Texas Execution Information Center by David Carson

Txexecutions.org

Leonard Uresti Rojas, 52, was executed by lethal injection on 4 December 2002 in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of two people.

Leonard Rojas lived in Alvarado, a small town south of Fort Worth, with his common-law wife, Jo Ann Reed, and his brother, David Rojas.

On the morning of 27 December 1994, Leonard Rojas, then 44, was in the kitchen, making coffee, after a night of drinking and using drugs. He saw Reed, 34, slip out of his brother's bedroom. He accused her of sleeping with him, but she denied the accusation.

They then went into their bedroom, where she performed oral sex on him. Rojas then shot Reed between the eyes with a .32-caliber handgun. Next, Rojas called for his brother, 43, and shot him three times in the bathroom. Returning to the bedroom, Rojas saw that Reed was still breathing, so he tied a plastic bag over her head and stacked pillows and blankets on her body.

After the killings, Rojas went back to the kitchen and had a cup of coffee. Two people telephoned for Reed. Rojas told them that she was ill and could not come to the phone. Next, unable to find his car keys, Rojas hitchhiked to the bus station in Fort Worth and bought a ticket to Atlanta, Georgia. When he reached Dallas, he confessed to security guards at the bus station. He later confessed to Dallas County sheriff's deputies, including taking them on a videotaped walk-through of the crime scene.

Rojas had previously served three prison sentences for drug offenses. The first was in Germany, where he was stationed while serving in the U.S. Army. In 1976, Rojas was convicted of selling heroin in California. His third prison sentence was for selling cocaine in Nevada in 1990.

A jury convicted Rojas of capital murder in May 1996 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in September 1998.

Rojas was originally scheduled for execution in 2000, after his appeals attorney failed to meet a filing deadline. According to the Texas Defender Service, the lawyer, David Chapman, had a mental disorder, had never worked on a capital appeals case before, and had his law license put on probated suspension three times.

Chapman disputed the claims that he bungled Rojas' appeal, noting that Rojas gave three confessions to police. "I played a very bad hand as well as I could," Chapman said. "The facts of Mr. Rojas' case were extraordinarily incriminating." At any rate, a federal judge allowed a new attorney to be appointed, and the usual appeals were then filed on Rojas' behalf. All of them were denied by the courts.

"I'll never regret it. Never," Rojas said of the killings in a death row interview. He said that his brother and wife taunted him all the time. When he confronted her about sleeping with David, she laughed and said, "You can't prove nothing, Leo." Rojas said that he used a .32-caliber gun he got in exchange for cocaine to shoot his wife and his brother. "I just snapped ... I just said, no more abuse from these people."

Rojas also claimed that the two were trying to kill him slowly by poisoning his coffee. "These people, they were just basically evil," Rojas said. "They wanted my money, wanted my drugs, and they wanted to do me in." Though Rojas freely admitted his guilt, he also claimed that his court-appointed attorneys were incompetent and he did not get a fair trial.

Rojas declined to make a last statement at his execution. He was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m.

Man Convicted of Double Murder Scheduled to Die

By Mark Passwaters - The Huntsville Item

December 4, 2002

Leonard Uresti Rojas, sentenced to death in a Johnson County trial for the 1994 murders of his brother and common law wife, is scheduled to be executed Wednesday evening in the death chamber of the Huntsville "Walls" Unit. While the case against Rojas, now 52, appears strong, his current defense team hopes legal blunders by a previous court-appointed attorney will lead to a stay of execution.

Leonard Rojas freely admits to shooting Jo Ann Reed and his brother David Rojas in the early morning hours of Dec. 27, 1994. Leonard Rojas -- who had served time for previous drug-related offenses in California and Nevada -- returned to the double-wide trailer the three called home high on drugs and noticed Reed slip out of his brother's room. Leonard Rojas confronted Reed and accused her of sleeping with his brother, a claim she denied. After the two had sex, Leonard Rojas pulled out a .32-caliber gun and shot Reed in the face.

Leonard Rojas left their bedroom and went to the bathroom, where his brother was at the time, and called him out. David Rojas was shot three times by his brother and was left to die on the floor. Upon returning to his bedroom, Leonard Rojas noticed Reed was still breathing, so he tied a plastic bag over her head and stacked pillows and blankets on her body.

Shortly afterward, Rojas decided to flee the small town of Alvarado, approximately 30 miles south of Fort Worth. After hitchhiking to a Fort Worth bus station, he bought a ticket to Atlanta. However, a crisis of conscience caused Rojas to get off the bus in Dallas, where he found a security guard and confessed to the killings. He later provided three nearly identical confessions to authorities and gave a detailed walk-through of the crime scene.

