Editor's note: This story has been amended following an interview with former Nueces County prosecutor James Sales.
A man sentenced to life in prison for the capital murder killings of two Corpus Christi men may have his conviction overturned following the findings of a Nueces County District Court Judge.
Joe David Padron has spent the last 20 years behind bars for those killings, which were dubbed the "Mary Street Murders."
It's a crime Padron has steadfastly maintained he didn't commit and last year the Innocence Project of Texas took up his case, filing a Writ of Habeas Corpus.
"I never thought I could do this, do almost 21 years, it's been 20 years and 6 months actually. I never thought I could endure this kind of stress," Padron told 6 Investigates in an exclusive interview earlier this year.
In 2002, the Corpus Christi Police Department arrested Padron in the shooting deaths of John Commisky and Jesus Gonzalez. Police investigators said it was a gang-related crime.
"An innocent person being convicted of a crime they didn't do is just a profound injustice, and that's what happened in this case," Mike Ware, executive director of the Innocence Project of Texas and Padron's attorney, said. "I could tell from the trial transcript that this was a set-up deal. The only people who testified dis-favorably to him had been paid to do so by the prosecutor to testify in a way that would please the prosecutor."
The original prosecutor on the case, former Nueces County prosecutor James Sales, said Wednesday he believes Padron is guilty.
6 Investigates made numerous attempts to contact Sales over a period of two months but did not receive a response. Wednesday, he said he did not receive those messages.
The Innocence Project of Texas said the DA's office did not have any physical evidence linking Padron to these crimes, instead, it used testimony from a witness who changed his story after prosecutors offered him a plea deal on a separate case.
During a series of evidentiary hearings that took place earlier this year, the judge heard testimony from a witness about the confession of a fellow Raza Unida gang member who stated that he was one of the four perpetrators involved in the crime and that Mr. Padron did not take part. Innocence Project of Texas also presented significant evidence that the State’s witness, Robert Lara, committed perjury at the original trial. A second State’s witness from the trial, Francisco Cabrialez, has also recanted his testimony, stating that he did not overhear Mr. Padron make incriminating statements while they were both incarcerated, as he had originally testified.
"After numerous attempts trying to get him to cooperate and find out who did this so they can go get him, finally they offered him a deal. He ended up getting probation for five felony charges. Where do they do that? Five felony charges and all you have to do is lie," Padron said.
The prosecution also utilized jailhouse informants who claimed that he had admitted to some involvement in the murders.
It's a type of informant that Ware calls "miss-informants."
"These are different kinds of witnesses. Even the legislature recognizes that these kinds of witnesses are treated differently than any other kind of witness because these laws only apply to these kinds of witnesses, that's how dangerous all of them are," Ware said.
Ware and Padron said these informants were compensated by prosecutors, although not financially.
"Some of the witnesses who testified at our trial who got deals, looking at 25 years to life ended up with two years probation," Padron said.
There are laws in place that limit the scope of testimony from witnesses such as these. Those same laws require the prosecution to inform the jury of any deals made to secure testimony.
These laws were not in place during Padron's trial in 2004.
"Unfortunately none of those laws were in place back in 2004 when this took place but there are a number of laws now in place that, that kind of evidence wouldn't have been allowed today," Ware said.
Despite the lack of laws requiring it at the time, Sales said it has always been his practice as a prosecutor to disclose any plea agreement made, during witness testimony.
"I've been a prosecutor for 30 years, I believe in the truth," he said.
Some of the witnesses who testified during Padron's original trial have come forward, recanting testimony given in 2004.
"Each of these witnesses had already been facing time, 25 years to life and in one case the death penalty. Everybody knew that all you had to do was lie and make up something about any case, big case, and you can get a deal," Padron said.
The Innocence Project of Texas also claimed former prosecutor, James Sales, demanded at least one witness change their testimony and threatened him with the death penalty if he didn't.
Sales disputes this, he said that this defendant was tried and convicted seven months before testifying in the Padron case and that he asked for the death penalty in that case, the jury sentencing him to life in prison.
Sales said had he known allegations of prosecutorial misconduct were being levied, he would have testified earlier this year.
In her findings, the judge did not find any evidence of prosecutorial misconduct in this case.
"He was wrongly convicted and for me he has suffered long enough and this is a chance to make it right," said Guadalupe Padron, his father.
Padron's 20-year prison stay has had an impact on his family, especially impacting his daughters, Samantha and Lybrity Justice Padron.
"I feel like he's missed out on so much just being with family, missing out on his daughters' lives. I mean, my whole life I didn't have him, you know?" Lybrity Justice Padron said.
"I'm 31 and I don't know him either. He's been incarcerated my whole life," Samantha Padron said.
Meanwhile, Padron's mother, Ernestina Reyes, hasn't given up hope that her son will one day come home.
"This has been a horrible nightmare for all of us, especially for Joe David," Reyes said. "This is not fair and this is not justice, but the truth will prevail because this is the truth, Joe David Padron, come home mijo, I miss you."
It's a dream that is one step closer to becoming reality.
214th District Court Judge Inna Klein has recommended to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that his conviction be vacated and that he be retried for these murders.
According to the findings, the court concluded that Padron's "due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States were violated when the State unknowingly presented Cabrialez's and Lara's false and misleading testimony."
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is set to review the nearly 60-page findings of Judge Klein and will make the final determination.
"We are innocent until proven guilty, our prosecutors are not supposed to cheat, we're not supposed to re-write testimony, we are not supposed to say hey going to give you this deal if you change the truth," said Lisa Greenberg, one of Padron's attorneys.
