Two Men On Death Row Lose In Separate Appeals To High Court
HOUSTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review an appeal from a convicted killer sent to death row for raping, beating and strangling a 77-year-old woman at her Houston home nearly 22 years ago.
The high court, without comment Monday, ruled in the case of 61-year-old Jorge Villanueva.
In earlier appeals, Villanueva's attorneys argued he had deficient legal help during his Harris County capital murder trial in 1996.
Villanueva was convicted of the August 1994 slaying of Maria Jova Montiel. Prison records show the former landscaper also is serving life for an injury-to-a-child conviction.
Villanueva's case was among hundreds identified in 2003 for additional review of DNA results because of shoddy work by the Houston Police Department crime lab.
He does not yet have an execution date.
HOUSTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review an appeal from a Fort Worth man on death row for smothering an 89-year-old man and robbing him of some $6,000 12 years ago.
The high court, without comment, ruled Monday in the case of 36-year-old Tilon Carter. His appeals have focused on whether his Tarrant County trial attorneys were deficient and whether faulty instructions were given to trial jurors.
Carter was condemned for the 2004 robbery and slaying of James Tomlin. Evidence showed Tomlin, a retired Bell Helicopter worker, kept cash in containers scattered around his home.
Prosecutors portrayed Carter as a longtime criminal and also tied him to a fatal shooting at a drug house.
He does not yet have an execution date.
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