On May 22, 1996, Rojas was found guilty of the murders and was sentenced to death nine days later. All of his previous attempts to have his death sentence either stayed or changed to a life sentence have been rejected by the courts, but his attorneys from the Texas Defender Service have filed an appeal claiming a previous appeal was "woefully inadequate." Their complaint claims that attorney David Chapman of Fort Worth, appointed by the court to handle a previous appeal, bungled the case.

In a sworn affidavit, Chapman said he prepared his state habeas appeal -- intended to raise issues that might not have been brought up during the original trial -- after reading the trial record and interviewing Rojas once. Further, they argue, Chapman was inexperienced in handling capital cases -- the appeal was his first -- and that his law license was suspended three different times for mishandling three other cases.

Chapman, on the other hand, contends he did the best he could with very little to work with. "I played a very bad hand as well as I could," he told The Houston Chronicle. "The facts of Mr. Rojas' case were extraordinarily incriminating."

Rojas' own statements from death row may damage his attempts to gain a stay. During interviews with the Associated Press, He expressed no remorse for the killings, although he now claims Reed was trying to kill him slowly by poisoning his coffee. Barring a stay of execution due to the appeal or a decision by the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole or Gov. Rick Perry, Rojas will be executed sometime after 6 p.m. His execution is the next to last scheduled in the state this year.

Man Who Killed Two Executed

By Pam Easton - Houston Chronicle

December 4, 2002

HUNTSVILLE -- A South Texas man who confessed to killing his common-law wife and brother, whom he suspected of having an affair, was executed Wednesday.

Leonard Rojas, 52, was asked by the warden if he had a final statement. Rojas, wearing a white-collared shirt that partially exposed his chest, responded "No." As the lethal drugs began flowing, Rojas' eyes blinked and he pursed his lips. He took two deeps breaths, then his mouth fell open and his eyes shut tightly. He was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m., eight minutes after receiving the lethal injection.

Three of Rojas' seven surviving brothers watched the execution. Rojas' cousin, Maria Rojas, stood at the window looking into the death chamber. Soon after Rojas took his final gasp, she whispered, "He's gone."

Leonard Rojas said recently he had no regrets about shooting Jo Ann Reed between the eyes after having one last sexual encounter with her and then turning the gun on his younger brother David Rojas. "I'll never regret it. Never," he said of the 1994 killings. "These people, they were just basically evil. They just wanted my money, wanted my drugs and they wanted to do me in."

Rojas, who had spent time in prison in California and Nevada for drug convictions, claimed the two were having an affair and attempting to drug him to death. Those claims never were proven, said Johnson County assistant district attorney David Vernon. "Leonard was an extremely possessive type of person," Vernon said. "He confronted her about having sex with his brother and she laughs at him."

Rojas said he recalled seeing his wife leave his brother's room that morning. " `You can't prove nothing, Leo,' " Rojas recalled her saying. "They just put me in the corner and I just snapped."

Rojas said he used a .32-caliber gun he got in exchange for cocaine to shoot his 34-year-old wife, then his 43-year-old brother. The slayings took place in the mobile home the trio shared in Alvarado, near Forth Worth. "I just said, no more abuse from these people," Rojas said. "The alternative I came out with was to get even with them."

Rojas was sentenced to death in 1996. Vernon said prosecutors didn't have to do much to get the conviction. Rojas confessed to the crime three times and led prosecutors through the crime scene while they videotaped it. Rojas was the 32nd person executed in Texas this year, bringing the total to 288 since Texas reinstated the death penalty in 1982.

The execution set for next Wednesday of James Collier, condemned for the 1995 shooting deaths of a Wichita Falls mother and her son, is the final execution scheduled for 2002. At least 13 executions are scheduled in the first three months of 2003. Defense attorneys tried to have Rojas' execution postponed on the grounds he did not receive adequate representation during his appeals. The courts rejected the request for a stay of execution.

Texas Killer Executed for Double Murder

United Press International

December 4, 2002

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - A Texas killer was executed Wednesday for slaying his girlfriend and his brother during a shooting spree eight years ago. Leonard Rojas, 52, was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. CST after receiving a lethal injection for killing JoAnn Reed, 34, and David Rojas, 43, after he suspected his brother of having sex with his girlfriend at their Alvarado trailer home. Rojas offered no final statement when asked by the warden.

