hospital a bone graft was done without legal permission...my point being educated people make mistakes but are not sent to prison for life. People are human and mistakes are made, this situation seems to be more mistakes were made by the system than Hannan Overton. What about the saline IV given after Andrew arrived at the hospital, what about the "blunt force trauma" than a medical expert "acknowledged the brain hemorrhaging could have been caused by the sodium content in Andrew's blood"..could that have been caused from the saline IV?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-3596676305571783802013-05-03T06:00:04.158-05:002013-05-03T06:00:04.158-05:00Anna Jimenez has been charged with four counts of ...Anna Jimenez has been charged with four counts of aggravated perjury. The conduct by Ms. Jimenez described in the perjury indictment, which occurred in the context of another capital murder-of-a-child-case, vindicates Sandra Eastwood, the former Nueces County assistant district attorney who successfully prosecuted Hannah Overton for murdering her four-year-old foster child, Andrew Burd, in 2007. The Overton case has received extensive national media attention. Ms. Eastwood's insistence in the Overton case that Ms. Jimenez falsely testified, both by affidavit and at the writ hearing in April 2012 you discussed above, have so far fallen on deaf ears. But the strikingly similar conduct alleged in this indictment occurred within months of Ms. Jimenez's testimony at the Overton writ hearing. And, in yet another bizarre twist to the Overton saga, Mrs. Overton's writ lawyers, including Cynthia Orr, now represent Ms. Jimenez as well. We understand that Ms. Jimenez also has listed among her attorneys one of Mrs. Overton's trial lawyers, John Gilmore. <br /><br />We believe this indictment has profound implications in the Overton case. Apparently Ms. Orr and Mr. Gilmore agree, which is why they also now are defending Ms. Jimenez. An indictment for aggravated perjury against a practicing lawyer is a rare event. The indictment carries far greater weight than Mrs. Overton's defamatory allegations about Ms. Eastwood based on Ms. Jimenez's false testimony, which you, the Huffington Post, Texas Monthly, ABC and 20/20, the San Antonio Express News, and others have reported, blogged about, and recklessly repeated, without regard for the truth or falsity of Ms. Jimenez's statements, despite Mrs. Overton's failure to persuade any tribunal of the truth of her allegations. We applaud the Jackson County District Attorney for revealing Ms. Jimenez's capacity for intentional deceit by bringing these perjury charges. We encourage you to continue to report immediately, accurately, and completely all further developments, and that you do so without further defaming Ms. Eastwood, portraying her in a false light, or invading her privacy. This is the beginning of the end for Ms. Jimenez, and for Mrs. Overton. They will not beat the rap or the ride. rkollmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11504682010908762010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-79359215582550516422012-05-05T12:57:46.167-05:002012-05-05T12:57:46.167-05:00What a relief to read rational responses. I've...What a relief to read rational responses. I've been following this case for several years and been sickened at the unintelligent, emotional, irrational conclusions reached by so many, based on circumstantial evidence. This mom may have made some judgement errors, but nothing close to murder, intentional or otherwise. It's very clear that all who rushed to convict her (law enforcement, courts, media and the public) all had personal axes to grind. She's been judged for being a home schooler, a mom of 4+ kids, a Christian, a child of a criminal, a laid back personality... So few have wanted to be bothered with the facts when their prejudices Have clouded all real evidence. Sad for our entire country.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-70592667984095755062012-04-29T21:13:54.857-05:002012-04-29T21:13:54.857-05:00I have followed Hannah Overton's case for the ...I have followed Hannah Overton's case for the past four years and am praying fervently for her release. <br /><br />As a native South Texan I am appalled at the corruption of the system in that area.<br /><br />I sincerely hope that Gov' Perry has the courage to do the right thing.Kristy @ Little Natural Cottagehttp://www.littlenaturalcottage.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-87437432752595796762012-04-26T09:20:38.371-05:002012-04-26T09:20:38.371-05:00Tom, generally if the governor wants a recommendat...Tom, generally if the governor wants a recommendation he gets one. As one might expect, he has a great deal of influence with his own appointees.