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Posted by: kwflatbed

By Brian Rogers
The Houston Chronicle

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Jurors began deliberating in the capital murder trial of Juan Leonardo Quintero today after hearing prosecutors argue that he killed a Houston police officer because he feared spending 10 years in federal prison for re-entering the United States after being deported in 1999.
"Fear turned to anger and he assassinated Rodney Johnson as (Johnson) was filling out paperwork," prosecutor John Jordan said in closing arguments in Quintero's capital murder trial.
But defense attorney Danalynn Recer, who maintains that Quintero is not guilty by reason of insanity, told the jury that Jordan's scenario doesn't make sense.
Johnson pulled Quintero over for speeding on the afternoon of Sept. 21, 2006, and arrested him for not having a driver's license.
Investigators have said Johnson missed a gun tucked in the 34-year-old illegal immigrant's waistband during a pat-down search.
If convicted, Quintero, a Mexican citizen, will face life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. His trial is in its second week in state District Judge Joan Campbell's court.
While Johnson was outside the patrol car, Quintero pulled the slide back to load a round in the chamber of his 9mm semi-automatic pistol, Jordan said.
"He had time to chamber a round," Jordan said, pointing to Quintero with one hand and holding an unloaded gun in the other.
Jordan pulled the slide back and released it three times, letting the sound echo through the courtroom
"A police officer knows that sound."
He said Quintero thought about his options and lay in wait for Johnson to return.
Quintero's attorneys have conceded throughout the trial that he shot Johnson seven times as the officer filled out a booking sheet in the front seat.
Jordan went on to say Quintero shouted racial epithets at Johnson, who was black, as he died.
"How dare you?" Jordan said. "How dare you make it racial, as you take his life."
Defense attorney Recer said the prosecution's explanation for what happened didn't make sense.
"There's no way Mr. Quintero-Perez logically, rationally decided to shoot Officer Johnson," Recer said.
"It's a puzzle that we have to put together."
Quintero's defense team has worked to show he is not guilty of capital murder by reason of insanity.
Two psychologists and a neuropsychologist said a childhood fall caused brain damage that caused Quintero to perceive Johnson as a threat and take unreasonable action.
"Officer Johnson was a hero. He was a family man," Recer said. "We have an explanation. It's just not the quick, easy, bumper-sticker explanation the prosecution wants you to believe."
Recer said she worked to figure out what was wrong with Quintero and what he was thinking.
"Because he sure wasn't thinking like any of us," she said.
She said Quintero's "bad brain" has an overactive threat-detection system, usually assuaged by drinking about 24 beers a day. But on that day, Quintero had about six beers.
Quintero acknowledged in a videotaped statement that, although his hands were cuffed behind his back, he shot Johnson while locked in the backseat of the patrol car.

Wire Service

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Posted by: kwflatbed

HOUSTON --
The stepson of a Houston police officer who was murdered by an illegal immigrant told a jury Wednesday about his mother's reaction to the killing, KPRC Local 2 reported.
Juan Leonardo Quintero, 33, was found guilty last week of capital murder in the death of Officer Rodney Johnson. Quintero was in the back seat of Johnson's patrol car after he was arrested for driving without a license on Sept. 21, 2006.
Reginald Johnson, a 16-year-old Elkins High School student, said he loved working out with his stepfather and fondly remembers watching him dance to James Brown songs.
He said his mother learned of her husband's death while she was sitting the stands at his football game. He said he noticed his mother was suddenly crying.
"Now I don't have a man to help shape me into a better man," Reginald Johnson told the jury.
Reginald Johnson's 21-year-old sister testified Tuesday that her boyfriend proposed to her this week and she is saddened that he was not able to ask her stepfather for her hand in marriage and that he is not here to walk her down the aisle.
Quintero's mother is expected to take the stand Wednesday
Quintero confessed to the murder, but said he shot Johnson because he was afraid of being arrested and the possibility that he could be deported to Mexico because he was in the United States illegally. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming that a childhood brain injury caused him to not be able to reasonably react to some circumstances.


Story From: click2houston.com

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Posted by: Delta784

Bye bye shitbird; get ready for the big needle. They don't take kindly to murdering police officers in Texas.

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Posted by: CJIS

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delta784 Bye bye shitbird; get ready for the big needle. They don't take kindly to murdering police officers in Texas.

They don't take to kindly to murder period unlike some other states

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Posted by: kwflatbed

Cop Killer's Sentence Angers Houston Police

HOUSTON --

Houston's top police officer said Wednesday he was disappointed that a jury allowed a police officer's killer to live, KPRC Local 2 reported.
A jury decided Tuesday that Juan Leonardo Quintero, 34, should spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering Officer Rodney Johnson during a traffic stop.
Video:Cop Killer's Sentence Fuels Immigration Debate:Kym Alvarado-Booth Reports
Quintero was found guilty of capital murder on May 8. Quintero was handcuffed in the back seat of Johnson's patrol car after he was arrested for driving without a license on Sept. 21, 2006, when he opened fire.
"I think I feel like most of the officers," Police Chief Harold Hurtt said. "We're disappointed, but that's the system and I think we work within that every day. We take it as it is."
Veteran Houston Police Officer Shaun Paylin is one of many who rode with Rodney Johnson over the years.
As a husband and father of four, Paylin is among those officers who have more concerns for their safety after Quintero escaped the death penalty.
Paylin and Johnson's widow, Sgt. Joslyn Johnson, are concerned the verdict sends a bad message to criminals on the streets.
"Taking a shot at an officer apparently isn't as bad as it used to be and I'm concerned they are going to think they'll take that chance of shooting an officer -- if he's not looking at the death penalty," Paylin said.
Johnson's widow added, "It gives them the go ahead -- a Harris County deputy was just shot last night."
Joslyn Johnson is requesting HPD make two officers per car mandatory for added safety.
Mayor Bill White said Wednesday manpower would be stretched thin.
"There's a trade off. If you put two officers in every car in driving traffic, you'd have to take officers out of patrol and put in to traffic," he said.
Joslyn Johnson said she might resort to suing the city of Houston if changes are not made.
The League of United Latin American Citizen's Francisco Rodriguez said he is concerned that national LULAC efforts to unite and to lobby Congress for immigration reform was set back by the Quintero verdict fallout.
"Some individuals, not the Johnson family, but some individuals see the opportunity to exercise their demagoguery and do some Hispanic bashing and even further bash immigration or immigration-bashing that is a wave across this country," Rodriguez said.
Andy Kahan, with the mayor's Crime Victim's Assistance Center, said, "I'd like to see real change because of the Quintero case and the railcar killer and the east end rapists. These people who are convicted and deported need to be put in the system with an open warrant for their arrests, so that when they return here to pursue their criminal careers and they get caught, law enforcement has the tools to take action immediately."
Johnson's widow broke down and cried when the punishment was announced. The Johnson family wanted the death penalty.
"The city lost a hero. The department lost one of the best officers. I lost my husband. I feel victimized all over again," said Sgt. Joslyn Johnson.
Rodney Johnson's sister took the stand and read the victim's impact statement.
"Juan Quintero is not remorseful and he is not insane. Losing a loved one the way that we did and we have is enough to drive someone insane," Susan Johnson said.
Houston police officials have said their sentiments are with the Johnson family and that department commanders decide how many officers are necessary to handle a particular case. They said it is normal for police departments to have just one officer in each patrol car.

Story From: click2houston.com

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