Post by CCADP on Apr 16, 2006 14:56:26 GMT -5
Couple will receive separate trials, judge rules: They are accused of killing 1-year-old boy.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2006 The Brownsville Herald
Byline: Sergio Chapa
Apr. 8--A Brownsville couple facing capital murder charges in the death of a 1-year-old will have separate trials, but prosecutors have until April 21 to decide if they will seek the death penalty against either of them. Manuel Velez, 41, and his girlfriend Acela Rosalba Moreno, 25, appeared before Judge Menton Murray with the 103rd state District Court on Friday morning. They are accused of biting, burning, shaking, torturing and killing Moreno's son, Angel, last year. Murray ruled that Velez and Moreno would receive separate trials because Velez had a felony criminal history and Moreno did not. Court records show that Velez had a previous conviction in a felony forgery case in 1984.
Although Moreno is an undocumented immigrant from Ciudad Mante, Tamaulipas, the issue was not handled in a federal criminal court.
First Assistant District Attorney Charles Mattingly said Murray gave his office until an April 21 hearing to decide if it will seek the death penalty in the case and which of the couple will go to trial first. "We have not decided at this time," Mattingly said. Court records show that Moreno claims to have suffered from battered woman's syndrome at the hands of Velez. Although Velez's attorney Gary Ortega did not return calls for comment, his sister, Emma Velez, said her family views separating the cases as a legal victory. Emma Velez said her brother maintains his innocence and claims Moreno was abused by her ex-husband, not him. "There is no evidence to show that he harmed her or the child," she said. Velez remains in custody under $1.1 million in bonds while Moreno is jailed under $2.1 million in bonds.
Copyright (c) 2006, The Brownsville Herald, Texas
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2006 The Brownsville Herald
Byline: Sergio Chapa
Apr. 8--A Brownsville couple facing capital murder charges in the death of a 1-year-old will have separate trials, but prosecutors have until April 21 to decide if they will seek the death penalty against either of them. Manuel Velez, 41, and his girlfriend Acela Rosalba Moreno, 25, appeared before Judge Menton Murray with the 103rd state District Court on Friday morning. They are accused of biting, burning, shaking, torturing and killing Moreno's son, Angel, last year. Murray ruled that Velez and Moreno would receive separate trials because Velez had a felony criminal history and Moreno did not. Court records show that Velez had a previous conviction in a felony forgery case in 1984.
Although Moreno is an undocumented immigrant from Ciudad Mante, Tamaulipas, the issue was not handled in a federal criminal court.
First Assistant District Attorney Charles Mattingly said Murray gave his office until an April 21 hearing to decide if it will seek the death penalty in the case and which of the couple will go to trial first. "We have not decided at this time," Mattingly said. Court records show that Moreno claims to have suffered from battered woman's syndrome at the hands of Velez. Although Velez's attorney Gary Ortega did not return calls for comment, his sister, Emma Velez, said her family views separating the cases as a legal victory. Emma Velez said her brother maintains his innocence and claims Moreno was abused by her ex-husband, not him. "There is no evidence to show that he harmed her or the child," she said. Velez remains in custody under $1.1 million in bonds while Moreno is jailed under $2.1 million in bonds.
Copyright (c) 2006, The Brownsville Herald, Texas
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.