CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Corpus Christi man convicted of capital murder more than 20 years ago is asking that his conviction be overturned.
Joe David Padron was convicted of capital murder in the November 2002 deaths of Jesus Gonzalez and John Commisky.
The Nueces County District Attorney's Office sought the death penalty in this case — however, the jury returned a sentence of life in prison.
Co-defendant Martin Robles was also convicted of capital murder for these killings and sentenced to the death penalty. That execution was carried out on Aug. 10, 2011.
But, attorneys with the Innocence Project of Texas said Padron is innocent and had an unfair trial based in part on new admissions by jailhouse informants — that they lied on the stand during the murder trial.
In August, attorneys for Padron filed a writ of habeas corpus, which requires the court to determine if Padron is being held unlawfully, and ask that his conviction be overturned based on actual innocence.
"It’s (writ of habeas corpus) guaranteed by the constitution and it says if someone is being confined illegally, in which Joe David Padron is, we say — because number one, he’s innocent and number two he had an unfair trial — then that person through counsel or otherwise can petition the court to hear them, to hear their argument, and if they prevail, to be released from confinement," Mike Ware, executive director of the Innocence Project of Texas said.
A final hearing was held on the writ Friday, with both Ware and the Nueces County District Attorney's Office making final arguments for and against the writ.
"I’ll stand on the arguments I made in court, but basically the state's position in these cases is, it’s a very high burden to show actual innocence and false testimony and if they’re going to overturn a 20-year murder conviction, we’re going to hold their feet to the fire and make them prove that they’re entitled to it," Douglas Norman, chief of appeals for the Nueces County DA's office said. "There's always a balancing that's done in cases like this, you know you have to balance the state's necessity to protect convictions against the defendant's right to show new evidence that might exonerate them."
Norman told KRIS 6 News that any district attorney's office is concerned about the potential that people in prison may be actually innocent.
"We certainly hold out the possibility of that in any given case, they may be able to prove that, and we’re not opposed to using the legal means available to trying to prove that," Norman said. "If they’re going to prove these allegations, we’re going to hold their feet to the fire and make them prove them, according to the law."
Ware said in addition to the testimony of jailhouse informants who are now admitting they lied under oath, the evidence presented at trial was weak, especially for a capital murder case.
He said the Innocence Project of Texas became involved in the case after reviewing the files of Danice Obregon, who had to withdraw as Padron's attorney following her appointment to Chief Public Defender for Nueces County.
"We were convinced he was actually innocent, and certainly that he had a completely unfair trial, so we took the case over," Ware said.
Following Friday's hearing, 214th District Court Judge Inna Klein will have 45 days to issue her findings.
Those findings will then be sent to the Court of Criminal Appeals, which will make the final determination on Padron's writ.
