Mr. Larry Swearingen #999361
Polunsky Unit D.R.
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston - Texas 77351
U.S.A.
http://www.deathrow-usa.us/LarryLw.htm
Larry Swearingen
possibly Innocent In Texas
Larry Swearingen
DOB 5-21-1971
The Case
Case No: 99-11-06435
Date of the Crime: alleged 12-8-1998
Date of Conviction: 7-12-2000
Sentenced to death for murder while in the course of kidnapping, and sexual assault
Introduction
On the morning of December 8, 1998 after leaving my ex-wife at my parents for a ride to work, I proceeded to SEARS AUTOMOTIVE CENTER in the woodlands, before travelling to Cavenders Boottown for some shopping.
After leaving Cavenders I stopped at the carwash on Rayford/Sawdust Road, washing my truck before meeting Gail at the community college, who owed money for work I had done for her.
While at the school, I saw and spoke with Melissa, the victim in my case, which I had known for a few months prior to this date, yet the jury was not told or presented available evidence of this.
After speaking to Melissa, we parted ways, with her heading towards the cafeteria, and me going to the parking lot, never to see another again.
State's Theory
The State argued that Melissa left with me of her own free will, with us going for lunch, before travelling to my residence, where, according to the State, I asked for sex, told no, decided to rape, then kill Melissa, taking her body to the East Texas National Forest, where State argued it had laid exposed to the elements for 25 days prior to discovery.
Facts
The State's own witnesses told the jury they saw Melissa in the school cafeteria after I had left.
The State's own witness told the jury the "pubic hairs" found during the vaginal swabbing at autopsy did not belong to me. This was ignored.
The State's own witness told the jury the "male blood" found in the fingernail scapings did not belong to me. This again was ignored by the jury.
The Medical Examiner was well known for "mistakes" in other cases and was forced to resign in a cloud of controversy.
The forensic examiner simply guessed the time of the victim' s death; even the degree of decomposition indicated a shorter time frame.
I probably was in jail for traffic violation (and have not been out since) at the time when this crime was committed.
Law-enforcement teams searched the area 3 times without success. The victim's body was found unhidden, at the same spot, which had been searched before, but one week later.
How can anyone murder, move, remove and plant a body somewhere else and have not one piece of trace evidence belonging to the alleged perpetrator? In fact, a pubic hair adherent to the victim's body was neither her's nor mine.
Request for Assistance
In order to prove within a medical and scientific certainty the post-mortem interval was while I was in the county jail, a forensic anthropologist is needed to work in conjunction with the forensic pathologist who has been assisting me.
This assistance has to be paid for, and that requires me to ask for help in raising funds for such an expert. One would think the courts, having the authority they do, would grant funding for this, not in Texas, when on average nothing more than US$ 1,000.00 is given for an investigator.
Conclusion
If you care to get involved, then please write me directly or contact my wife Kerstin at swearingen_mcconnell@yahoo.com.
Any assistance is greatly appreciated. It is only with the help of people like yourself that I will have the chance of presenting my innocence to the courts, as I was in no position, literally, to have committed this crime, as I was in the county jail.
Thank you and God bless,
Larry Swearingen
http://www.iippi.org/inmates/texas/larryswearingen.html
www.floridasupport.us
Florida death penalty
Mr. Larry Swearingen
14 posts • Page 1 of 1
Mr. Larry Swearingen
by janneke on Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:44 pm
- janneke
- Posts: 4267
- Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:49 am
- Location: Netherlands
by janneke on Sat Jan 20, 2007 10:48 am
Jan. 18, 2007, 10:38PM
No visits on Confederate Heroes Day
Tonight's top story: Police union telemarketing draws passionate responses, including from police and telemarketers.
But first, this just in:
Houston attorney James Rytting called up to the Polunsky Unit in Livingston to make arrangements to visit a client, Larry Swearingen, who is scheduled to be executed Wednesday. Rytting wanted to visit Swearingen today.
Can't do it, he was told. It's Confederate Heroes Day.
Sure enough, Confederate Heroes Day is an official Texas holiday, classified as a "partial staffing holiday."
It began life in 1931 as a celebration of Robert E. Lee's birthday. Jefferson Davis' birthday was celebrated as an official holiday on June 3. In 1973 the Legislature combined the two holidays as Confederate Heroes Day.
I hoped she'd say that
Emancipation Day in Texas, June 3, is also a "partial staffing" day, as is Lyndon Baines Johnson Day (Aug. 27), Texas Independence Day, (March 2) and San Jacinto Day (April 21).
I called the press office for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to learn what a "partial staffing holiday" was in relation to death row.
"It means we have a skeleton crew," the woman said.
I confess. I was hoping she would say that.
Actually, the regular contingent of prison guards works that day, but not the administrative staff responsible for the paperwork clearing lawyers and other visitors.
Rytting will visit Swearingen on Monday.
'The split is horrible, but ... '
Now, as promised, some of the responses to my Wednesday rant against telemarketing by police unions:
•Mike Simpson, a former Harris County deputy, is director of fundraising for the Texas Fraternal Order of Police. It was one of their telemarketers who invaded my house. He was not happy about the column.
He said the organization has set up its own telephone operation in Bryan because it no longer wanted to pay as much as 80 percent or more in commissions to outside firms and because those firms sometimes became involved in controversy.
He said he pays $12 an hour and no commissions to about 100 employees, about half of whom are students. He said they are carefully monitored, are never pushy and make a point to note that contributions are not tax-deductible.
He said, however, some of the 40-odd local lodges in Texas do hire outside firms, including the Houston lodge. He said I was wrong in saying the Houston Police Officers Union, which has bargaining rights with the city, did not do telemarketing.
•Hans Marticiuc, president of the Houston Police Officers Union, confirmed that his group had resumed phone solicitations:
"What we found is we have 14 or 15 different organizations out there all claiming to be police officers," he said. "You're right, the split is horrible. But as long as there are other groups out there doing it, we might as well, too."
He said the union monitors the phone operation and, based on complaints, caused the outside firm to fire several phone bankers.
•Ray Hunt, Houston police officer who ran against Maritiuc for the union presidency with the solicitation program as one of his issues:
"As a member of the HPOU for 15 years, I have always opposed phone solicitations ... However, the HPOU has stooped to the low level of soliciting funds by phone even if they get a small amount from persons who believe they are giving to a police officer.
"As I tell everyone I know, any police group that solicits funds by calling you is no group I would ever give to."
•Roland Chavez, president of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Local 341: "We previously also had a contract with a telemarketing firm asking support for our Fire Fighters magazine. After answering to several complaints from residents, we reviewed our contract two years ago and began the process of terminating the contract." They no longer use the firm.
•Jim Davis says he has worked for a couple of firms that do telemarketing for police groups and that the one for which he now works, Public Safety Services, is ethical and careful.
"We run the tightest ship in the country, with one person watching every five people on the phones," he said.
When he asked how I felt about it I told him I still want considerably more than 20 percent of my charitable dollar to go to the cause.
"I understand how you feel," he said. "But how many companies make 20 percent gross profit?"
That argument may be attractive to police unions that can get easy cash by merely signing the contract.
But the other 80 percent goes to phone hustlers who did nothing to build the public good will that produces the "gross profit."
You can write to Rick Casey at P.O. Box 4260, Houston, TX 77210, or e-mail him at rick.casey@chron.com.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 81875.html
No visits on Confederate Heroes Day
Tonight's top story: Police union telemarketing draws passionate responses, including from police and telemarketers.
But first, this just in:
Houston attorney James Rytting called up to the Polunsky Unit in Livingston to make arrangements to visit a client, Larry Swearingen, who is scheduled to be executed Wednesday. Rytting wanted to visit Swearingen today.
Can't do it, he was told. It's Confederate Heroes Day.
Sure enough, Confederate Heroes Day is an official Texas holiday, classified as a "partial staffing holiday."
It began life in 1931 as a celebration of Robert E. Lee's birthday. Jefferson Davis' birthday was celebrated as an official holiday on June 3. In 1973 the Legislature combined the two holidays as Confederate Heroes Day.
I hoped she'd say that
Emancipation Day in Texas, June 3, is also a "partial staffing" day, as is Lyndon Baines Johnson Day (Aug. 27), Texas Independence Day, (March 2) and San Jacinto Day (April 21).
I called the press office for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to learn what a "partial staffing holiday" was in relation to death row.
"It means we have a skeleton crew," the woman said.
I confess. I was hoping she would say that.
Actually, the regular contingent of prison guards works that day, but not the administrative staff responsible for the paperwork clearing lawyers and other visitors.
Rytting will visit Swearingen on Monday.
'The split is horrible, but ... '
Now, as promised, some of the responses to my Wednesday rant against telemarketing by police unions:
•Mike Simpson, a former Harris County deputy, is director of fundraising for the Texas Fraternal Order of Police. It was one of their telemarketers who invaded my house. He was not happy about the column.
He said the organization has set up its own telephone operation in Bryan because it no longer wanted to pay as much as 80 percent or more in commissions to outside firms and because those firms sometimes became involved in controversy.
He said he pays $12 an hour and no commissions to about 100 employees, about half of whom are students. He said they are carefully monitored, are never pushy and make a point to note that contributions are not tax-deductible.
He said, however, some of the 40-odd local lodges in Texas do hire outside firms, including the Houston lodge. He said I was wrong in saying the Houston Police Officers Union, which has bargaining rights with the city, did not do telemarketing.
•Hans Marticiuc, president of the Houston Police Officers Union, confirmed that his group had resumed phone solicitations:
"What we found is we have 14 or 15 different organizations out there all claiming to be police officers," he said. "You're right, the split is horrible. But as long as there are other groups out there doing it, we might as well, too."
He said the union monitors the phone operation and, based on complaints, caused the outside firm to fire several phone bankers.
•Ray Hunt, Houston police officer who ran against Maritiuc for the union presidency with the solicitation program as one of his issues:
"As a member of the HPOU for 15 years, I have always opposed phone solicitations ... However, the HPOU has stooped to the low level of soliciting funds by phone even if they get a small amount from persons who believe they are giving to a police officer.
"As I tell everyone I know, any police group that solicits funds by calling you is no group I would ever give to."
