Latest Legal News from the Criminal Courts in Houston, Texas

May 10, 2007

Media Advisory: Charles Smith scheduled for execution

AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott offers the following information about Charles Edward Smith, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 16, 2007. Smith was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Pecos County deputy Sheriff Tim Hudson.

FACTS OF THE CRIME

In August 1988, while serving a sentence in a Kansas correctional facility for burglary, theft and aiding a felony, Charles Smith, along with his cousin Carroll Smith, escaped. At the time of the escape, Charles had approximately one month left to serve before he would have been eligible for parole. The two men stole a pickup truck and drove to Houston. While in Houston, they burglarized several homes and stole credit cards, jewelry, license plates, and a .357 magnum pistol and ammunition. They abandoned the stolen truck and replaced it with a stolen van and began driving west toward New Mexico.

On August 19, 1988, the two escapees stopped and pumped gasoline worth $22.50 into the van in Bakersfield, Texas, and drove away without paying. Pecos County deputy Sheriff Tim Hudson and other law enforcement officers responded to the reported theft.

Charles, who was driving the van, refused to stop when the officers tried to pull him over. When Hudson pulled alongside the van, Charles fired three shots into Hudson’s car, one of which fatally wounded Hudson. The evidence showed that Hudson did nothing to provoke the shooting; his firearm was still snapped in place and he was simply attempting to determine who was in the van.

After shooting Hudson, the two escapees abandoned the van and stole a truck tractor. When they approached a roadblock, they made a U-turn and a chase ensued. The two men were captured.

Charles Smith made two videotaped confessions while in custody.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On August 24, 1988, Charles Smith was indicted by a Pecos County grand jury for capital murder in the death of deputy Sheriff Tim Hudson, and he was later convicted and sentenced to death. However, on December 4, 1991, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed his conviction. Smith was retried, convicted, and sentenced to death again in 1992. On September 20, 1995, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Smith’s conviction in but remanded the case for a new punishment hearing. Smith received the new hearing, and a jury sentenced him to death on November 17, 1999. Smith’s sentence was affirmed on appeal on May 8, 2002.

Smith filed a state application for writ of habeas corpus in the trial court on August 13, 2001. The trial court later entered findings of fact and conclusions of law recommending that Smith be denied relief. On October 22, 2003, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals adopted the trial court’s findings and conclusions and denied Smith habeas relief.

On October 20, 2004, Smith filed a federal habeas petition in the a U.S. District Court. On September 16, 2005, the district court denied Smith’s petition. Smith appealed, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s judgment on November 30, 2006. Smith petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for certiorari review on February 23, 2007. The petition is currently pending before the Court

PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY AND EVIDENCE
OF FUTURE DANGEROUSNESS

In 1987, Charles Smith pled guilty to felony burglary and felony theft, admitting that he and a companion, Jeff Miers, had broken into a house and stolen a rifle. Smith’s conviction for aiding a felon stemmed from his presence when Miers used that gun on January 22, 1987, to kill Martin Esquivel and wound his brother, Fernando Esquivel, in Garden City, Kansas. One witness testified that Smith urged Miers to commit the murder.

Sally Ann Ochoa, the probation officer who prepared the presentence investigation report for Smith’s conviction for aiding a felon (relating to Smith’s involvement in the Esquivel murder), testified that Smith did not express any remorse and seemed unconcerned. She concluded that Smith was not a suitable candidate for probation and recommended that he be sentenced to prison.

Norma Jean Jackson, a correctional officer in Kansas, testified that while Smith was incarcerated in the facility where she was employed, he violated the facility’s rules by shoving her as she stood in a doorway. Joyce Whitt, another correctional officer from Kansas, testified that Smith escaped from the Kansas facility when he had approximately a month left to serve before being eligible for parole, and that he could have faced two years in prison if he had been captured.

Mark Yates, who was incarcerated in a cell adjoining Smith’s cell in the Pecos County Jail, testified that Smith showed no remorse for the murder of Deputy Hudson and stated that he (Smith) had slept like a baby the first night in jail. Yates also testified that Smith told him that, by killing a police officer, he had fulfilled one of the goals of his life.

Cliff Harris, who supervised the jailers in Pecos County, testified about contraband found in Smith’s cell and in the maximum security area where he was housed. He testified that they had numerous problems with Smith: he set his blankets on fire once; he fought with other inmates; he had a very short temper and when he lost his temper, he tore things up; he intimidated other inmates and dominated the maximum security cellblock; and he was a danger to other inmates and the jailers. Sam Esparza testified that while he was assisting with visitation at the Pecos County Jail, he broke up a fight between Smith and another inmate. T.J. Perkins, another jailer at the Pecos County Jail, testified that Smith grabbed him through the bars and that he felt that his life was in danger. He also testified that he heard Smith singing a song: “I shot the sheriff, but in my case it was the deputy.”

Pecos County jailer Carol Barnett testified that a razor blade that had been removed from its plastic holder was taken from the sink in Smith’s cell. She also testified that after a strip search of the inmates and a shakedown of the maximum security cells, Smith got angry because his cell had been searched. He tore up light fixtures and a television set and threw the pieces through the bars at the deputies and then started a fire with a blanket. She testified that Smith was more aggressive than most of the other inmates.

Jailer Darlene Archer testified that she saw Smith hitting another inmate in the face with his fist; and that she heard Smith singing, in a cheery manner, “I shot the sheriff, but in my case I shot the deputy.” In her opinion, Smith had “no good points” and “no redeeming virtues.”

Pecos County Sheriff Bruce Wilson testified that he came to the jail the night Smith started the fire and heard Smith say that he was going to kill the first person through the door. Wilson testified that Smith was moody and one day could be docile and the next day “he can be a raging, crazy human being.” He testified that Smith is “very dangerous” and was the dominating force in the maximum security area of the Pecos County Jail.

Finally, several other witnesses testified that Smith had a bad reputation for being a peaceful and law-abiding citizen.

 

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