Texas, condanna a morte annullata in appello

AUSTIN - E' stata annullata oggi in Corte d'Appello la condanna a morte di un uomo giudicato colpevole di duplice assassinio, perch� alla giuria del suo processo era stata mostrata la fotografia di una delle sue vittime che giaceva nella bara accanto al suo feto. Con cinque voti contro quattro, la massima Corte d'Appello Penale del Texas ha sentenziato che quella fotografia potrebbe avere sconvolto emotivamente i giurati, inducendoli a superare la concretezza delle prove. Il condannato, RaqmOnd Reese, 52 anni di et�, processato per l'assassinio di Paula Birdow e di suomarito Michael perpetrato nel 1996, dovr� essere ora sottoposto ad un nuovo processo.

Texas Death Sentence Thrown Out

By JIM VERTUNO, Associated Press Writer

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A Texas appeals court Wednesday threw out a convicted killer's death sentence because the jury was shown a photograph of one of the murder victims lying in a casket next to her fetus.

The photo may have caused emotion to override the facts when Raymond Reese was sentenced, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled 5-4.

The state's highest criminal appeals court affirmed the murder conviction of Reese, 52, in the 1996 shooting deaths of Paula Birdow and her husband, Michael Birdow, but it ordered that Reese be resentenced.

Separately, the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed Wednesday to reconsider the case of a Texas death row inmate whose lawyer slept through portions of his 1984 murder trial. A three-judge panel of the court ruled 2-1 in October that Calvin Burdine was unable to prove his lawyer slept through any of the important parts.

In the case involving the photograph, Harris County Assistant District Attorney Kari Allen said she doesn't know if prosecutors will again seek the death penalty.

Reese's attorney, Allen Isbell, said he doubts prosecutors could get another death sentence without the photo.

``The picture looks so much like the Madonna and child,'' he said. ``It just leaps out at you. I don't know why the judge let it in.''

During the penalty phase of Reese's trial, prosecutors showed jurors an 8-by-10-inch color photograph of Ms. Birdow, 23, dressed in white, lying in her casket alongside her fetus.

Ms. Birdow had been in her sixth month of pregnancy. It was not clear when or why the fetus was removed from the mother's body; Allen and Isbell were not sure.

Prosecutors said the picture merely showed evidence already presented to the jury, which knew Ms. Birdow was pregnant when she was killed and had heard a description of the unborn child.

The appeals court rejected that argument.

``The contents of the photograph has an emotional impact that suggests the jury's decision be made on an emotional basis and not on the basis of the other relevant evidence introduced at trial,'' Judge Tom Price wrote.

In a dissent, Judge Sharon Keller said the picture showed ``just how dangerous and morally blameworthy he is.''