•Roland Chavez, president of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Local 341: "We previously also had a contract with a telemarketing firm asking support for our Fire Fighters magazine. After answering to several complaints from residents, we reviewed our contract two years ago and began the process of terminating the contract." They no longer use the firm.
•Jim Davis says he has worked for a couple of firms that do telemarketing for police groups and that the one for which he now works, Public Safety Services, is ethical and careful.
"We run the tightest ship in the country, with one person watching every five people on the phones," he said.
When he asked how I felt about it I told him I still want considerably more than 20 percent of my charitable dollar to go to the cause.
"I understand how you feel," he said. "But how many companies make 20 percent gross profit?"
That argument may be attractive to police unions that can get easy cash by merely signing the contract.
But the other 80 percent goes to phone hustlers who did nothing to build the public good will that produces the "gross profit."
You can write to Rick Casey at P.O. Box 4260, Houston, TX 77210, or e-mail him at rick.casey@chron.com.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 81875.html
- janneke
- Posts: 4267
- Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:49 am
- Location: Netherlands
by janneke on Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:54 am
Jan. 23, 2007, 2:20PM
Killer of Houston-area college student set to die Wednesday
By MICHAEL GRACZYK
Associated Press
CONROE — In a tree- and rock-filled memorial garden in the heart of
the Montgomery College campus, a bronze plaque depicts the likeness
of student Melissa Trotter gazing at a colorful rainbow above her.
"Look for me in the rainbow," an inscription says.
The memorial is just a few yards from where the 19-year-old Trotter
left the campus library on Dec. 8, 1998, with a man she met two days
earlier outside a Lake Conroe marina. When she didn't come home from
school by 2 a.m. and didn't respond to cell phone calls, her mom knew
something was wrong.
"There was no reason we knew of why she would not be there and wasn't
answering her phone," Sandy Trotter says, recalling her anxiety.
"He'd already killed her and threw her in the woods."
Larry Swearingen, identified as the man who left the college campus
just south of Conroe with Melissa Trotter, is scheduled to receive
lethal injection Wednesday evening for her death.
Swearingen, 35, who denied any involvement in the woman's slaying,
would be the third condemned prisoner executed this year in the
nation's busiest capital punishment state.
Attorneys for Swearingen were in the state and federal courts seeking
a review of his case and a halt to the execution, arguing the
evidence did not support Swearingen's conviction of capital murder
for abducting and strangling Trotter, whose body was found in the Sam
Houston National Forest between Conroe and Huntsville nearly a month
after she disappeared.
Swearingen acknowledged seeing and speaking with Trotter at the
college but "we parted ways, with her heading towards the cafeteria,
and me going to the parking lot, never to see another again," he said
on a Web site devoted to his innocence.
"I was in no position, literally, to have committed this crime, as I
was in the county jail," he said.
His lawyers, in their appeals, argued the presence of specific
insects from the site where the woman's body was found disputes
prosecutors' insistence that Swearingen killed her.
"The insect evidence is powerful proof that Ms. Trotter died when Mr.
Swearingen was in the custody of Montgomery County police," his
appeal said.
Swearingen was arrested on outstanding warrants three days after
Trotter was last seen. At his trial, he said Trotter left the campus
that day with a man he didn't know.
Evidence showed Trotter had been in Swearingen's trailer in Willis
and in his pickup truck, where detectives found hair that had been
forcibly pulled from her head. A companion piece of pantyhose used to
strangle Trotter was found in the trash outside Swearingen's trailer.
And cell phone records from the day she vanished showed he was in the
area where her body eventually was discovered.
Swearingen had a history of at least two rapes plus an assault on an
ex-wife, but charges never were brought against him, prosecutors
said. Swearingen told the Houston Chronicle from death row his
history made him "the easiest target."
Judy Shields, a former Montgomery County assistant district attorney
who prosecuted Swearingen's capital murder case, described him as a
"predator of women."
Shields said while he may have convinced his other victims not to
complain about him to authorities, "It was clear (Trotter) was not
going to let this go away like other girls.
"And when he realized she was going to squeal, he decided at that
point she's got to go. And her death sentence was sealed at that time."
Sandy Trotter planned to be in Huntsville to witness Swearingen's
execution.
"I'm just ready for him to be gone," she said. Her daughter now would
be 27, out of college and probably married with kids, she said.
"Who knows? That's the one thing as a parent you won't ever get over
losing," she said. "You wonder what they'd be and wonder what they'd
be doing with their life."
Another condemned inmate, Christopher Swift, 31, is set to die next
week for killing his wife, Amy, who was eight months pregnant, and
her mother. Amy Swift, 27, was beaten and strangled in a recreational
vehicle at an RV park in the Dallas suburb of Irving. Sandra Sabeh,
61, was strangled the same day in April 2003 at her Lake Dallas home.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 92300.html
Killer of Houston-area college student set to die Wednesday
By MICHAEL GRACZYK
Associated Press
CONROE — In a tree- and rock-filled memorial garden in the heart of
the Montgomery College campus, a bronze plaque depicts the likeness
of student Melissa Trotter gazing at a colorful rainbow above her.
"Look for me in the rainbow," an inscription says.
The memorial is just a few yards from where the 19-year-old Trotter
left the campus library on Dec. 8, 1998, with a man she met two days
earlier outside a Lake Conroe marina. When she didn't come home from
school by 2 a.m. and didn't respond to cell phone calls, her mom knew
something was wrong.
"There was no reason we knew of why she would not be there and wasn't
answering her phone," Sandy Trotter says, recalling her anxiety.
"He'd already killed her and threw her in the woods."
Larry Swearingen, identified as the man who left the college campus
just south of Conroe with Melissa Trotter, is scheduled to receive
lethal injection Wednesday evening for her death.
Swearingen, 35, who denied any involvement in the woman's slaying,
would be the third condemned prisoner executed this year in the
nation's busiest capital punishment state.
Attorneys for Swearingen were in the state and federal courts seeking
a review of his case and a halt to the execution, arguing the
evidence did not support Swearingen's conviction of capital murder
for abducting and strangling Trotter, whose body was found in the Sam
Houston National Forest between Conroe and Huntsville nearly a month
after she disappeared.
Swearingen acknowledged seeing and speaking with Trotter at the
college but "we parted ways, with her heading towards the cafeteria,
and me going to the parking lot, never to see another again," he said
on a Web site devoted to his innocence.
"I was in no position, literally, to have committed this crime, as I
was in the county jail," he said.
His lawyers, in their appeals, argued the presence of specific
insects from the site where the woman's body was found disputes
prosecutors' insistence that Swearingen killed her.
"The insect evidence is powerful proof that Ms. Trotter died when Mr.
Swearingen was in the custody of Montgomery County police," his
appeal said.
Swearingen was arrested on outstanding warrants three days after
Trotter was last seen. At his trial, he said Trotter left the campus
that day with a man he didn't know.
Evidence showed Trotter had been in Swearingen's trailer in Willis
and in his pickup truck, where detectives found hair that had been
forcibly pulled from her head. A companion piece of pantyhose used to
strangle Trotter was found in the trash outside Swearingen's trailer.
And cell phone records from the day she vanished showed he was in the
area where her body eventually was discovered.
Swearingen had a history of at least two rapes plus an assault on an
ex-wife, but charges never were brought against him, prosecutors
said. Swearingen told the Houston Chronicle from death row his
history made him "the easiest target."
Judy Shields, a former Montgomery County assistant district attorney
who prosecuted Swearingen's capital murder case, described him as a
"predator of women."
Shields said while he may have convinced his other victims not to
complain about him to authorities, "It was clear (Trotter) was not
going to let this go away like other girls.
"And when he realized she was going to squeal, he decided at that
point she's got to go. And her death sentence was sealed at that time."
Sandy Trotter planned to be in Huntsville to witness Swearingen's
execution.
"I'm just ready for him to be gone," she said. Her daughter now would
be 27, out of college and probably married with kids, she said.
"Who knows? That's the one thing as a parent you won't ever get over
losing," she said. "You wonder what they'd be and wonder what they'd
be doing with their life."
Another condemned inmate, Christopher Swift, 31, is set to die next
week for killing his wife, Amy, who was eight months pregnant, and
her mother. Amy Swift, 27, was beaten and strangled in a recreational
vehicle at an RV park in the Dallas suburb of Irving. Sandra Sabeh,
61, was strangled the same day in April 2003 at her Lake Dallas home.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 92300.html
- janneke
- Posts: 4267
- Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:49 am
- Location: Netherlands
by janneke on Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:56 am
http://www.deathrow-usa.us/LarryLw.htm
WR-53,613
EX PARTE ) No. 99-11-06435-CR
) IN THE DISTRICT COURT
LARRY RAY SWEARINGEN ) 9TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
) MONTGOMERY COUNTY , TEXAS
SUCCESSOR APPLICATION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS PURSUANT TO 11.071 § 5 OF THE TEXAS CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURES (pdf)
THIS IS A DEATH PENALTY CASE
MR. SWEARINGEN’S EXECUTION IS SCHEDULED FOR JANUARY 24, 2007.
By attorney James G. Rytting -
http://www.deathrow-usa.us/SuccessorLar ... ytting.pdf
WR-53,613
EX PARTE ) No. 99-11-06435-CR
) IN THE DISTRICT COURT
LARRY RAY SWEARINGEN ) 9TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
) MONTGOMERY COUNTY , TEXAS
SUCCESSOR APPLICATION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS PURSUANT TO 11.071 § 5 OF THE TEXAS CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURES (pdf)
THIS IS A DEATH PENALTY CASE
MR. SWEARINGEN’S EXECUTION IS SCHEDULED FOR JANUARY 24, 2007.
By attorney James G. Rytting -
http://www.deathrow-usa.us/SuccessorLar ... ytting.pdf
- janneke
- Posts: 4267
- Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:49 am
- Location: Netherlands
by janneke on Wed Jan 24, 2007 8:06 am
January 23, 2007
Inmate to die in college student's strangulation
The Associated Press
Larry Swearingen is scheduled to died tomorrow night for the 1998
strangulation of a 19-year-old Montgomery College student.
He's to die for the death of Melissa Trotter. She's commemorated with a
tree- and rock-filled memorial garden in the heart of the Montgomery College
campus near Conroe.
The memorial is a few yards from where the she left the campus library on
December Eighth, 1998, with a man she'd met two days earlier. She wasn't
seen again alive. Her body was found nearly a month later in the Sam Houston
National Forest between Conroe and Houston.