The execution came the day after the Texas Defender Service, a non-profit legal aid group, alleged that Rojas had inadequate legal representation during the state appeal process and never received a full hearing in the federal courts.

The appellate lawyer appointed to represent Rojas was mentally ill, had been suspended by the State Bar of Texas, and lacked death penalty experience, the group stated. The Rojas case was cited in a TDS study that found more than one-third of the state habeas corpus appeals for Texas death row inmates failed to present enough evidence for an appeal court to review.

There was little doubt that Rojas killed the victims Dec. 17, 1994 because he gave three confessions and even recorded a videotaped crime-scene walk-through for police.

After a night of playing dominoes and using drugs, Rojas became suspicious that Reed and his brother had slept together the night before. Rojas shot Reed between the eyes with a .32-caliber pistol. Rojas then called his brother out of the bathroom and shot him three times, leaving him to die on the floor. He then found Reed was still breathing so he tied a plastic bag over her head and covered her with pillows and a blanket.

Rojas hitchhiked to the bus station in Fort Worth, where he bought a ticket to Atlanta, Ga., but he traveled only as far as Dallas where he confessed to security guards at the bus station.

Rojas was the 32nd convicted killer executed in Texas this year and the 288th since the state restored the death penalty in 1982. Convicted killer James Collier is scheduled to die Dec. 11 in the final execution of the year in Texas. Thirteen are already scheduled next year.

Man Who Killed Common-Law Wife and Brother Executed in Texas

By Robert Anthony Phillips - TheDeathHouse.com

December 4, 2002

Huntsville, Texas - A man who murdered his common-law wife and brother because he suspected they were having sex was executed by lethal injection here Wednesday night, becoming the 32nd condemned killer put to death in the state this year.

Leonard Rojas, 52, who several weeks ago said in an interview that he had no regrets committing the murders, made no last statement just before the lethal drugs began to flow into him. He was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m.

Michelle Lyons, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said Rojas spent his last night and morning reading a magazine and drawing. He requested a hearty last meal of extra cripsy fried chicken, salad with Thousand Island dressing, french toast, french fries, apple pie and two diet Cokes, Lyons said.

Although Rojas admitted the murders, his execution was not without controversey. Earlier this week, the Texas Defender Service, a nonprofit legal group which represents some condemned prisoners on appeal, said in a report that Rojas's trip to the execution chamber was greased by an incompetent and inexperienced lawyer who did little to try to save him from the death chamber.

The report stated that the lawyer assigned to his trial and state habeas appeal was already on probation for neglecting legal matters and had psychological problems. The lawyer had also missed an important filing deadline for a federal appeal, the TDS said, and failed to investigate Rojas' possible mental illness.He had also never handled a capital murder case before. The information on Rojas was contained in a report, which claimed that bungling, incompetent and inexperienced lawyers are being appointed by the Texas Criminal Court of Criminal Appeals to handle state appeals from condemned prisoners.

The murders Rojas was executed for occurred in 1994. The victims were Jo Ann Reed and David Rojas. Prosecutors said that Leonard Rojas, who had been previously convicted of drug offenses in Nevada and California, shot the duo after Reed told him she had found a new boyfriend and wanted him to move out. Leonard Rojas reportedly gave police a videotaped statement and took them on a tour of the mobile home to explain what happened, according to court documents.

Leonard Rojas said the trio had stayed up all night using drugs and playing dominos in the Johnson County mobile home. The next morning, he saw Reed come out of his brother's bedroom. He asked her if she had been sleeping with him. She denied it, reportedly laughing at him. However, later she told Leonard Rojas that she wanted him to move out because she found a new boyfriend. Leonard Rojas told police that got out a .32 caliber handgun and shot Reed between the eyes. He then shot his brother three times when he came out of the bathroom.

In interviews with reporters weeks before his execution, Leonard Rojas said he didn't regret killing his brother and Reed. He decided it was the best way for him to get even. "I'll never regret it. Never." he said in the interview.

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Leonard Rojas (TX) - Dec. 4, 2002 - 7:00 CST, 6:00 EST

The state of Texas is scheduled to execute Leonard Rojas, a Hispanic man, Dec. 4 for the murders of JoAnn Reed, his common-law wife, and David Rojas, his brother. Rojas allegedly shot both victims on the afternoon of Dec. 27, 1994 after Reed told him to move out because she had found another boyfriend.

