ProDeathPenalty.com

Leonardo Chavez and his wife, Annette, were shot to death on June 10, 1995, while staying in a Harlingen trailer home belonging to Annette’s brother. The murder weapon was a .22 caliber pistol.

The couple’s 9-year-old son, who witnessed the shooting, said he was awakened by a scuffle around 5:30 a.m. He said he watched from the kitchen as Quiroz shot his beaten father in the living room, then handed the gun to Ledesma, who shot his mother.

Dressed for bed, both were shot in the back of the neck and died on the living room carpet near a large television and ceramic geese.

Jesus Ledesma Aguilar sold a .22 revolver after the killings, and police recovered the weapon from a member of the buyer’s family. A police lab concluded that the bullets recovered from the victims’ bodies could have been fired from the gun.

About two weeks after the killings, the couple's orphaned son saw a picture in the newspaper and told his grandmother that two of the men in the picture were the ones that hurt his parents. His grandfather took Leo Jr. to the police station where the youth identified Jesus Aguilar and Chris Quiroz as the men who shot his parents.

Testimony at the trial indicted that the owner of the trailer had been involved in illicit drug sales with Jesus Aguilar. During the trial, the prosecution presented evidence that revealed Aguilar’s violent history.

A Lubbock County police officer testified that he arrested Aguilar on August 14, 1983, for burglary of a building at a used car lot which had been broken into and ransacked. The officer arrested Aguilar in an adjacent field, where Aguilar had some tools taken from the building and nineteen car keys.

Another Lubbock County peace officer testified that, on September 3, 1983, he attempted to apprehend Aguilar on a burglary warrant, and that Aguilar shot the officer in the leg and chest. The officer survived. Several prison guards testified about Aguilar’s violent assaults on guards and inmates in a Texas state prison.

The prosecution introduced a judgment of conviction and eight-year sentence Aguilar received on January 23, 1984, for aggravated assault on a correctional officer. Several individuals testified about Aguilar’s violent assaults against guards and prisoners while in the Lubbock County Jail. The State’s evidence also revealed assaults Aguilar committed outside jail.

In addition, the prosecution produced evidence that Aguilar is a confirmed member of a prison gang whose primary goal is to control all narcotics trafficking in the South and Southwest. A Houston police narcotics officer described the gang as “the most feared, fiercest, and deadliest of all the gangs.”

Leonardo Chavez III is now a young man of 20 and plans to witness the execution of the man who killed his parents before his eyes. "I want to see him die. They had no reason to do that to my parents," said Chavez. "My parents were on their knees, and I just saw them get blown away."

Txexecutions.org

Jesus Ledesma Aguilar, 42, was executed by lethal injection on 24 May 2006 in Huntsville, Texas for the murder and robbery of a couple in their home.

Rick Esparza was a drug dealer in Harlingen who made money transporting marijuana from his home to Mississippi.

Esparza had started in the drug business in November 1994 as an employee of his lifelong friend, Jesus Aguilar, but their relationship soon soured after Esparza began transporting drugs to Mississippi for another supplier.

Reportedly, Esparza came to Aguilar's home and threatened his life. Esparza often asked his sister, Annette Chavez, and her family to stay in his trailer home while he and his wife were out of town.

On 8 June 1995, Esparza and his wife left for Mississippi with a load of drugs. Annette Chavez, her husband Leonardo, and their children Leo Jr., 9, and Lincoln, 22 months, stayed in the trailer.

At about 5:00 a.m. on 10 June, after a night of drinking, Aguilar, then 31, and his nephew, Christopher Quiroz, 17, entered the trailer home and shot Mr. and Mrs. Chavez with a .22-caliber pistol.

Both victims were also severely beaten. Leonardo was shot in the back of the head, and Annette was shot through the neck. Unknown to the killers, Leo Jr. hid under a kitchen table and watched. Lincoln was asleep in his room. Police found 20 pounds of marijuana in the trailer.

About two weeks after the killings, Leo Jr. saw a picture in the newspaper his grandmother was reading. He told her that two of the men in the picture were the ones who shot his parents.

At Aguilar's trial, Leo Jr. testified that he was awakened by gunfire on the morning of the murders. He said that he got out of bed and went into the kitchen. From there, he saw his parents on the floor with two men standing over them.