The 35-year-old Swearingen still denies any involvement in the slaying.
He'd be the third condemned prisoner executed this year in the nation's
busiest capital punishment state. But his attorneys are asking state and
federal courts review his case and stay the execution. They contend the
evidence didn't support Swearingen's conviction.
On the Net:
Texas Department of Criminal Justice execution schedule
http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/schedu ... utions.htm
Larry Swearingen http://www.iippi.org/inmates/texas/larryswearingen.html
Melissa Trotter http://www.texansforequaljustice.org/melissa.html
---
Source : The Associated Press
http://www.kltv.com/global/story.asp?s=5978072
Inmate to die in college student's strangulation
The Associated Press
Larry Swearingen is scheduled to died tomorrow night for the 1998
strangulation of a 19-year-old Montgomery College student.
He's to die for the death of Melissa Trotter. She's commemorated with a
tree- and rock-filled memorial garden in the heart of the Montgomery College
campus near Conroe.
The memorial is a few yards from where the she left the campus library on
December Eighth, 1998, with a man she'd met two days earlier. She wasn't
seen again alive. Her body was found nearly a month later in the Sam Houston
National Forest between Conroe and Houston.
The 35-year-old Swearingen still denies any involvement in the slaying.
He'd be the third condemned prisoner executed this year in the nation's
busiest capital punishment state. But his attorneys are asking state and
federal courts review his case and stay the execution. They contend the
evidence didn't support Swearingen's conviction.
On the Net:
Texas Department of Criminal Justice execution schedule
http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/schedu ... utions.htm
Larry Swearingen http://www.iippi.org/inmates/texas/larryswearingen.html
Melissa Trotter http://www.texansforequaljustice.org/melissa.html
---
Source : The Associated Press
http://www.kltv.com/global/story.asp?s=5978072
- janneke
- Posts: 4267
- Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:49 am
- Location: Netherlands
by janneke on Wed Jan 24, 2007 4:29 pm
Convicted killer Larry Swearingen wins reprieve from Wednesday execution
CONROE, Texas (AP) — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted the scheduled Wednesday execution of a man convicted of abducting and strangling a Montgomery County college student eight years ago.
The punishment for Larry Swearingen, 35, was put off late Tuesday so questions about evidence used against him at his capital murder trial can be reviewed, lawyers said.
Swearingen's attorneys had appealed in the state and federal courts, arguing the presence of specific insects from the site where 19-year-old Melissa Trotter's body was found in the Sam Houston National Forest disputes prosecutors' insistence and evidence that Swearingen killed her.
"The insect evidence is powerful proof that Ms. Trotter died when Mr. Swearingen was in the custody of Montgomery County police," his appeal said.
Montgomery County prosecutors had opposed the request but acknowledged because of the short time until Swearingen was to have died, the appeals court needed more information and stopped the punishment.
Story continues
"At some point, once they get that information, the execution can be reset as long as they don't find any problems," Marc Brumberger, an assistant district attorney in Montgomery County, said.
James Rytting, one of Swearingen's lawyers, said the case would be returned to the trial court.
"It is good," Rytting said Tuesday. "He doesn't die tomorrow."
Witnesses said Trotter left the campus library at Montgomery College on Dec. 8, 1998, with Swearingen, whom she met two days earlier outside a Lake Conroe marina.
Swearingen denied any involvement in the woman's slaying. He acknowledged seeing and speaking with Trotter at the college but "we parted ways, with her heading towards the cafeteria, and me going to the parking lot, never to see another again," he said on a Web site devoted to his innocence.
"I was in no position, literally, to have committed this crime, as I was in the county jail," he said.
Swearingen was arrested on outstanding warrants three days after Trotter was last seen. At his trial, he said Trotter left the campus that day with a man he didn't know.
Evidence showed Trotter had been in Swearingen's trailer in Willis and in his pickup truck, where detectives found hair that had been forcibly pulled from her head. A companion piece of pantyhose used to strangle Trotter was found in the trash outside Swearingen's trailer. And cell phone records from the day she vanished showed he was in the area where her body eventually was discovered.
Swearingen had a history of at least two rapes plus an assault on an ex-wife, but charges never were brought against him, prosecutors said. Swearingen told the Houston Chronicle from death row his history made him "the easiest target."
Another condemned inmate, Christopher Swift, 31, is set to die next week for killing his wife, Amy, who was eight months pregnant, and her mother. Amy Swift, 27, was beaten and strangled in a recreational vehicle at an RV park in the Dallas suburb of Irving. Sandra Sabeh, 61, was strangled the same day in April 2003 at her Lake Dallas home.
http://www.courttv.com/news/2007/0123/l ... en_ap.html
CONROE, Texas (AP) — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted the scheduled Wednesday execution of a man convicted of abducting and strangling a Montgomery County college student eight years ago.
The punishment for Larry Swearingen, 35, was put off late Tuesday so questions about evidence used against him at his capital murder trial can be reviewed, lawyers said.
Swearingen's attorneys had appealed in the state and federal courts, arguing the presence of specific insects from the site where 19-year-old Melissa Trotter's body was found in the Sam Houston National Forest disputes prosecutors' insistence and evidence that Swearingen killed her.
"The insect evidence is powerful proof that Ms. Trotter died when Mr. Swearingen was in the custody of Montgomery County police," his appeal said.
Montgomery County prosecutors had opposed the request but acknowledged because of the short time until Swearingen was to have died, the appeals court needed more information and stopped the punishment.
Story continues
"At some point, once they get that information, the execution can be reset as long as they don't find any problems," Marc Brumberger, an assistant district attorney in Montgomery County, said.
James Rytting, one of Swearingen's lawyers, said the case would be returned to the trial court.
"It is good," Rytting said Tuesday. "He doesn't die tomorrow."
Witnesses said Trotter left the campus library at Montgomery College on Dec. 8, 1998, with Swearingen, whom she met two days earlier outside a Lake Conroe marina.
Swearingen denied any involvement in the woman's slaying. He acknowledged seeing and speaking with Trotter at the college but "we parted ways, with her heading towards the cafeteria, and me going to the parking lot, never to see another again," he said on a Web site devoted to his innocence.
"I was in no position, literally, to have committed this crime, as I was in the county jail," he said.
Swearingen was arrested on outstanding warrants three days after Trotter was last seen. At his trial, he said Trotter left the campus that day with a man he didn't know.
Evidence showed Trotter had been in Swearingen's trailer in Willis and in his pickup truck, where detectives found hair that had been forcibly pulled from her head. A companion piece of pantyhose used to strangle Trotter was found in the trash outside Swearingen's trailer. And cell phone records from the day she vanished showed he was in the area where her body eventually was discovered.
Swearingen had a history of at least two rapes plus an assault on an ex-wife, but charges never were brought against him, prosecutors said. Swearingen told the Houston Chronicle from death row his history made him "the easiest target."
Another condemned inmate, Christopher Swift, 31, is set to die next week for killing his wife, Amy, who was eight months pregnant, and her mother. Amy Swift, 27, was beaten and strangled in a recreational vehicle at an RV park in the Dallas suburb of Irving. Sandra Sabeh, 61, was strangled the same day in April 2003 at her Lake Dallas home.
http://www.courttv.com/news/2007/0123/l ... en_ap.html
- janneke
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by janneke on Thu Jan 25, 2007 7:51 am
An interview with death row inmate Larry Swearingen
http://www.courttv.com/facing_death/lar ... w_ctv.html
http://www.courttv.com/facing_death/lar ... w_ctv.html
- janneke
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by janneke on Thu Jan 25, 2007 7:51 am
Jan. 24, 2007, 2:12AM
'Insect evidence' prompts court to stay execution
Defense says data prove client did not kill student
By RENÉE C. LEE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
CONROE — Convicted killer Larry Swearingen will have another day in
court after receiving a stay of execution Tuesday, a day before he
was set to die for the abduction and strangulation of a college
student in 1998.
Swearingen, 35, has been on death row in the Polunsky Unit in
Livingston since July 2000, after a Montgomery County jury found him
guilty of capital murder in the death of Melissa Trotter, of Willis.
The Texas Criminal Court of Appeals granted the stay late Tuesday.
Swearingen's attorneys filed a motion Monday asking the court to halt
the case because of new evidence they say proves his innocence.
According to the motion, Swearingen's attorneys have an expert
witness who says insects found on or near Trotter's body prove she
was killed after Swearingen's arrest.
''We believe that the insect expert's report exonerates Mr.
Swearingen and that the information has come to light because the
state stalled in getting us data the expert needed," said attorney
Philip Hilder. "We just now were able to analyze the data and support
our conclusion that the murder occurred at a different time than the
state alleges."
According to the motion, Swearingen had requested the evidence from
the state during an earlier appeal, but the state refused to disclose
it, saying Swearingen "fail[ed] to prove that any insect evidence
exists in this case."
Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Marc Brumberger, who
handles post-conviction appeals for the District Attorney's Office,
did not return calls to the Chronicle late Tuesday.
Prosecutors had opposed the request but acknowledged that because of
the short time until Swearingen's execution, the court needed more
information and allowed the stay.
"At some point, once they get that information, the execution can be
reset as long as they don't find any problems," Brumberger told the
Associated Press.
Trotter, a 19-year-old Montgomery College student, disappeared from
the campus on Dec. 8, 1998. Witnesses told investigators they saw her
leave with Swearingen.
Her body was found nearly a month later in the Sam Houston National
Forest with a piece of pantyhose around her neck. Prosecutors said
she had been sexually assaulted.
Based on the presence of the insects, Swearingen's expert has
estimated that Trotter died after Dec. 11, 1998, and as late as Dec.
18, according to the appeal. The expert's conclusion contradicts the
Harris County medical examiner's claim that Trotter died 25 days
before her body was found on Jan. 2, 1999, placing her date of death
on Dec. 8, 1998, according to court papers.
Swearingen was arrested on Dec. 11, 1998, and remained in the
Montgomery County Jail until his trial.
Trotter's parents, Charles and Sandra Trotter, did not return phone
messages left at their home Tuesday.
In an interview last week, the Willis couple said it has been
difficult living through what has seemed like endless appeals filed
by Swearingen. They had planned to attend the execution.
