Dallas Morning News

TEXAS - Death sentence overturned for foreign national

Court upholds decision to toss out death sentence----Argentine laborer was convicted in 1995 Plano murder

A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a district judge's decision to throw out a death sentence for an Argentine laborer convicted of a 1995 Plano murder.

Former Texas Attorney General John Cornyn had asked for a new sentencing hearing in 2000 for Victor Saldano after a psychologist testified during sentencing that Mr. Saldano was more likely to pose a danger, in part, because he was Hispanic.

A U.S. district judge agreed last year with Mr. Cornyn's intervention, ordering a new hearing.

Collin County District Attorney John Roach had appealed the ruling, saying Mr. Cornyn should not have intervened.

But in Tuesday's ruling, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court, finding evidence that Mr. Cornyn's action "furthers the state's goal of ensuring that capital sentencing is untainted by racial prejudice."

Mr. Roach, the trial judge when Mr. Saldano was convicted in 1996, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Mr. Saldano has confessed to killing 46-year-old Paul King in 1995, when he abducted Mr. King, drove to a secluded road near Lake Lavon, shot him five times and stole his wallet.

Dr. Walter Quijano, a clinical psychologist from Conroe, had testified that one of the 24 factors that made Mr. Saldano a greater threat to society was his Hispanic background.

Court thwarts death sentence over race issue

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has sided with the Texas attorney general, thwarting an attempt to reinstate a death sentence in a case that has drawn international attention.

The 3-judge panel's decision blocked an effort by Collin County District Attorney John Roach to restore Victor Hugo Saldano's death sentence. The U.S. Supreme Court threw the sentence out because Saldano's ethnicity was considered in the trial's penalty phase.

Saldano, 32, of Argentina, was condemned for the 1995 abduction, robbery and shooting of Paul King in that North Texas county.

The appeals court ruling reaffirms the authority of Attorney General Greg Abbott and his predecessor, now U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, to assert that testimony about Saldano's ethnicity should not have been allowed.

Roach had sought to intervene in the appeal.

"Simply because the district attorney would have made a different decision does not mean that the attorney general is inadequately representing the state's interest," the court stated this week.

The court disagreed with Roach's argument that his interests conflicted with the attorney general's.

"The fact remains that the attorney general and the district attorney share an identical interest in this case: to see that justice is done," the opinion states.

Stanley Schneider, hired by the Argentine government to represent Saldano, said, "No prosecutor should be allowed to try and execute someone, using race as a possible factor. To his credit, Mr. Abbott has taken a very strong position in this regard."

A spokesman for Abbott's office declined to comment. Roach did not respond to requests for comment.

Saldano's case drew widespread attention in South and Central America, said attorney Scott Atlas, hired by 5 Latin American countries and 6 civil rights organizations to join in the case.

"The countries in Latin America were quite offended by the notion that someone of Latin American heritage was somewhat more likely to be a danger than someone not Hispanic," Atlas said.

He was referring to testimony by psychologist Walter Quijano in the penalty phase of Saldano's trial in 1996. Quijano said that Saldano's ethnicity could be a factor in whether he posed a future danger, citing the over-representation of blacks and Hispanics in the prison system.

A jury finding that a defendant poses a future danger to society is one of the conditions for the death penalty.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the sentence in 1999, but the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with Cornyn in 2000 and threw it out.

"Because the use of race in Saldano's sentencing seriously undermined the fairness, integrity or public reputation of the judicial process, Texas confesses error and agrees that Saldano is entitled to a new sentencing hearing," Cornyn wrote to the Supreme Court.

The high court's decision led to the reversal of four other Texas death sentences and prompted the Legislature to ban the use of racially charged testimony.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the death sentence again in 2002, but a federal district court overturned the sentence and refused to allow Roach to intervene.

Roach then appealed to the 5th Circuit Court. He has 14 days to seek a review by the 3-judge panel, the entire court or the Supreme Court, Atlas said.

En Texas, EE.UU. Revocaron la pena de muerte para Salda�o

El argentino tendr�a un nuevo proceso

La Corte Federal del Quinto Circuito de Nueva Orle�ns, en los Estados Unidos, confirm� la revocatoria de la pena de muerte impuesta al argentino V�ctor Hugo Salda�o, condenado en 1996 por la Corte Penal del condado de Collin, a ra�z del asesinato de un ciudadano norteamericano.

