Trial Court Recommends Melissa Lucio’s Conviction and Death Sentence Be Overturned

(Brownsville, Texas, November 14, 2024) The judge who presided over the trial of Melissa Lucio—the Honorable Arturo Nelson—has found that Ms. Lucio “is actually innocent; she did not kill her daughter,” Mariah Alvarez. In addition, Judge Nelson agreed with Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz that a previous prosecution team suppressed evidence supporting Ms. Lucio’s defense at trial that her daughter died after an accidental fall. The case is now before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals which will decide whether to accept Judge Nelson’s recommendation that Ms. Lucio’s conviction and death sentence be set aside.

In April 2024, Judge Nelson found that the former district attorney from Ms. Lucio’s trial illegally withheld favorable evidence that would have helped prove that Mariah died from injuries sustained in an accidental fall, not abuse, as the prosecution claimed. Judge Nelson ruled that the suppression of evidence violated Ms. Lucio’s constitutional rights under Brady v. Maryland and required reversal of her conviction. District Attorney Saenz agreed that Ms. Lucio is entitled to reversal because her constitutional rights were violated.

On June 19, 2024, the CCA returned the case to Judge Nelson to give them recommendations on Ms. Lucio’s remaining three claims which the CCA had also sent to the trial court for consideration when it stayed Ms. Lucio’s execution in April 2022 just two days before her scheduled execution. Judge Nelson has now reaffirmed his prior findings and also ruled that Ms. Lucio’s conviction and death sentence should be overturned based on Ms. Lucio’s three other claims, including her innocence. Judge Nelson’s recommendations are now before the CCA.

“Melissa Lucio lived every parent’s nightmare when she lost her daughter after a tragic accident. It became a nightmare from which she couldn’t wake up when she was sent to death row for a crime that never happened. After 16 years on death row, it’s time for the nightmare to end. Melissa should be home right now with her children and grandchildren,” said Vanessa Potkin, Director of Special Litigation at the Innocence Project, and one of Ms. Lucio’s attorneys.

“This is the best news we could get going into the holidays,” said John and Michelle Lucio, Ms. Lucio’s son and daughter-in-law. Joined by Ms. Lucio’s son Bobby Alvarez, they added, “We pray our mother will be home soon.”

Judge Nelson signed his new Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law (FFCL) on October 16, 2024. They were made public today and can be accessed here.

With respect to Ms. Lucio’s claim of actual innocence, Judge Nelson wrote:

• There is clear and convincing evidence that Mariah fell on some stairs two days before she died, just as Applicant told police;
• There is clear and convincing evidence that Applicant was highly susceptible to making a false confession under the interrogation techniques used on her;
• There is clear and convincing evidence that Mariah’s extensive bruising was not caused by abuse but rather a complication of her fall;
• There is clear and convincing evidence that Mariah’s fatal head injury was caused by an accidental fall on stairs two days before she died; and
• There is clear and convincing evidence that the injuries to Mariah that Applicant could have caused based on her confession, even if true, were not clearly dangerous to human life and did not cause Mariah’s death. (FFCL at pp. 58-59)

“The Court therefore concludes that Applicant has met her burden of proof … for actual innocence as no rational juror could have convicted Applicant of killing her daughter after hearing all of the evidence from her original trial alongside all of the new evidence she has presented.” (FFCL at pp. 60-61)

District Attorney Saenz acknowledged, and Judge Nelson found, that at the time of trial the prior District Attorney withheld from the defense evidence that witnesses saw Ms. Lucio’s daughter, Mariah, fall down the stairs and were aware of her deteriorating condition in the days following her fall. Judge Nelson’s order states:

“the suppressed evidence, viewed cumulatively and in light of the record as a whole, provides evidentiary support for the defense that Mariah’s head injury was accidental, and counters the State’s evidence that the injuries could have only been the result of intentional abuse.” (FFCL at p. 23)

 “Considering this suppressed evidence in the context of the other medical evidence in the case” experts “concluded that the likely cause of Mariah’s death was an accidental fall resulting in head trauma.” (FFCL at pp. 25-26)

“[the] suppressed evidence informs a medical diagnosis consistent with Applicant’s defense: that Mariah died as the result of accidental trauma.” (FFCL at p. 13)

Melissa Lucio is represented by:

• Vanessa Potkin, Director of Special Litigation, Innocence Project
• Jane Pucher, Senior Staff Attorney & Legal Clinic Supervisor, Innocence Project
• Lauren Gottesman, Staff Attorney, Innocence Project
• Tim Gumkowski, Senior Staff Attorney, Innocence Project
• Tivon Schardl, Capital Habeas Unit Chief, Federal Defender for the Western District of Texas
• Sharon Hernandez, Capital Habeas Unit, Federal Defender for the Western District of Texas
• Sandra Babcock, Clinical Law Professor, Cornell Law School and Faculty Director/Founder, Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide
• Richard Ellis, attorney