Before the stay, Swearingen's attorney filed his last appeal with the
U.S. Supreme Court in November. The state filed an opposing brief
last month but it had not been reviewed as of Tuesday.
Swearingen has maintained his innocence since his arrest. In a recent
prison interview, he said he had an alibi and that police did not
thoroughly investigate the case.
Prosecutors presented evidence linking him to the crime, including
fibers and hair found in his truck, his jacket and at the crime
scene. Investigators also found the matching pantyhose in a trash bin
at his trailer home in Willis. Cell phone records also placed him in
the general area where the body was found.
Hilder said Swearingen is elated about his stay of execution. Co-
counsel James Rytting was on the phone with Swearingen when the call
came from the appeals court shortly after 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Hilder
said.
The case will now go back to the Montgomery County 9th state District
Court for a hearing ''to flesh out evidence issues not developed in
trial court," Hilder said.
renee.lee@chron.com
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 94256.html
'Insect evidence' prompts court to stay execution
Defense says data prove client did not kill student
By RENÉE C. LEE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
CONROE — Convicted killer Larry Swearingen will have another day in
court after receiving a stay of execution Tuesday, a day before he
was set to die for the abduction and strangulation of a college
student in 1998.
Swearingen, 35, has been on death row in the Polunsky Unit in
Livingston since July 2000, after a Montgomery County jury found him
guilty of capital murder in the death of Melissa Trotter, of Willis.
The Texas Criminal Court of Appeals granted the stay late Tuesday.
Swearingen's attorneys filed a motion Monday asking the court to halt
the case because of new evidence they say proves his innocence.
According to the motion, Swearingen's attorneys have an expert
witness who says insects found on or near Trotter's body prove she
was killed after Swearingen's arrest.
''We believe that the insect expert's report exonerates Mr.
Swearingen and that the information has come to light because the
state stalled in getting us data the expert needed," said attorney
Philip Hilder. "We just now were able to analyze the data and support
our conclusion that the murder occurred at a different time than the
state alleges."
According to the motion, Swearingen had requested the evidence from
the state during an earlier appeal, but the state refused to disclose
it, saying Swearingen "fail[ed] to prove that any insect evidence
exists in this case."
Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Marc Brumberger, who
handles post-conviction appeals for the District Attorney's Office,
did not return calls to the Chronicle late Tuesday.
Prosecutors had opposed the request but acknowledged that because of
the short time until Swearingen's execution, the court needed more
information and allowed the stay.
"At some point, once they get that information, the execution can be
reset as long as they don't find any problems," Brumberger told the
Associated Press.
Trotter, a 19-year-old Montgomery College student, disappeared from
the campus on Dec. 8, 1998. Witnesses told investigators they saw her
leave with Swearingen.
Her body was found nearly a month later in the Sam Houston National
Forest with a piece of pantyhose around her neck. Prosecutors said
she had been sexually assaulted.
Based on the presence of the insects, Swearingen's expert has
estimated that Trotter died after Dec. 11, 1998, and as late as Dec.
18, according to the appeal. The expert's conclusion contradicts the
Harris County medical examiner's claim that Trotter died 25 days
before her body was found on Jan. 2, 1999, placing her date of death
on Dec. 8, 1998, according to court papers.
Swearingen was arrested on Dec. 11, 1998, and remained in the
Montgomery County Jail until his trial.
Trotter's parents, Charles and Sandra Trotter, did not return phone
messages left at their home Tuesday.
In an interview last week, the Willis couple said it has been
difficult living through what has seemed like endless appeals filed
by Swearingen. They had planned to attend the execution.
Before the stay, Swearingen's attorney filed his last appeal with the
U.S. Supreme Court in November. The state filed an opposing brief
last month but it had not been reviewed as of Tuesday.
Swearingen has maintained his innocence since his arrest. In a recent
prison interview, he said he had an alibi and that police did not
thoroughly investigate the case.
Prosecutors presented evidence linking him to the crime, including
fibers and hair found in his truck, his jacket and at the crime
scene. Investigators also found the matching pantyhose in a trash bin
at his trailer home in Willis. Cell phone records also placed him in
the general area where the body was found.
Hilder said Swearingen is elated about his stay of execution. Co-
counsel James Rytting was on the phone with Swearingen when the call
came from the appeals court shortly after 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Hilder
said.
The case will now go back to the Montgomery County 9th state District
Court for a hearing ''to flesh out evidence issues not developed in
trial court," Hilder said.
renee.lee@chron.com
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 94256.html
- janneke
- Posts: 4267
- Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:49 am
- Location: Netherlands
by janneke on Fri Jan 26, 2007 8:41 pm
Jan. 25, 2007, 1:00AM
Family's faith in justice tested again
Victim's father calls Swearingen's stay on the eve of his execution
date a 'disappointment'
By RENÉE C. LEE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
The parents of Melissa Trotter were looking forward to Wednesday —
the day they would finally see the man convicted of killing their 19-
year-old daughter put to death.
After six years of legal delays, Charles and Sandra Trotter sometimes
questioned if Larry Swearingen's execution would really happen but
never lost faith in the justice system.
Their faith was tested again Tuesday when the Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals granted Swearingen a stay of execution.
Charles Trotter summed up their initial reaction in one word:
''disappointment."
Swearingen, 35, is on death row after being convicted by a Montgomery
County jury of kidnapping and strangling Melissa Trotter, who
disappeared from Montgomery College on Dec. 8, 1998.
His attorneys filed a motion for a stay of execution on Monday,
claiming that new insect evidence shows that Swearingen did not kill
the college student whose body was found in the Sam Houston National
Forest on Jan. 2, 1999.
The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office filed a brief
explaining why the appeal should be dismissed, but the court didn't
agree.
''The court wants to provide the defendant with a full opportunity to
have these claims heard before they reach a final judgment," said
Assistant District Attorney Marc Brumberger, who handles post-
conviction appeals for the district attorney's office. "We respect
the fact that the court wants to see justice done."
Now both sides will have to argue their case before the court. But no
matter if Swearingen wins another day in court, Charles Trotter says
he believes Swearingen will still be found guilty.
''There's evidence in the case he just can't get around," he said.
Trotter is referring to fiber and hair evidence investigators found
in Swearingen's truck, jacket and at the crime scene. Investigators
also found a pantyhose at Swearingen's trailer home in Willis that
matched the pantyhose found around Melissa Trotter's neck.
Swearingen's attorneys contend that he could not have killed the
woman because blowflies, the adult form of maggots, found on the body
prove she died after Swearingen's arrest on Dec. 11 in an unrelated
case.
According to the appeal, Swearingen's expert determined that the
woman died between Dec. 11 and Dec. 18, and that based on the
temperature in December, there should have been a significant amount
of maggots on the body if she were killed before Dec. 11.
The Harris County medical examiner's report showed ''a remarkable
absence of animal activity," the expert wrote.
The medical examiner said Trotter died 25 days before her body was
found, placing her date of death on Dec. 8, 1998, according to the
appeal.
Brumberger said once the merits are considered, Swearingen's
attorneys will not prevail.
Their conclusion only shows that the temperature was too cool for
eggs to be laid and developed prior to the 18th, he said.
renee.lee@chron.com
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 97281.html
Family's faith in justice tested again
Victim's father calls Swearingen's stay on the eve of his execution
date a 'disappointment'
By RENÉE C. LEE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
The parents of Melissa Trotter were looking forward to Wednesday —
the day they would finally see the man convicted of killing their 19-
year-old daughter put to death.
After six years of legal delays, Charles and Sandra Trotter sometimes
questioned if Larry Swearingen's execution would really happen but
never lost faith in the justice system.
Their faith was tested again Tuesday when the Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals granted Swearingen a stay of execution.
Charles Trotter summed up their initial reaction in one word:
''disappointment."
Swearingen, 35, is on death row after being convicted by a Montgomery
County jury of kidnapping and strangling Melissa Trotter, who
disappeared from Montgomery College on Dec. 8, 1998.
His attorneys filed a motion for a stay of execution on Monday,
claiming that new insect evidence shows that Swearingen did not kill
the college student whose body was found in the Sam Houston National
Forest on Jan. 2, 1999.
The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office filed a brief
explaining why the appeal should be dismissed, but the court didn't
agree.
''The court wants to provide the defendant with a full opportunity to
have these claims heard before they reach a final judgment," said
Assistant District Attorney Marc Brumberger, who handles post-
conviction appeals for the district attorney's office. "We respect
the fact that the court wants to see justice done."
Now both sides will have to argue their case before the court. But no
matter if Swearingen wins another day in court, Charles Trotter says
he believes Swearingen will still be found guilty.
''There's evidence in the case he just can't get around," he said.
Trotter is referring to fiber and hair evidence investigators found
in Swearingen's truck, jacket and at the crime scene. Investigators
also found a pantyhose at Swearingen's trailer home in Willis that
matched the pantyhose found around Melissa Trotter's neck.
Swearingen's attorneys contend that he could not have killed the
woman because blowflies, the adult form of maggots, found on the body
prove she died after Swearingen's arrest on Dec. 11 in an unrelated
case.
According to the appeal, Swearingen's expert determined that the
woman died between Dec. 11 and Dec. 18, and that based on the
temperature in December, there should have been a significant amount
of maggots on the body if she were killed before Dec. 11.
The Harris County medical examiner's report showed ''a remarkable
absence of animal activity," the expert wrote.
The medical examiner said Trotter died 25 days before her body was
found, placing her date of death on Dec. 8, 1998, according to the
appeal.
Brumberger said once the merits are considered, Swearingen's
attorneys will not prevail.
Their conclusion only shows that the temperature was too cool for
eggs to be laid and developed prior to the 18th, he said.
renee.lee@chron.com
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 97281.html
- janneke
- Posts: 4267
- Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:49 am
- Location: Netherlands
by janneke on Mon Jan 29, 2007 11:07 am
Hearing and Funding
This Monday, January 29, 2007, Judge Edwards of the 9th Dist. Court Montgomery County, Texas will set schedule a hearing for Larry Swearingen, whose execution was stayed on January 23rd. We expect he will schedule a hearing very quickly. Funds have to be raised immediately for expert assistance, because the State court will not provide adequate funding. We believe that $8,000.00 dollars minimum will be needed for adequate assistance.
