CONVICTION OVERTURNED TX - Angel Moreno, 11 mos, dies of head trauma, Brownsville, 31 Oct 2005

[Belinda]

October 21, 2008 9:58 PM

By LAURA B. MARTINEZ/The Brownsville Herald

The capital murder trial of Manuel Velez was abruptly interrupted Tuesday morning as Velez's brother was arrested in the court room on suspicion of intimidating witnesses testifying in the case.

Rafael Velez, 26, was arrested and arraigned on one count of contempt of court before 404th State District Judge Abel Limas.

"They felt so threatened they were literally shaking in fear," Limas told Rafael Velez.

Rafael Velez said he didn't mean to do any harm to anyone and apologized for his actions. He was released on a $500 personal recognizance bond under the condition that he not return to the Cameron County Courthouse through the duration of the trial.

snip

Acela Moreno is baby Angel's mother. Although she was initially charged with capital murder, she later pleaded guilty to a count of injury to a child. She was sentenced to 10 years in the Texas Department of Corrections and agreed to testify against Manuel Velez in his trial.

Much more at link:
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/velez-91023-baby-testified.html
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Acela Rosalba Moreno does not appear to be in custody at this time.

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Manuel Velez

Housed: Polunsky
Offense Date: 10/31/2005
Sentence Date: 10/24/2008

Offense: Capital Murder
Sentence: Death

 

[Belinda]

Update

Acela Rosalba Moreno was released and deported on 02/17/2010. Manuel Velez is still on death row.

 

[2goldfish]

Update

Acela Rosalba Moreno was released and deported on 02/17/2010. Manuel Velez is still on death row.

and that's the perfect spot for him IMO.


people who torture babies do not deserve to live. the end.

would you believe til I read about Ethan Stacey I was still undecided which side of the DP fence I was on?

now in only a few short weeks I feel that not NEARLY enough torturers and murders of children are properly taken care of. :furious:

 

[OkieGranny]

Feature article from 2013:

http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/reasonable-doubt-the-manuel-velez-case/

On April 2, 2013, state district judge Elia Cornejo Lopez ordered that Manuel Velez receive a new trial. The Cameron County judge agreed with Velez’s appellate attorneys, who have argued that Velez received a woefully poor defense at his 2008 capital murder trial...

Lopez found that Velez’s trial attorneys erred by failing to present critical medical evidence pointing away from his guilt, and that they also failed to present evidence of Acela’s culpability in the crime. Lopez noted that the trial attorneys did not “adequately investigate and present evidence that Moreno had a history of abusing her children and that she admitted to striking Angel on the day in question.”

From October 2014:

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...-row-inmate-released-on-parole-in-5810554.php

Manuel Velez, a 48-year-old construction worker from the Rio Grande Valley who had been on death row for the capital murder of his girlfriend's 11-month-old baby, was released Wednesday on parole...

Velez was allowed to be paroled after pleading no contest to a lesser charge of injury to a child.