Rojas turned himself in later that day and gave police investigators both a written and a videotaped confession. Like most death row inmates, Rojas could not afford to hire an attorney, so the court appointed David K. Chapman to represent him. This selection came despite the fact that the state bar had twice disciplined Chapman by placing him on probation. The quality of Rojas’ defense may or may not have ultimately determined his sentence; in Texas, though, good counsel is critical considering the absurdly high execution rate, and defendants have the right to quality representation at trial.

Texas remains the national leader in executions, and the state government’s attitude toward the death penalty only further supports the abolitionist cause. In November, the state’s arrogant approach to the death penalty required the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in order to prevent the execution of a mentally ill man. Approximately a third of U.S. executions since 1976 have taken place in Texas, and state officials continue to ignore obvious warning signals concerning injustices plaguing the capital punishment system.

This case, like so many others, reflects the systematic flaw of economic discrimination: Rojas could not afford a private lawyer, so now finds himself awaiting execution. Many states would have Rojas in prison for life, but Texas – that bastion of justice and defense of human rights – intends to carry out its 33rd execution of the year on Dec. 4. Please write the state of Texas to demand a stay for Leonard Rojas and a re-evaluation of the state’s death penalty process.

Confessed Murdered Executed in Texas

By Pam Easton - Austin American-Statesman

December 4, 2002

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) - A man who confessed to the 1994 shooting deaths of his common-law wife and his brother, whom he suspected of having an affair, was executed Wednesday night. Leonard Rojas, 52, gave no final statement before he was injected with the lethal drugs.

Rojas said from death row last month that he had no regrets about shooting 34-year-old Jo Ann Reed between the eyes and then turning the gun on his 43-year-old brother David Rojas. The elder Rojas, who was sentenced to death in 1996, had claimed his wife and brother were having an affair and attempting to drug him to death. Those claims never were proven, said Johnson County assistant district attorney David Vernon. The slayings took place in the mobile home the trio shared in Alvarado, near Forth Worth.

Rojas was the 32nd person executed in Texas this year.

Deathrow.at

In March 1997, the court appointed attorney David K. Chapman to represent Death Row inmate Leonard Rojas, even though the state bar had twice given Chapman probated suspensions sanctions that allow the lawyer to continue practicing if he meets certain requirements, such as paying restitution or getting help with an alcohol problem.

Leonard Rojas
# 999194
Polunsky Unit
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston, Texas 77351

Attorney Castigated for Bungling Appeal

By James Kimberly - Houston Chronicle

12-02-02

Leonard Rojas is to be executed Wednesday for murdering his wife and brother in a jealous rage eight years ago. The Texas Defender Service says his case epitomizes the problems with court-appointed attorneys in capital appeals.

The attorney appointed to represent Rojas, 52, of Alvarado, filed a state habeas appeal that was woefully inadequate and failed to preserve Rojas' right to file a habeas appeal in federal court, the service said. "You hate to single anybody out, but this case epitomizes the problems with appointments in habeas appeals," said Gregory Wiercioch, an attorney with the service who now represents Rojas. The attorney in question is David Chapman of Fort Worth. He disputes the contention that his habeas appeal was lacking, but he does concede he made mistakes. "I didn't make sure it got into federal court. That's the thing I did not do," Chapman said Monday.

Wiercioch said there are other things Chapman didn't do. Wiercioch said the state habeas appeal is supposed to be the place where issues not related to the trial are raised, things like the competency of defense, the behavior of prosecutors. Such evidence can be the difference between a death sentence or life in prison, Wiercioch said.

Wiercioch has asked the Court of Criminal Appeals to postpone Rojas' execution so that his case can be investigated. The court had not responded to his request as of late Monday. The Rojas case was Chapman's first capital habeas appeal, although he did have extensive experience in criminal law as a prosecutor, a clerk for the court of criminal appeals and as a defense attorney.

In a sworn affidavit filed with Rojas' request for a stay of execution, Chapman said he prepared his state habeas appeal after reading the trial record, speaking to one of Rojas' trial attorneys and interviewing Rojas one time. Chapman conceded in the affidavit he did not ask Rojas about his background or interview Rojas' family or friends. Consequently, Chapman did not discover any additional evidence that might have helped Rojas' case, Wiercioch contends.

Also in the affidavit, Chapman concedes his law license was under the cloud of two probated suspensions for failings with other clients at the time of the appointment. Two weeks after his appointment to the Rojas case, he received a third. Chapman said his representation of Rojas was not as bad as current attorneys are making it out to be. "I played a very bad hand as well as I could. The facts of Mr. Rojas' case were extraordinarily incriminating," Chapman said. Rojas turned himself into police and gave three confessions, Chapman said. "I did the best the job that I could," Chapman said.