La Corte de Beaumont ya hab�a fallado en favor de la revocatoria el 17 de junio de 2003, pero un fiscal de Collin hab�a apelado la medida. Finalmente, el mi�rcoles �ltimo, una Corte Federal de Nueva Orle�ns ratific� que Salda�o no ser� condenado a muerte, al denegar la apelaci�n del fiscal y confirmar la sentencia revocatoria.

La resoluci�n de la Corte de Beaumont ordena que Salda�o debe quedar en libertad, a menos que el estado de Texas, dentro de los 180 d�as desde la emisi�n de la orden, disponga iniciarle un proceso de sentencia o bien modificar la sentencia por la de prisi�n perpetua.

La canciller�a argentina emiti� ayer un comunicado en el que analiza la resoluci�n de la Corte Federal de Nueva Orle�ns como un triunfo de los derechos humanos.

Discriminado por ser latino

Como vale recordar, el proceso judicial seguido contra Salda�o fue considerado "viciado de consignas discriminatorias" por el abogado asesor de la familia del acusado, Juan Carlos Vega. Seg�n el abogado, las pruebas de la discriminaci�n fueron "la composici�n del jurado y el protocolo psiqui�trico, una especie de multiple choice que inclu�a cuatro preguntas netamente racistas y tambi�n el hecho de que el abogado defensor ni siquiera hablaba el idioma castellano".

Esos hechos fueron presentados ante la Convenci�n Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, en la causa "Salda�o contra los Estados Unidos".

Texas, finalmente, sancion� la "ley Salda�o", que impide la invocaci�n de la raza en los procesos de pena capital en dicho estado.

Federal Court Blocks Texas Death Sentence Over Racially Charged Testimony
Posted: April 5, 2004
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has blocked a Texas District
Attorney's final attempt to restore the death sentence of Victor Hugo
Saldano, who was removed from Texas's death row in 2000 because of the use
of racially charged testimony at his trial. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled
that former Texas Attorney General John Cornyn was right to dismiss Saldano'
s death sentence because it was based on state testimony encouraging racial
bias.

La Nation - Argentina

Estados Unidos: revocan la pena de muerte para V�ctor Salda�o El ciudadano argentino hab�a sido condenado en 1996 en fallo que conten�a consignas discriminatorias

Nuevamente los tribunales de justicia de los Estados Unidos se pronunciaron en favor de la revocaci�n de la pena de muerte impuesta al ciudadano argentino V�ctor Hugo Salda�o, inform� la Canciller�a. .

 Salda�o hab�a sido condenado a muerte en 1996 en un pol�mico fallo que conten�a consignas discriminatorias. . El 24 de marzo de 2004, la Corte Federal del Quinto Circuito de Nueva Orl�ans deneg� la apelaci�n del fiscal del distrito de Collin y confirm� la sentencia revocatoria de la pena de muerte de V�ctor Salda�o, dictada el 17 de junio de 2003 por la Corte de Beaumont.

En su parte resolutiva, la sentencia de 2003 ordena poner en libertad a Salda�o a menos que el estado de Texas, dentro de los 180 d�as a partir de la fecha de emisi�n de esta orden, disponga iniciar un proceso de sentencia o cambiar su sentencia por prisi�n perpetua.

 De esta manera, se confirma la sentencia de la Corte de Beaumont, tras m�s de cuatro a�os de esfuerzos de la Argentina.

Con la confirmaci�n del fallo del tribunal de Beaumont comenzar� a computarse el plazo de 180 d�as para que el estado de Texas decida conmutar la pena o inicie un nuevo proceso en el que no se decidir� sobre la culpabilidad de Salda�o en el homicidio, sino exclusivamente sobre la pena correspondiente.

El Clarin

EL CASO DEL ARGENTINO VICTOR SALDA�O

Fallo a favor de un condenado a muerte

La Justicia de los Estados Unidos volvi� a pronunciarse a favor de la revocaci�n de la pena de muerte a la que hab�a sido sentenciado el argentino V�ctor Hugo Salda�o por un asesinato cometido en ese pa�s, inform� la Canciller�a argentina.

"El 24 de marzo de 2004, la Corte Federal del Quinto Circuito de Nueva Orleans deneg� la apelaci�n del fiscal del distrito de Collin y confirm� la sentencia revocatoria de la pena de muerte de V�ctor Salda�o, dictada el 17 de junio de 2003 por la Corte de Beaumont", inform� la Canciller�a, seg�n la agencia T�lam.

As�, cobra vigencia la sentencia por la que se orden� la libertad de Salda�o a menos que el estado de Texas, en 180 d�as, inicie un nuevo juicio o cambie su sentencia por prisi�n perpetua.