Condemned man's case was flawed, lawyer says

fuentes
  • Latino Man Executed in Texas last night
A Texas killer was executed Wednesday for the murder of a Houston good Samaritan during a robbery 10 years ago. Anthony Guy Fuentes, 30, was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. after receiving a lethal injection for killing Robert Tate in the Feb. 18, 1994 holdup. He admitted he was one of three men who committed the robbery, but denied killing Tate. During his final statement, Fuentes said the "truth" did not come in time to save his life "It is wrong for prosecutors to lie and make witnesses say what they need them to say," he said. "The truth has always been there. I just hope everybody has their peace. Today I get mine." The U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeal minutes before his execution.An attorney representing a Houston man scheduled to be executed today argued Tuesday his life should be spared because of problems with the police work and prosecution in the case.  Fuentes admits he participated in the robbery but maintains he did not kill Tate. An appeal filed Monday notes discrepancies in the testimony of eyewitnesses and argues that Houston police officers improperly questioned witnesses. Defense attorneys also argued that Harris County prosecutors knowingly allowed a witness to give false testimony and withheld information that would have allowed defense attorneys to expose inconsistencies. "You have all of these witnesses who witness the same event, and they are all seeing different things -- some of them are dramatically different," said Jim Marcus, executive director of the Texas Defender Service and one of Fuentes' lawyers. "There are so many problems with the eyewitness testimony, and the case really hangs on putting the right gun in Fuentes' hands. [more] and [more]