Tony Plohetski reports, " Execution date set for police killer," in today's Austin American-Statesman.
A state district judge has set an execution date for David Lee Powell, convicted and sentenced to die by three separate juries in the fatal shooting of an Austin police officer more than 30 years ago.
Powell, who is one of the state's longest-serving death row inmates, is scheduled to be executed June 15 "after the hour of 6 p.m.," according to an order that Judge Mike Lynch issued late Monday.
Lynch ordered that Powell, who shot officer Ralph Ablanedo 10 times with an AK-47, "die by intravenous injection of a substance or substances in a lethal quantity sufficient to cause death."
The order was met with mixed emotions Tuesday.
Ablanedo's son, David Mills, said, "It's been a long time. I think the process has been more than fair to him, and I think he's had an opportunity to make his case."
However, he said, "I'm not going to go there and have all this closure I've never had. It's not going to do it for me."
Powell's longtime attorney, Richard Burr of Houston, expressed anger and sadness.
He said Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg could have "stood tall" and not sought for Lynch to set the execution date. He said she also could seek to have Lynch's order withdrawn — a move he said would mirror the will of her constituents.
And:
Lehmberg would say only, "It is a sad day for everyone when an execution date is set, but three juries have heard this case over the years and in each instance have determined this is a proper sentence."
Burr said that in three decades behind bars, Powell has been a model prisoner, teaching other inmates to read and counseling other death row prisoners.
Powell graduated a year early from high school, where he was valedictorian, and went into the honors program at the University of Texas, where court records said he turned to drugs.
Powell's May 1978 crime occurred after Ablanedo pulled over Sheila Meinert, Powell's girlfriend at the time, for a routine traffic stop. Powell, who also was accused of trying to shoot other officers when they closed in on him, was found guilty and sentenced to death within months of the shooting.
He appealed his conviction, saying that he had talked to a psychiatrist without being warned of his rights, and received a new trial in 1991. Powell also appealed that guilty verdict, saying he had been improperly sentenced, and was given a new sentencing trial in 1999. He was again given the death penalty.
Sally Norvell's documentary, "Saving David Powell," is online. More information on Powell is at the website Let David Live. Earlier coverage begins with this post.
Comments