Katja Pumm
Co-Founder and Director
Innocent In Prison Project International
www.iippi.org
This Monday, January 29, 2007, Judge Edwards of the 9th Dist. Court Montgomery County, Texas will set schedule a hearing for Larry Swearingen, whose execution was stayed on January 23rd. We expect he will schedule a hearing very quickly. Funds have to be raised immediately for expert assistance, because the State court will not provide adequate funding. We believe that $8,000.00 dollars minimum will be needed for adequate assistance.
Katja Pumm
Co-Founder and Director
Innocent In Prison Project International
www.iippi.org
- janneke
- Posts: 4267
- Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:49 am
- Location: Netherlands
by janneke on Mon Jan 29, 2007 11:58 am
An interview with death row inmate Larry Swearingen
Sometimes I'd walk into a club with my friends or with my wife or whatever, and find the biggest guy and punch him in the mouth. Ask him, 'Do you want to go outside?' And it's not because I'm a Billy Bad-Ass, or anything like that. It's just using them like that. It makes you feel you're invincible, that you can do what you want to do. That's probably the worst mistake I ever made in my life.
***
CourtTVnews.com reporter Emanuella Grinberg interviewed Texas death row inmate Larry Swearingen on Jan. 10 at the Polunsky Prison Unit in Livingston, Texas. Late Tuesday, Swearingen won a reprieve from his scheduled Wednesday execution. The transcript below has been edited for length and clarity. The video was produced by Mark Grieco.
COURTTVNEWS.COM: Can you describe a typical day on death row for you?
LARRY SWEARINGEN: Typical day? I sleep a lot. I work on my case, write the attorneys. Try to get people to help me, and I work, that's it.
CTV: What do you do to pass the time?
SWEARINGEN: Read or draw.
CTV: Do you get mail from strangers or admirers?
SWEARINGEN: Admirers? Well, I'm not going to say no, but I don't respond to them as far as that. This is not something I'm proud of. This is not something that should be glorified. People have groupies or whatever, but I just don't want them. It's not me. I write about four people that I write.
CTV: Who are they?
SWEARINGEN: My family and my wife and I have one good friend who's in Australia. That's about it. I just don't have groupies.
CTV: What are some things you miss about life on the outside?
SWEARINGEN: My kids. That's it. My kids. Everything else is irrelevant; I miss my kids, my son, my daughter, that's what I miss the most.
CTV: How is your relationship with your children?
SWEARINGEN: As good as it can be expected, I guess. It's not the perfect relationship, but they come up here, we write and we do the best we can. I stay in touch with their teachers. I still get their report cards. I try to stay as active as anyone can in this situation to be in their kids' lives.
CTV: Where did you grow up?
SWEARINGEN: I was an Army brat till the age of 10, moved around a lot, so my real dad passed away. In '81, my mom married my stepdad, so we still moved around. So it wasn't one specific place.
CTV: What was it like growing up without a father?
SWEARINGEN: I had a father. This isn't a stepchild horror story. My stepdad is my dad. He was my best friend and biggest supporter. I've had many arguments about that. God blessed me with two dads. It wasn't just one. You always hear the stepdad or stepmom horror stories, and it wasn't like that. He was my best friend and biggest supporter. I didn't grow up without a dad. I had a dad.
CTV: Can you recall when you were the happiest?
SWEARINGEN: There's not just one specific thing that I could say would outrank one or the other. My son, watching him being born, and my daughter, watch[ing] her being born, those are probably the two happiest memories you can get. I don't know if you have kids, but it's, that's mine, that's something you can never change.
CTV: Is there any particular moment in your life that you consider a turning point?
SWEARINGEN: There's really not a changing point. I made mistakes in my life, and for any man or woman to sit and say they are without fault or never made mistakes, they're liars. I've made mistakes and I'm the first to tell you, I've made a mistake, I've made several mistakes.
I guess the changing point in my life was when I started using steroids. You hear these sports players talking about it doesn't do nothing. They're liars. One, it makes you lose your hair. It gives you a temper, things like that. Looking back at it now and that I don't have any of it in my system, I'm surprised my family still talks to me. I had a horrible attitude.
Sometimes I'd walk into a club with my friends or with my wife or whatever, and find the biggest guy and punch him in the mouth. Ask him, "Do you want to go outside?" And it's not because I'm a Billy Bad-Ass, or anything like that. It's just using them like that. It makes you feel you're invincible, that you can do what you want to do. That's probably the worst mistake I ever made in
my life.
CTV: You knew the victim in the case? What attracted you to her?
SWEARINGEN: It wasn't an attraction. We were friends. It wasn't a sexual thing and people don't understand that. It wasn't, we weren't screwing each other. I'm trying to be polite. It wasn't like that. We just run around together. It was fun. My ex-wife was older than me, where we didn't do a lot of things together. Doesn't say that I didn't love her because I did, but we just didn't do a lot of things, whereas Melissa was younger than me. We went to the beach. We went and played putt-putt golf or whatever. It was just something we run around and did. It wasn't, it wasn't getting in each other's pants. It wasn't that kind of friendship.
CTV: What was she like?
SWEARINGEN: She was full of piss and vinegar. She was just outgoing. She liked animals. She liked to read. We went to the beach. I didn't know her well enough to say she was this or that. She'd call, say, "Hey, what are you doing?" We'd go do this ... It wasn't an everyday thing. It just wasn't an everyday thing. She was a nice girl. I don't know how to explain it. She was just a nice friend.
CTV: So you didn't kill her?
SWEARINGEN: No. The DNA under the fingernails is not mine. They found pubic hairs, they said that I raped her, but the pubic hairs aren't mine. They alleged all this stuff, but it's not mine. It's as simple as that. The blood is male, but it's not mine. Whatever happens happens. There's nothing I can do about. All I can do hope that the attorneys are diligent enough to get things done. If not, then I'm in a world of shit. You can smile, it's not that bad.
CTV: Why have you continued to press your appeals?
SWEARINGEN: Why? Well, I could have took a plea bargain and had a chance of going home, but I'm not going to plead guilty to something I didn't do. There comes a time where everybody has to stand their ground and accept what comes if you stand your ground.
I'm not going to plead guilty to murder for something I didn't do. I may steal your car, I may cheat on you, I may do all these other things, but killing somebody is not it. That's not, this is not me. I'm not going to say I don't have a temper, because I did. I'm the first one to tell you I'd fight with a fencepost if I thought I could win. But it's one of them things where my past leads to the wrong conclusions.
CTV: Was there one thing that you or someone could have done in your young life to prevent you from being here?
SWEARINGEN: Yeah, probably whooped my ass when they found out I was having sex. If my son wouldn't have come about, I'd probably been in college and things may have been different. But like I said, you got to take responsibility for your own past. Nobody forced me to do things. I made my own decisions. Right around 13 or 14, I was doing what I wanted to do and didn't care what anybody else said.
You just have to, have to accept what happened, you know. There were things in my past that I could have used for mitigating evidence. I'm not, I'm not using it as a crutch. It happened. There's nothing I can do about it. But I'm not going to use it as a crutch.
CTV: Can you give an example?
SWEARINGEN: I was abused by a relative, let's leave it at that. It's things that a guy just does not want to talk about. You know, it happened, there's nothing I can do about it. I found out later that it happened to that person as well by a family member. For lack of a better word, the chain has been broken. My son will never have to deal with that. The only thing he's got to worry about is my mom not tearing the hide in his ass. He's a good kid, he's adjusted well and made the honor roll. He looks like me, but he's not like me and I'm glad for that.
CTV: How are you different?
SWEARINGEN: I like country, he likes rock. Where I like sports, he doesn't. He's a pain in the butt. No, he's my boy. He's 6-foot-1, with a size 13 foot. He's 16.
CTV: What is your biggest regret?
SWEARINGEN: Not being a better parent. That's my biggest regret, not being a better parent. I brought two beautiful children in this world, and I'm sitting here and somebody else is raising them. And that's not the way I was raised. My dad and mom — I say my dad, both my dads — raised me better than that. So not being a better parent, not being a better brother, uncle, things like that.
CTV: Did you write some of your appeals?
SWEARINGEN: I wrote some of it, yes. I asked for DNA testing on an officer who claims he cut himself shaving that morning, and the blood floated through the air and landed on her fingernails. I filed some for DNA testing on the officer and the district attorney and all these people that claimed that blood floated through the air and landed on the body and under the fingernails and things like that.
CTV: Why did you decide to do it rather than finding an attorney?
SWEARINGEN: An attorney wouldn't help me. You're put in a position where Texas attorneys for the most part are worried about their money and not about anything else. So if you want things done, you do it yourself. Simple as that. I tried, I failed, I went all the way to the Supreme Court with it. They put it on docket to review it and ultimately decided I didn't have, I guess, a good enough argument. I'm not an attorney. I made the best I could do with what
I have.
CTV: Do you think life in prison without parole would be harder than a death sentence?
SWEARINGEN: I wasn't going to accept a plea bargain. It wasn't for me. It's not an option. I'm not going to sit in prison and watch my family and friends die off, and me sitting back here for something I didn't do. If giving my life means to stand my ground, then so be it. I'll give it. Simple as that. I'm not going to plead guilty or accept a plea bargain to save my life only to ... it's a torture.
Prison life is not easy. This is a different society in here. People that sit on juries think, well, this is easy or whatever, and it's not. You do the best you can, but there are times that you have to do things you wouldn't normally do out there.
CTV: Can you give me an example?
SWEARINGEN: No.
CTV: Sure?
SWEARINGEN: Very sure.
CTV: Do you expect any family or friends to be at your execution, if it goes through?
SWEARINGEN: I'm not going to let them be there. This isn't a party I'm going to. It's not where I'm going to go and order snacks and invite guests. I'm going there to be murdered. Simple as that. I'm going there, if that's what it comes to, get it over with.
CTV: Are you religious?
SWEARINGEN: Am I religious, eh? It depends on what you call religious. Do I believe in God? Yes. Do I have a religion? No. Religion is why we're at war. If you think about it, if you just knock all the crap off of it, we all believe in the same god. It doesn't matter, it doesn't say in the Bible that if you're Catholic, you reach St. Peter's gate before a Protestant. It doesn't say if you're Muslim, you're better than anybody else. We all have a god, whether it's Jesus or, what is it for Muslims, Muhammad, or whatever. We all have the same god.
