CORPUS CHRISTI, TX - — After spending 20 years in prison for a murder he said he didn't commit, Joe David Padron may get a new trial.
On Wednesday, arguments were heard for and against releasing Padron on bond. Judge Klein's courtroom was packed with friends and family of Joe David Padron, all in support of his release after nearly twenty-one years in prison.
Padron's defense attorneys led arguments that he should be allowed bond after nearly 21 years in prison and even suggesting things like an ankle monitor.
"In this case, Mr. Padron is entitled to relief as the court has found, so we are asking the court to set a reasonable bond," Executive Director of the Innocence Project of Texas Mike Ware said.
The prosecution arguing that this should still be seen as an open capital murder case.
"There is a flight risk. In a capital case certainly when someone is facing the stiff sentence that he would be if he were to go back," Douglas Norman, the Chief of Appeals for the Nueces County District Attorney's Office said.
As KRIS 6 News previously reported, earlier this month Judge Klein found Padron's conviction should be "set aside" and he should be given a new trial based on the state's "unknown use of false testimony."
District Attorney Mark Gonzalez issued a stipulation, or agreement, to the court's findings.
The court of criminal appeals will make the final decision, which could take years.
As part of the Wednesday's hearing, Judge Klein heard witness statements from the GRAD, or gang renouncement and disassociation, program on Padron's "A+" behavior in prison, as well as from family members who will help sponsor and ensure that he stays true to a bond agreement.
"He'll have a secure home, a loving caring home, and I'll do anything I can to help him in anything, we will all do that," Padron's mother Ernestia Reyes said.
"It's been hard, especially not having both parents...I just would have loved to know what life was like if I had him in my life, you know," said Padron's youngest daughter Lybrity Justice, who has never seen her father outside of prison.
Judge Klein told the courtroom that she would have her decision on Oct. 6.
KRIS 6 News will be there in the courtroom to update on what the judge decides.
