Melissa Lucio case sent back to trial court

BROWNSVILLE, Texas ( ValleyCentral ) — The case against Melissa Lucio, the Harlingen mother convicted of killing her young daughter, has been sent back to trial court.

An order filed June 19 in the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas states that a trial court has 90 days to “make findings of fact, conclusions of law and a recommendation,” based on several claims made by Lucio.

Lucio was convicted of capital murder in July 2008 in the killing of her 2-year-old daughter Mariah Alvarez. She was scheduled to be executed April 27, 2022.

Nine days before her execution date, Lucio filed a habeas application, raising nine claims for relief. Among those, Lucio claimed that previously unavailable scientific evidence would have helped her case, her counsel provided ineffective assistance and the state violated her Sixth Amendment right to be free from pre-trial interrogation. She also claimed she was innocent of the offense.

The Court of Criminal Appeals determined those four claims met the requirements, and stopped her execution.

On April 12, 2024, an agreed findings of facts and conclusions was filed signed by the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office and Senior Judge Arturo Nelson.

The 33-page document states that parties are in agreement that relief should be granted, citing that the State withheld favorable material evidence at the trial.

“The parties agree that [Lucio] is entitled to relief because there is reasonable probability that the outcome of [Lucio’s] trial would have been different had the evidence been disclosed,” the document stated.

The parties asked to hold Lucio’s other claims pending the findings regarding this claim.

“We decline the trial court’s invitation to engage in piecemeal litigation,” the Court of Appeals stated.

The Court of Appeals stated that any requests for extensions must be made by the trial court and directed to Court of Appeals.

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