CTV: What do you think will happen to you after you die?
SWEARINGEN: I'm going to be planted in the ground. That's what going to happen. No, I'm going to be cremated.
CTV: Do you believe in an afterlife?
SWEARINGEN: You know what, I've never given any thought about that. You know, if I do, I want to come back as a dog.
CTV: Why? What kind?
SWEARINGEN: A big dog. I want to be like a Saint Bernard, where I can drool on people and that way I can hump your leg if you don't like it or something. I've never given any thought about it, really. I've decided I'm going to be cremated, going to have my ashes spread on both my dads' graves and be done with it. It's cheaper and I ain't going to put my family through the financial burden and all that other crap.
CTV: Are you afraid to die?
SWEARINGEN: Am I afraid to die? No, it goes back to the beginning. I could've took a plea bargain, but once you make that decision, you have to stick by that decision. You have to stick by the decision that you make. There's no going back. There's no saying, "Hey, look, I changed my mind." It just doesn't work like that. One of them things.
CTV: Is there anything you want people to know about you that they may not know?
SWEARINGEN: Yeah, I'm a hemorrhoid; I'll just grow on you after a while. It's one of them things, if you sit and look at my case with common sense, you'll know it's full of crap. You can either like me or hate me and it doesn't make any difference. Give me a chance, you'll learn to like me. You'll see I'm not the person Texas would portray me as. But I'm not the only one here either. There are several people. If you look at their cases and especially with the Houston crime lab, one guy was released over the ballistics and another guy is fixing to be killed by same person. So they sort of pick and choose their cases.
If you look back, look back at the case of O.J. Simpson. He had the money to hire a team. It's not whether he's guilty or innocent. Robert Blake had the money to hire his team. Michael Jackson had the money to hire his team. Kobe Bryant had the money to hire his team. Scott Peterson didn't hire a team — see where he's sitting. There's more evidence against O.J. Simpson than there was against that man.
It all comes down to who's going to take and put the best argument together. So long as the state has to pay for your experts, you're not going to get a competent person that's going to argue for you.
CTV: Have you thought about what your last words might be?
SWEARINGEN: There's not going to be any last words. I'm going to go in there and push the button. Let's get it over with. There's not going to be any last words and there's not going to be any witnesses. Like I said, it's not a party and for somebody to come up here thinking, "Oh, I'm going to get closure in this," you're wrong. Death is death. There's no coming back from it. If you've ever seen the face of death, you'll never forget it. I've worked with the fire department. I did things and I've seen death. There's still things I remember.
CTV: Are you afraid of death?
SWEARINGEN: No, I was exposed to it early on in my life with my dad dying, then my horse died, and then my dog died after that. They say things come in threes.
http://www.courttv.com/facing_death/lar ... =yes&page=
Sometimes I'd walk into a club with my friends or with my wife or whatever, and find the biggest guy and punch him in the mouth. Ask him, 'Do you want to go outside?' And it's not because I'm a Billy Bad-Ass, or anything like that. It's just using them like that. It makes you feel you're invincible, that you can do what you want to do. That's probably the worst mistake I ever made in my life.
***
CourtTVnews.com reporter Emanuella Grinberg interviewed Texas death row inmate Larry Swearingen on Jan. 10 at the Polunsky Prison Unit in Livingston, Texas. Late Tuesday, Swearingen won a reprieve from his scheduled Wednesday execution. The transcript below has been edited for length and clarity. The video was produced by Mark Grieco.
COURTTVNEWS.COM: Can you describe a typical day on death row for you?
LARRY SWEARINGEN: Typical day? I sleep a lot. I work on my case, write the attorneys. Try to get people to help me, and I work, that's it.
CTV: What do you do to pass the time?
SWEARINGEN: Read or draw.
CTV: Do you get mail from strangers or admirers?
SWEARINGEN: Admirers? Well, I'm not going to say no, but I don't respond to them as far as that. This is not something I'm proud of. This is not something that should be glorified. People have groupies or whatever, but I just don't want them. It's not me. I write about four people that I write.
CTV: Who are they?
SWEARINGEN: My family and my wife and I have one good friend who's in Australia. That's about it. I just don't have groupies.
CTV: What are some things you miss about life on the outside?
SWEARINGEN: My kids. That's it. My kids. Everything else is irrelevant; I miss my kids, my son, my daughter, that's what I miss the most.
CTV: How is your relationship with your children?
SWEARINGEN: As good as it can be expected, I guess. It's not the perfect relationship, but they come up here, we write and we do the best we can. I stay in touch with their teachers. I still get their report cards. I try to stay as active as anyone can in this situation to be in their kids' lives.
CTV: Where did you grow up?
SWEARINGEN: I was an Army brat till the age of 10, moved around a lot, so my real dad passed away. In '81, my mom married my stepdad, so we still moved around. So it wasn't one specific place.
CTV: What was it like growing up without a father?
SWEARINGEN: I had a father. This isn't a stepchild horror story. My stepdad is my dad. He was my best friend and biggest supporter. I've had many arguments about that. God blessed me with two dads. It wasn't just one. You always hear the stepdad or stepmom horror stories, and it wasn't like that. He was my best friend and biggest supporter. I didn't grow up without a dad. I had a dad.
CTV: Can you recall when you were the happiest?
SWEARINGEN: There's not just one specific thing that I could say would outrank one or the other. My son, watching him being born, and my daughter, watch[ing] her being born, those are probably the two happiest memories you can get. I don't know if you have kids, but it's, that's mine, that's something you can never change.
CTV: Is there any particular moment in your life that you consider a turning point?
SWEARINGEN: There's really not a changing point. I made mistakes in my life, and for any man or woman to sit and say they are without fault or never made mistakes, they're liars. I've made mistakes and I'm the first to tell you, I've made a mistake, I've made several mistakes.
I guess the changing point in my life was when I started using steroids. You hear these sports players talking about it doesn't do nothing. They're liars. One, it makes you lose your hair. It gives you a temper, things like that. Looking back at it now and that I don't have any of it in my system, I'm surprised my family still talks to me. I had a horrible attitude.
Sometimes I'd walk into a club with my friends or with my wife or whatever, and find the biggest guy and punch him in the mouth. Ask him, "Do you want to go outside?" And it's not because I'm a Billy Bad-Ass, or anything like that. It's just using them like that. It makes you feel you're invincible, that you can do what you want to do. That's probably the worst mistake I ever made in
my life.
CTV: You knew the victim in the case? What attracted you to her?
SWEARINGEN: It wasn't an attraction. We were friends. It wasn't a sexual thing and people don't understand that. It wasn't, we weren't screwing each other. I'm trying to be polite. It wasn't like that. We just run around together. It was fun. My ex-wife was older than me, where we didn't do a lot of things together. Doesn't say that I didn't love her because I did, but we just didn't do a lot of things, whereas Melissa was younger than me. We went to the beach. We went and played putt-putt golf or whatever. It was just something we run around and did. It wasn't, it wasn't getting in each other's pants. It wasn't that kind of friendship.
CTV: What was she like?
SWEARINGEN: She was full of piss and vinegar. She was just outgoing. She liked animals. She liked to read. We went to the beach. I didn't know her well enough to say she was this or that. She'd call, say, "Hey, what are you doing?" We'd go do this ... It wasn't an everyday thing. It just wasn't an everyday thing. She was a nice girl. I don't know how to explain it. She was just a nice friend.
CTV: So you didn't kill her?
SWEARINGEN: No. The DNA under the fingernails is not mine. They found pubic hairs, they said that I raped her, but the pubic hairs aren't mine. They alleged all this stuff, but it's not mine. It's as simple as that. The blood is male, but it's not mine. Whatever happens happens. There's nothing I can do about. All I can do hope that the attorneys are diligent enough to get things done. If not, then I'm in a world of shit. You can smile, it's not that bad.
CTV: Why have you continued to press your appeals?
SWEARINGEN: Why? Well, I could have took a plea bargain and had a chance of going home, but I'm not going to plead guilty to something I didn't do. There comes a time where everybody has to stand their ground and accept what comes if you stand your ground.
I'm not going to plead guilty to murder for something I didn't do. I may steal your car, I may cheat on you, I may do all these other things, but killing somebody is not it. That's not, this is not me. I'm not going to say I don't have a temper, because I did. I'm the first one to tell you I'd fight with a fencepost if I thought I could win. But it's one of them things where my past leads to the wrong conclusions.
CTV: Was there one thing that you or someone could have done in your young life to prevent you from being here?
SWEARINGEN: Yeah, probably whooped my ass when they found out I was having sex. If my son wouldn't have come about, I'd probably been in college and things may have been different. But like I said, you got to take responsibility for your own past. Nobody forced me to do things. I made my own decisions. Right around 13 or 14, I was doing what I wanted to do and didn't care what anybody else said.
You just have to, have to accept what happened, you know. There were things in my past that I could have used for mitigating evidence. I'm not, I'm not using it as a crutch. It happened. There's nothing I can do about it. But I'm not going to use it as a crutch.
CTV: Can you give an example?
SWEARINGEN: I was abused by a relative, let's leave it at that. It's things that a guy just does not want to talk about. You know, it happened, there's nothing I can do about it. I found out later that it happened to that person as well by a family member. For lack of a better word, the chain has been broken. My son will never have to deal with that. The only thing he's got to worry about is my mom not tearing the hide in his ass. He's a good kid, he's adjusted well and made the honor roll. He looks like me, but he's not like me and I'm glad for that.
CTV: How are you different?
SWEARINGEN: I like country, he likes rock. Where I like sports, he doesn't. He's a pain in the butt. No, he's my boy. He's 6-foot-1, with a size 13 foot. He's 16.
CTV: What is your biggest regret?
SWEARINGEN: Not being a better parent. That's my biggest regret, not being a better parent. I brought two beautiful children in this world, and I'm sitting here and somebody else is raising them. And that's not the way I was raised. My dad and mom — I say my dad, both my dads — raised me better than that. So not being a better parent, not being a better brother, uncle, things like that.
CTV: Did you write some of your appeals?
SWEARINGEN: I wrote some of it, yes. I asked for DNA testing on an officer who claims he cut himself shaving that morning, and the blood floated through the air and landed on her fingernails. I filed some for DNA testing on the officer and the district attorney and all these people that claimed that blood floated through the air and landed on the body and under the fingernails and things like that.