He testified he heard Quiroz tell his father to "get your fat ass up," and then Quiroz shot him. He then saw Aguilar take the gun from Quiroz and shoot his mother.

Aguilar had a prior conviction for attempted capital murder. He began serving a 10-year sentence in December 1984. The offense was later reduced to aggravated assault, and his sentence was reduced to 8 years. He completed his sentence and was discharged in March 1993.

In September 1983, Aguilar shot a police officer in the leg and chest. The officer survived. Several prison guards and jail employees testified to Aguilar's violent nature, and his assaults on guards and other prisoners.

A jury convicted Aguilar of capital murder in April 1996. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in June 1997.

All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied. Christopher Aguilar Quiroz was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison. He remains in custody as of this writing.

"I had nothing to do with this, Aguilar said in an interview from death row. "I was at home ... These people, they railroaded me left and right." Aguilar said that Leo Jr. was coached to testify against him and Quiroz. "They're killing me for something they know they lied about," he said.

"Are you all happy? You happy, chief?" Aguilar asked the victims' relatives who witnessed his execution. "I didn't kill your father," Aguilar told Annette Chavez's stepbrother, who he mistook for Leo Jr., who did not attend. The stepbrother answered back "I'm not Leo." The other family members requested that he not respond to Aguilar anymore.

Aguilar continued addressing the family angrily, in a mixture of English and Spanish, and praising the Texas Syndicate prison gang he was a member of. The warden signaled the executioner to release the lethal injection. Aguilar was still talking when he lost consciousness. He was pronounced dead at 6:32 p.m.

Democracyinaction.org

Jesus Aguilar, TX - May 24

Do Not Execute Jesus Aguilar!

The state of Texas is scheduled to execute Jesus Aguilar, a latino man, on May 24, 2006 for the capital murder of Leonardo Chavez and his wife, Annette Chavez in the Palm Vista Estates of Harlingen.

The Chavez’s had been house-sitting for a friend of Aguilar’s, Rick Esparza, who worked with Aguilar in the sale of marijuana. Tension between the two men arose when Esparza began dealing without Aguilar.

On June 9, 1995 Aguilar, along with his nephew, David Quiroz, entered the trailer and shot Leonardo and Annette. During the shooting, one of the couple’s sons was asleep in another room, while the other hid beneath a kitchen table.

Aguilar’s conviction for capital murder, as opposed to a lesser, non-capital murder, is contingent upon the fact that he allegedly committed two murders during the same transaction.

Moreover, in capital cases it is constitutionally required that the jury be instructed of a lesser included offense charge “…when the evidence unquestionably establishes that the defendant is guilty of a serious violent offense—but leaves some doubt with respect to an element that would justify conviction of a capital offense….”

However, the judge that presided over Aguilar’s trial refused his request that the jury be made aware of this constitutional requirement, thereby violating Aguilar’s Fourteenth Amendment right to due process of law.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Aguilar’s claim with respect to this issue notwithstanding the testimony of the victims’ nine-year-old son, who witnessed the crime, which states that Aguilar shot his father, while Esparza shot his mother.

While the there is little question as to whether or not Aguilar participated in the murder of Annette, there is some doubt that Aguilar can be held culpable for Leonardo’s death. If Quiroz acted alone, without encouragement or participation of Aguilar, then Aguilar should not have been sentenced to death. Aguilar’s death sentence is dubious at best. For this and other reasons, we should not execute Jesus Ledusma Aguilar.

Aguilar v. Dretke, 428 F.3d 526 (5th Cir. 2005) (Habeas)

Background: Petitioner sought federal habeas relief from state court conviction for capital murder. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Hilda G. Tagle, J., denied petition. Petitioner appealed.

Holdings: The Court of Appeals, W. Eugene Davis, Circuit Judge, held that:
(1) petitioner was not entitled to instruction on lesser-included non-capital offense;
(2) petitioner's ineffective assistance of counsel claims and his claim that the state appellate court was biased were procedurally barred from review;
(3) petitioner was not entitled to certificate of appealability (COA) on his claim that state trial court's failure to appoint ballistics expert to testify on his behalf violated his due process rights;
(4) sufficiency of evidence to support finding that defendant participated in murder of two victims during same transaction was not debatable, precluding grant of COA; and
(5) petitioner's claim that his right to due process was violated because he appeared before the jury in shackles was procedurally defaulted. Judgment affirmed, and certificate of appealability denied.