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-1851503058779570622012-04-26T09:20:29.800-05:002012-04-26T09:20:29.800-05:00I read the lengthy article about this case in Texa...I read the lengthy article about this case in Texas Monthly. There was nothing in the previous life of the accused that indicated an ability to kill her own child. She had adopted the boy who had an eating disorder. He would wake up in the night and eat, even when he had been fed. All the members of their church testified to the love of both parents for their children. Plus, the choice of salt as a means to kill her child doesn't make sense. The Cajun seasoning that was supposedly used to put the salt in the child's system doesn't even have a salt level on the package. A salt poisoning expert has testified that this method would not even be possible, as the salt would have to enter the system to kill the child. Anyone who has accidently swallowed seawater knows that the body rejects high levels of salt immediately. Their main mistake was not taking the child to the hospital soon enough. Their reluctance to go to the hospital was a combination of a lack of money and a faulty understanding of why the child was sick.benbshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02723799073407947773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-11465195778301652562012-04-26T09:19:44.030-05:002012-04-26T09:19:44.030-05:00Baylor Too, actually Perry has a better record on ...Baylor Too, actually Perry has a better record on pardons than Obama, by a longshot (which isn't saying much). IMO it wouldn't be out of character based on his past clemency record. He pardoned the Tulia defendants the year before an election.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-9834175295965403992012-04-26T09:05:05.378-05:002012-04-26T09:05:05.378-05:00We don't know whether Governor Perry will seek...We don't know whether Governor Perry will seek reelection. He has hinted that he will seek a fourth full term. So long as he wants people to believe that he might run for re-election, he will never issue a pardon that might create the perception that he is soft on crime (or has a heart).Baylor Toonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-87873487901278384722012-04-26T08:24:40.459-05:002012-04-26T08:24:40.459-05:00There are untold thousands of innocent parents doi...There are untold thousands of innocent parents doing long prison sentences because of corrupt prosecutors and medical examiners. <br /><br />Anyone who has a young child die becomes immediately suspected of foul play by authorities. And these suspicions are passed along to the medical examiners conducting the autopsy. If the pathologist cannot readily determine a specific manner of death, many will revert to the detectives "gut hunch" and arrive at a manner of death that supports this. http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Harris-Co-autopsy-changes-spur-plea-for-freedom-1732345.php<br /><br />Harris county has a long, long history of corrupt and incompetent medical examiners. And dozens of innocent defendants have been convicted of murdering children when no real evidence supported the findings of murder other than the "gut hunch" of mostly-inept detectives, and an opinion of a pathologist who was too cop-friendly and had long ago ruled out any possibility of natural death due to SIDS, anaphylactic shock (a severe allergic reaction to vaccines), or other manners that aren't obvious like rare diseases and complications due to premature birth among many others. http://blog.chron.com/momhouston/2011/06/npr-case-of-mistaken-baby-homicides-in-texas/<br /><br />In 1998, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Joye Carter (now with the Southeast Texas Forensic Center) fired an assistant medical examiner who had reported illegal activity at the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office. And no less than a dozen of the cases where Dr. Carter testified for the prosecution that a murder has indeed occurred have been overturned by appeals courts. Carter was soon sent packing when lawsuit awards began to be too expensive for the commissioner's court to pay. http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1998_3042264/medical-examiner-fires-whistle-blower-assistant-wa.html<br /><br />Dr. Patricia Moore (also now with the Southeast Texas Forensic Center) was among the most "cop-friendly" medical examiners in Harris county. During her time in Harris County, Moore attributed infant deaths to shaken baby syndrome at a rate considerably higher than the rate at which it happens in the general population. Once even reprimanded for being "biased in favor of the prosecution" as the document reads. http://freetrenda.com/default.aspx<br /><br />http://www.truthinjustice.org/patricia-moore.htm<br /><br />Be very careful when serving as jurors on these cases. And if you should have a child die make certain to retain legal counsel before speaking with detectives, and be sure to have a second autopsy performed by an independent medical examiner as soon as possible. Otherwise you could be mourning the loss of a child while behind bars just like Brandy Briggs: http://www.chron.com/default/article/Grudging-justice-Cleared-of-charges-in-her-1515206.php<br /><br />http://www.chron.com/default/article/Exonerated-mom-facing-all-new-struggles-1485179.phpAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-58925741716834639352012-04-26T08:12:56.226-05:002012-04-26T08:12:56.226-05:00Grits - it is my understanding that in TX the gov ...Grits - it is my understanding that in TX the gov can only pardon someone if the Parole Board recommends it. This would seem to limit the govs powers even if he wanted to, he'd have to really twist some arms on the Pardons Board.TominAustinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15865620678571118409noreply@blogger.com