CTV: Why did you decide to do it rather than finding an attorney?
SWEARINGEN: An attorney wouldn't help me. You're put in a position where Texas attorneys for the most part are worried about their money and not about anything else. So if you want things done, you do it yourself. Simple as that. I tried, I failed, I went all the way to the Supreme Court with it. They put it on docket to review it and ultimately decided I didn't have, I guess, a good enough argument. I'm not an attorney. I made the best I could do with what
I have.
CTV: Do you think life in prison without parole would be harder than a death sentence?
SWEARINGEN: I wasn't going to accept a plea bargain. It wasn't for me. It's not an option. I'm not going to sit in prison and watch my family and friends die off, and me sitting back here for something I didn't do. If giving my life means to stand my ground, then so be it. I'll give it. Simple as that. I'm not going to plead guilty or accept a plea bargain to save my life only to ... it's a torture.
Prison life is not easy. This is a different society in here. People that sit on juries think, well, this is easy or whatever, and it's not. You do the best you can, but there are times that you have to do things you wouldn't normally do out there.
CTV: Can you give me an example?
SWEARINGEN: No.
CTV: Sure?
SWEARINGEN: Very sure.
CTV: Do you expect any family or friends to be at your execution, if it goes through?
SWEARINGEN: I'm not going to let them be there. This isn't a party I'm going to. It's not where I'm going to go and order snacks and invite guests. I'm going there to be murdered. Simple as that. I'm going there, if that's what it comes to, get it over with.
CTV: Are you religious?
SWEARINGEN: Am I religious, eh? It depends on what you call religious. Do I believe in God? Yes. Do I have a religion? No. Religion is why we're at war. If you think about it, if you just knock all the crap off of it, we all believe in the same god. It doesn't matter, it doesn't say in the Bible that if you're Catholic, you reach St. Peter's gate before a Protestant. It doesn't say if you're Muslim, you're better than anybody else. We all have a god, whether it's Jesus or, what is it for Muslims, Muhammad, or whatever. We all have the same god.
CTV: What do you think will happen to you after you die?
SWEARINGEN: I'm going to be planted in the ground. That's what going to happen. No, I'm going to be cremated.
CTV: Do you believe in an afterlife?
SWEARINGEN: You know what, I've never given any thought about that. You know, if I do, I want to come back as a dog.
CTV: Why? What kind?
SWEARINGEN: A big dog. I want to be like a Saint Bernard, where I can drool on people and that way I can hump your leg if you don't like it or something. I've never given any thought about it, really. I've decided I'm going to be cremated, going to have my ashes spread on both my dads' graves and be done with it. It's cheaper and I ain't going to put my family through the financial burden and all that other crap.
CTV: Are you afraid to die?
SWEARINGEN: Am I afraid to die? No, it goes back to the beginning. I could've took a plea bargain, but once you make that decision, you have to stick by that decision. You have to stick by the decision that you make. There's no going back. There's no saying, "Hey, look, I changed my mind." It just doesn't work like that. One of them things.
CTV: Is there anything you want people to know about you that they may not know?
SWEARINGEN: Yeah, I'm a hemorrhoid; I'll just grow on you after a while. It's one of them things, if you sit and look at my case with common sense, you'll know it's full of crap. You can either like me or hate me and it doesn't make any difference. Give me a chance, you'll learn to like me. You'll see I'm not the person Texas would portray me as. But I'm not the only one here either. There are several people. If you look at their cases and especially with the Houston crime lab, one guy was released over the ballistics and another guy is fixing to be killed by same person. So they sort of pick and choose their cases.
If you look back, look back at the case of O.J. Simpson. He had the money to hire a team. It's not whether he's guilty or innocent. Robert Blake had the money to hire his team. Michael Jackson had the money to hire his team. Kobe Bryant had the money to hire his team. Scott Peterson didn't hire a team — see where he's sitting. There's more evidence against O.J. Simpson than there was against that man.
It all comes down to who's going to take and put the best argument together. So long as the state has to pay for your experts, you're not going to get a competent person that's going to argue for you.
CTV: Have you thought about what your last words might be?
SWEARINGEN: There's not going to be any last words. I'm going to go in there and push the button. Let's get it over with. There's not going to be any last words and there's not going to be any witnesses. Like I said, it's not a party and for somebody to come up here thinking, "Oh, I'm going to get closure in this," you're wrong. Death is death. There's no coming back from it. If you've ever seen the face of death, you'll never forget it. I've worked with the fire department. I did things and I've seen death. There's still things I remember.
CTV: Are you afraid of death?
SWEARINGEN: No, I was exposed to it early on in my life with my dad dying, then my horse died, and then my dog died after that. They say things come in threes.
http://www.courttv.com/facing_death/lar ... =yes&page=
- janneke
- Posts: 4267
- Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:49 am
- Location: Netherlands
by janneke on Thu Jun 07, 2007 10:46 am
06/05/2007
Hearing set for convicted Willis man
By Howard Roden , Senior writer
Ninth state District Court Judge Fred Edwards has scheduled a July 2 evidentiary hearing for the case of convicted killer Larry Ray Swearingen, who contradicts the forensic evidence that helped send the Willis man to death row.
The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office requested the hearing.
Swearingen, 36, was set to die Jan. 24 in Huntsville by lethal injection for the 1998 kidnapping and strangulation of 19-year-old college student Melissa Trotter, also of Willis. He was found guilty of Trotter's murder in June 2000.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Swearingen a stay about 24 hours before his execution was scheduled to take place.
The appeals court ruled that a second writ of habeas corpus submitted by Swearingen raised six points worthy of re-examination, including a claim by defense attorney James Rytting, of Houston, that prosecution experts incorrectly determined the time of Trotter's death. Rytting's motion also claimed the state withheld the entomological information that would have helped his client.
Trotter was last seen alive Dec. 8, 1998, at the Montgomery College campus. Her body was found in the Sam Houston National Forest in far north Montgomery County Jan. 2, 1999.
It has been the opinion of Rytting and his experts that entomological and pathological evidence contradict the state's claim Trotter was murdered and placed in the forest well after the date of her disappearance and projected death of Dec. 8. It is Swearingen's contention he could not have killed Trotter because he was in jail Dec. 11.
Rytting has submitted affidavits from two pathologists and two entomologists that the state's forensic evidence did not fit the proposed time of death.
"The evidence is looking stronger and stronger in favor of Mr. Swearingen's position," Rytting said.
Edwards will issue a finding of fact and a conclusion of law based on the hearing, which he will forward to the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals in Austin.
Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Marc Brumberger, of the appellate division, said he filed the motion for the hearing to prevent a "repeated exchange" of written rebuttals.
"It makes sense to bring the people into court and go over an expert's new piece of testimony during an evidentiary hearing," he said. "It's much easier and cleaner to address all of this in live court where the judge can hear it."
Brumberger said he expects the hearing to last only one day.
Rytting said it was a "clearly just and reasonable decision" for Edwards to call the hearing.
"To the DA's credit, I think it's the right thing to get this resolved," Rytting said. "This way, the experts can testify and be cross-examined in front of the judge."
Howard Roden can be reached at hroden@hcnonline.com.
http://www.hcnonline.com/site/index.cfm ... 2207&rfi=8
Hearing set for convicted Willis man
By Howard Roden , Senior writer
Ninth state District Court Judge Fred Edwards has scheduled a July 2 evidentiary hearing for the case of convicted killer Larry Ray Swearingen, who contradicts the forensic evidence that helped send the Willis man to death row.
The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office requested the hearing.
Swearingen, 36, was set to die Jan. 24 in Huntsville by lethal injection for the 1998 kidnapping and strangulation of 19-year-old college student Melissa Trotter, also of Willis. He was found guilty of Trotter's murder in June 2000.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Swearingen a stay about 24 hours before his execution was scheduled to take place.
The appeals court ruled that a second writ of habeas corpus submitted by Swearingen raised six points worthy of re-examination, including a claim by defense attorney James Rytting, of Houston, that prosecution experts incorrectly determined the time of Trotter's death. Rytting's motion also claimed the state withheld the entomological information that would have helped his client.
Trotter was last seen alive Dec. 8, 1998, at the Montgomery College campus. Her body was found in the Sam Houston National Forest in far north Montgomery County Jan. 2, 1999.
It has been the opinion of Rytting and his experts that entomological and pathological evidence contradict the state's claim Trotter was murdered and placed in the forest well after the date of her disappearance and projected death of Dec. 8. It is Swearingen's contention he could not have killed Trotter because he was in jail Dec. 11.
Rytting has submitted affidavits from two pathologists and two entomologists that the state's forensic evidence did not fit the proposed time of death.
"The evidence is looking stronger and stronger in favor of Mr. Swearingen's position," Rytting said.
Edwards will issue a finding of fact and a conclusion of law based on the hearing, which he will forward to the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals in Austin.
Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Marc Brumberger, of the appellate division, said he filed the motion for the hearing to prevent a "repeated exchange" of written rebuttals.
"It makes sense to bring the people into court and go over an expert's new piece of testimony during an evidentiary hearing," he said. "It's much easier and cleaner to address all of this in live court where the judge can hear it."
Brumberger said he expects the hearing to last only one day.
Rytting said it was a "clearly just and reasonable decision" for Edwards to call the hearing.
"To the DA's credit, I think it's the right thing to get this resolved," Rytting said. "This way, the experts can testify and be cross-examined in front of the judge."
Howard Roden can be reached at hroden@hcnonline.com.
http://www.hcnonline.com/site/index.cfm ... 2207&rfi=8
- janneke
- Posts: 4267
- Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:49 am
- Location: Netherlands
by janneke on Wed Jul 04, 2007 8:34 pm
July 2, 2007, 10:28PM
Convicted killer's defense offers new evidence
Insect activity on victim's body shows Swearingen didn't kill 19-year-
old, attorney says
By RENÉE C. LEE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
CONROE — In seeking a new trial for convicted killer Larry
Swearingen, who won a stay a day before his scheduled execution,
defense attorneys on Monday presented new evidence they say
contradicts the state's case and proves he is innocent.
Swearingen is on death row for sexual assault and strangulation of 19-
year-old Melissa Trotter of Willis, who disappeared from Montgomery
College on Dec. 8, 1998. He was set to die Jan. 24, but the Texas
Criminal Court of Appeals granted him a reprieve.