W. EUGENE DAVIS, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner, Jesus Ledesma Aguilar (Aguilar), was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in Texas state court for the murders of Annette and Leonardo Chavez, Sr. In this appeal, Aguilar challenges the district court's dismissal of his habeas petition.

Aguilar seeks COA on six claims on which relief was denied by the district court. He also seeks reversal on the merits of the single claim on which the district court granted COA. For the reasons discussed below, we deny habeas relief on that claim. We also deny COA on the remaining claims.

Petitioner was convicted in Texas state court of capital murder for intentionally and knowingly causing the death of Leonardo Chavez, III and his wife, Annette Chavez, during the same criminal transaction. The essential facts are summarized below.

Aguilar and Rick Esparza, who were longtime friends, worked together in the sale of marijuana. Rick initially worked for Aguilar beginning in November 1994 in transporting marijuana from their homes in Texas to Mississippi in Rick's vehicle.

Shortly thereafter, another supplier asked Rick to transport marijuana to Mississippi, and he began dealing without Aguilar.

Apparently, Aguilar felt Rick was stealing his business, and this caused friction between the two men. Aguilar began stopping by Rick's trailer and accusing Rick of running drugs without him.

Rick testified that Aguilar threatened Rick's life on a number of occasions. Rick stated that he was afraid of Aguilar because he had seen “the way [Aguilar] hurts people.”

In spite of Aguilar's threats, Rick maintained his own drug courier business. Rick often asked his sister, Annette Chavez, and her family to stay at his home during out-of-town trips.

On June 8, 1995, Rick and his wife took a load of drugs to Mississippi. Annette, her husband Leo, and their two children, Leo, Jr. (nine years old) and Lincoln (about two years old), stayed at Rick's home.

Aguilar spent much of the afternoon and evening of June 9 drinking with friends. At approximately 9:00 p.m., he was at a friend's house with, among others, David and Chris Quiroz (Aguilar's nephew).

Their host eventually went to bed. As David Quiroz was leaving, he saw Aguilar and Chris Quiroz walk toward a red Buick owned by Chris' mother.

At approximately 5:00 a.m., Leo, Jr. was awakened from his bed in Rick's trailer by the sound of a gunshot. Leo, Jr. got out of bed and entered the kitchen. Because there was no wall between the rooms, Leo, Jr. could see into the living room, which was illuminated by a small lamp. Leo, Jr. saw his parents on the floor with two men standing over them.

Leo, Jr. testified that the “American” man told his father to “[g]et your fat ass up,” and then saw the man shoot his father. The “Mexican” man then took the gun and shot his mother. FN1 Leo, Jr. ran to the neighbors for help. A pathologist testified it was obvious from markings on Leo, Sr.'s and Annette's bodies that they were severely beaten before they were shot.

FN1. A pathologist testified as an expert witness for the state and stated that the couple had been shot “execution style.” 20 TR 738.

That afternoon, Daniel Pena was driving around with Aguilar and Chris Quiroz when Aguilar asked Daniel to go to Rafael Flores, Jr.'s residence.

Aguilar offered to sell a .22 caliber revolver to Rafael. Rafael bought the revolver and gave it to his brother, who in turn gave it to their father. The police later received a tip that they could recover the murder weapon from the Flores' residence, which they did.

After recovering the weapon, the police lab compared bullets from .22 caliber revolver with the .22 caliber bullets recovered from the Chavezes' bodies. The ballistics expert could not rule this revolver in or out as the murder weapon.

Approximately two weeks after the murders, Leo, Jr.'s grandmother was reading the newspaper when Leo, Jr. saw a picture and told her that two of the men in the picture were the men who “hurt” his parents.

His grandfather took Leo, Jr. to the police station where Leo, Jr. identified Chris Quiroz as the “American” who shot his father, and Aguilar as the “Mexican” who shot his mother.

Leo was unable to identify Aguilar in a police lineup, but an investigator for the Cameron County Sheriff's office testified that Leo, Jr. became visibly upset when Aguilar entered the lineup room.

