By
The Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas-An inmate's death sentence for strangling a Houston jogger was overturned by a Texas appeals court yesterday because his lawyer failed to object to improper statements made by prosecutors. The Court of Criminal Appeals, in a 7-2 ruling, affirmed the murder conviction of Arthur Lee Burton, 30, but ordered that he be resentenced. Prosecutors could seek the death penalty again. Harris County prosecutors said they will ask the appeals court to reconsider its ruling.
Burton confessed to killing Nancy Adelman, 48, who was abducted while jogging in her neighborhood in 1997. Adelman was strangled with her shoelaces as she screamed for help while Burton tried to rape her. Burton recanted his confession on the witness stand. The jury took about 30 minutes to sentence him to die by lethal injection. Before sentencing, the judge's written instructions to the jury said that if Burton was sentenced to life, he would not be eligible for parole for at least 40 years.
Prosecutors, however, warned jurors that if Burton was sentenced to life, he could be released in as little as two years if the Legislature changed the laws.
Burton's lawyer at the trial, Wilford Anderson, did not object to that statement and instead said such a change in the law would not happen in a state with Texas' reputation for being tough on crime. Burton's appeals attorney, Janet Morrow, said that the warning was improper and that Anderson should have objected immediately. "The prosecutor can't just create a false fear that he'll be out of prison in five years," Morrow said. "The jury has to apply the law the judge gives them." The appeals court agreed, adding that the prosecutor's warning essentially told jurors to ignore the judge's instructions.
Defense attorneys should have recognized such a fundamental error, the court.
Anderson's failure to object and his own closing arguments "reflected his ignorance of the law," the court said.
Anderson did not immediately return calls for comment. Julie Klibert, an assistant district attorney, said she didn't believe Anderson's conduct harmed his client.