During a hearing before Judge Fred Edwards of Montgomery County's 9th
state District Court, Swearingen's attorney, James Rytting, tried to
show that Swearingen could not have committed the crime based on the
state's theory of how it happened — because he was in jail.
Trotter's body was found Jan, 2, 1999, in the Sam Houston National
Forest. The Harris County medical examiner determined that her body
had been in the forest for 25 days before it was found, based on
insect activity, and placed her date of death on Dec. 8.
Swearingen's experts say that based on the presence of the insects on
her body, Trotter died after Dec. 11 and as late as Dec. 18, when
they say insect infestation occurred. Swearingen was arrested on Dec.
11 on an unrelated charge and remained in jail until his trial.
Defense entomology expert James Arends testified Monday that the body
could not have been in the forest for any longer than a week because
of the lack of insect activity reported in the medical examiner's
report and a second report by another defense expert. He also said
that Trotter's body was likely frozen and moved to the forest.
Jeffery Tomberlin, an expert for the prosecution, said it is not
unusual to see a delay of insect activity on a decomposing body. He
also said that the Dec. 18 insect infestation date would be
consistent with the body being in the woods for 25 days.
Trotter's family attended the hearing, sitting behind Swearingen, who
appeared in court in a tropical shirt and handcuffs. Sandra Trotter,
Melissa's mother, said the hearing was a waste of time.
''I don't feel like there's any evidence to overturn anything," she
said.
The court has 30 days to give each side a transcript of the hearing.
Then the defense and prosecution have another 30 days to submit a
proposed fact of findings and conclusion of law to the state judge.
The judge can accept one of their proposals or write his own opinion
to submit to the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals, which will decide
whether to grant Swearingen a new hearing or reschedule his execution.
renee.lee@chron.com
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 39556.html
Convicted killer's defense offers new evidence
Insect activity on victim's body shows Swearingen didn't kill 19-year-
old, attorney says
By RENÉE C. LEE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
CONROE — In seeking a new trial for convicted killer Larry
Swearingen, who won a stay a day before his scheduled execution,
defense attorneys on Monday presented new evidence they say
contradicts the state's case and proves he is innocent.
Swearingen is on death row for sexual assault and strangulation of 19-
year-old Melissa Trotter of Willis, who disappeared from Montgomery
College on Dec. 8, 1998. He was set to die Jan. 24, but the Texas
Criminal Court of Appeals granted him a reprieve.
During a hearing before Judge Fred Edwards of Montgomery County's 9th
state District Court, Swearingen's attorney, James Rytting, tried to
show that Swearingen could not have committed the crime based on the
state's theory of how it happened — because he was in jail.
Trotter's body was found Jan, 2, 1999, in the Sam Houston National
Forest. The Harris County medical examiner determined that her body
had been in the forest for 25 days before it was found, based on
insect activity, and placed her date of death on Dec. 8.
Swearingen's experts say that based on the presence of the insects on
her body, Trotter died after Dec. 11 and as late as Dec. 18, when
they say insect infestation occurred. Swearingen was arrested on Dec.
11 on an unrelated charge and remained in jail until his trial.
Defense entomology expert James Arends testified Monday that the body
could not have been in the forest for any longer than a week because
of the lack of insect activity reported in the medical examiner's
report and a second report by another defense expert. He also said
that Trotter's body was likely frozen and moved to the forest.
Jeffery Tomberlin, an expert for the prosecution, said it is not
unusual to see a delay of insect activity on a decomposing body. He
also said that the Dec. 18 insect infestation date would be
consistent with the body being in the woods for 25 days.
Trotter's family attended the hearing, sitting behind Swearingen, who
appeared in court in a tropical shirt and handcuffs. Sandra Trotter,
Melissa's mother, said the hearing was a waste of time.
''I don't feel like there's any evidence to overturn anything," she
said.
The court has 30 days to give each side a transcript of the hearing.
Then the defense and prosecution have another 30 days to submit a
proposed fact of findings and conclusion of law to the state judge.
The judge can accept one of their proposals or write his own opinion
to submit to the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals, which will decide
whether to grant Swearingen a new hearing or reschedule his execution.
renee.lee@chron.com
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 39556.html
- janneke
- Posts: 4267
- Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:49 am
- Location: Netherlands
Larry Swearingen - Judge denies motion to recuse judge
by Petra on Tue Oct 28, 2008 8:19 pm
Judge denies motion to recuse judge
By Lucretia Cardenas
Updated: 10.27.08
A visiting judge denied a motion to recuse 9th state District Court
Judge Fred Edwards from the case of Larry Ray Swearingen.
A Montgomery County jury convicted Swearingen eight years ago in the
murder of Montgomery College student Melissa Trotter.
With the denial of the motion for recusal, Edwards’ ruling on the
latest evidentiary hearing in June will go before the Texas Court of
Criminal Appeals, but no date is set. Edwards ruled against the two
claims presented during the June hearing.
Swearingen was scheduled to be executed in January 2007, but a stay
was granted following the filing of an appeal.
Edwards heard Swearingen’s initial trial and all subsequent
evidentiary hearings held at the order of Court of Criminal Appeals.
During a hearing on the motion for recusal Monday, Swearingen
attorney James Rytting accused Edwards of giving “an appearance of
bias” during Swearingen’s hearings. His argument focused on the June
hearing at which Trotter’s family was allowed to sit in the jury box
to listen to the proceedings.
Rytting called on Trotter’s parents to testify Monday. Both Charles
Trotter Jr. and Sandra Trotter testified that they never discussed
the case with Edwards and said the only reason they sat in the jury
box was because a person directed them to sit there.
Jennifer Contella, 9th state District Court coordinator, testified
Monday that it was her decision to place the family in the jury box
because a victim’s assistance official was not present. She said she
didn’t want Trotter’s family and friends in the hallway when
Swearingen was brought into the courtroom and was trying to find a
place to seat the group together.
“We had a really busy morning that morning,” Contella said. “The
courtroom was filled and the judge was running behind.”
Edwards also took the stand Monday, denying any claims that he knew
or instructed Trotter’s family and friends to sit in the jury box.
“No one asked my permission to put the family there,” Edwards said.
“After I received the motion, I inquired about it.”
However, Gloria Rubac, who was in the courtroom during the hearing
because she was interested in Swearingen’s case, said she found the
seating of Trotter’s family strange. She said the family did not exit
the same doors as the rest of the audience. Montgomery County
Assistant District Attorney Marc Brumberger emphasized to visiting
Judge Reva L. Towlee Corbett, of the 335th state District Court, that
the issue of the family’s seating was not brought forth during the
hearing.
Following Corbett’s decision, Sandra Trotter said she regrets her
family was forced to “go through all this again.”
Charles Trotter Jr. said he was still upset about being subpoenaed at
6:30 p.m. Monday to give a deposition at 10 a.m. the following day,
calling it harassment. The deposition never took place because
Brumberger moved to quash the subpoena.
“I’m looking forward to the day they execute him (Swearingen,)”
Charles Trotter Jr. said.
Swearingen’s son was present in the courtroom Monday to support his
father, but he did not wish to comment on the case.
http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2008/ ... en1028.txt
By Lucretia Cardenas
Updated: 10.27.08
A visiting judge denied a motion to recuse 9th state District Court
Judge Fred Edwards from the case of Larry Ray Swearingen.
A Montgomery County jury convicted Swearingen eight years ago in the
murder of Montgomery College student Melissa Trotter.
With the denial of the motion for recusal, Edwards’ ruling on the
latest evidentiary hearing in June will go before the Texas Court of
Criminal Appeals, but no date is set. Edwards ruled against the two
claims presented during the June hearing.
Swearingen was scheduled to be executed in January 2007, but a stay
was granted following the filing of an appeal.
Edwards heard Swearingen’s initial trial and all subsequent
evidentiary hearings held at the order of Court of Criminal Appeals.
During a hearing on the motion for recusal Monday, Swearingen
attorney James Rytting accused Edwards of giving “an appearance of
bias” during Swearingen’s hearings. His argument focused on the June
hearing at which Trotter’s family was allowed to sit in the jury box
to listen to the proceedings.
Rytting called on Trotter’s parents to testify Monday. Both Charles
Trotter Jr. and Sandra Trotter testified that they never discussed
the case with Edwards and said the only reason they sat in the jury
box was because a person directed them to sit there.
Jennifer Contella, 9th state District Court coordinator, testified
Monday that it was her decision to place the family in the jury box
because a victim’s assistance official was not present. She said she
didn’t want Trotter’s family and friends in the hallway when
Swearingen was brought into the courtroom and was trying to find a
place to seat the group together.
“We had a really busy morning that morning,” Contella said. “The
courtroom was filled and the judge was running behind.”
Edwards also took the stand Monday, denying any claims that he knew
or instructed Trotter’s family and friends to sit in the jury box.
“No one asked my permission to put the family there,” Edwards said.
“After I received the motion, I inquired about it.”
However, Gloria Rubac, who was in the courtroom during the hearing
because she was interested in Swearingen’s case, said she found the
seating of Trotter’s family strange. She said the family did not exit
the same doors as the rest of the audience. Montgomery County
Assistant District Attorney Marc Brumberger emphasized to visiting
Judge Reva L. Towlee Corbett, of the 335th state District Court, that
the issue of the family’s seating was not brought forth during the
hearing.
Following Corbett’s decision, Sandra Trotter said she regrets her
family was forced to “go through all this again.”
Charles Trotter Jr. said he was still upset about being subpoenaed at
6:30 p.m. Monday to give a deposition at 10 a.m. the following day,
calling it harassment. The deposition never took place because
Brumberger moved to quash the subpoena.
“I’m looking forward to the day they execute him (Swearingen,)”
Charles Trotter Jr. said.
Swearingen’s son was present in the courtroom Monday to support his
father, but he did not wish to comment on the case.
http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2008/ ... en1028.txt
*************************************
"Dem Kampf um Menschenrechte gewidmet" Matchett: http://www.todestrakt-texas.de
Who is Who on D.R.: http://www.deathrow-usa.com
"Dem Kampf um Menschenrechte gewidmet" Matchett: http://www.todestrakt-texas.de
Who is Who on D.R.: http://www.deathrow-usa.com
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