Following the guilty verdict and affirmative findings on the Texas special issue, the trial court sentenced Aguilar to death in accordance with Texas law. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Aguilar's conviction and sentence and the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari. See Aguilar v. State, No. 72,470 (Tex.Crim.App.1997), cert. denied,523 U.S. 1139, 118 S.Ct. 1845, 140 L.Ed.2d 1094 (1998). Aguilar then filed a state application for post conviction relief which the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied. Ex Parte Aguilar, No. 36,142-01 (Tex.Crim.App. June 10, 1998).

Aguilar later filed his federal habeas corpus petition. At an evidentiary hearing before a magistrate judge, Aguilar asked the court to dismiss his petition without prejudice so that he could return to state court and raise unexhausted claims. The request was granted.

Aguilar's successive state habeas petition was dismissed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals as an abuse of the writ in November 2001. Five days later, he filed another federal habeas corpus petition.

The state moved for summary judgment on the writ and the motion was referred to a magistrate judge for Report and Recommendation. The magistrate judge recommended that all of Petitioner's claims be denied, except one.

The magistrate judge recommended that Aguilar be granted relief on his claim that he was deprived of due process by the trial court's failure to charge the jury on a lesser included offense of non-capital murder. The district court judge accepted all the magistrate judge's recommendations, except on the lesser included offense claim.

The district court concluded that Petitioner was not entitled to relief on this claim and dismissed his petition. The district court later granted COA on Aguilar's lesser included offense claim.

*****

The evidence was clearly sufficient to establish that Aguilar participated in the murder of Leo, Sr. The question is whether the evidence would permit a reasonable jury to make a contrary finding: that Quiroz acted alone in Leo's murder without encouragement or other participation by Aguilar.

After reviewing the record, we are satisfied it would not permit a rational jury to find that if Aguilar is guilty, he is only guilty of murdering Annette. As the district court pointed out, Aguilar-and not Quiroz-had the motive to kill Esparza or his family members.

The evidence established that Aguilar had been to the trailer home on several earlier occasions, threatening Esparza, and had previously discussed with Annette Chavez the whereabouts of Esparza. Aguilar entered the Esparzas' trailer with his eighteen-year-old nephew (Quiroz), who had no connection to the Chavezes or Esparza or with Aguilar's marijuana trafficking.

The two entered the trailer with a firearm and proceeded to severely beat the Chavezes. Then, the couple was shot “execution style” within minutes of each other. There is no evidence in the record supporting Aguilar's contention that he did not have intent to kill both Leo and Annette when he and Quiroz entered the residence.FN3

A reasonable jury, who would find that Aguilar was the second shooter in this double murder, could not find that he did not encourage or otherwise participate in the shooting of Leo, Sr. We therefore conclude that the district court did not err in rejecting Aguilar's Beck claim.

*****

Aguilar also seeks a COA on grounds that the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's finding that he was a party to the murder of Leo Chavez, Sr. and the finding that he was responsible for the murder of Annette Chavez.

In determining a sufficiency of the evidence claim, a court should consider whether “after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Jackson v. Virginia,443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).

On direct appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeals found that the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's finding that Aguilar was a party to the murders. The court considered the eye-witness testimony of Leo Chavez, Jr. and his identification of Aguilar as the person directly responsible for the death of his mother.

The court also observed that Aguilar, and not Quiroz, was the person with the motive to kill the people in the trailer home. The court also discussed the fact that Aguilar sold the .22 caliber revolver that was later discovered by the police and offered by the state as a possible murder weapon.

Based on the foregoing evidence, the Court of Criminal Appeals found that a rational jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant was criminally responsible for the deaths of both victims and that the victims were killed during the same criminal transaction.

The district court adopted the magistrate judge's opinion that “[u]nder the very deferential Jackson standard, this was sufficient to support the jury's finding that Aguilar was a party to the second murder.”

Based on the evidence presented at trial, we conclude that the district court's conclusion based on the deferential Jackson standard was not debatable or wrong and we therefore deny COA.

*****

Conclusion

For the reasons stated above, we AFFIRM the district court's judgment denying habeas relief on his claim that he was entitled to the lesser included offense jury charge. We also DENY COA on the remaining claims.