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[This edited version of the report has been prepared by Dr Robert N Moles]

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On 12 July 2007 Harvey Rice of the Houston Chronicle reported “Anthony Graves' defense suffers setback”

He said a judge will let prosecutors use 1994 testimony of a witness who later recanted The recorded testimony of a witness who recanted moments before his execution will be admitted in the capital murder retrial of Anthony Graves, a Burleson County district judge ruled Thursday. The ruling by state District Judge Reva Towslee-Corbett is a setback for Graves, whose conviction was overturned last year after a federal appeals court found that the prosecution withheld statements from the defense and elicited false testimony during his 1994 trial.

Graves was convicted almost entirely on the testimony of Robert Carter, who told a jury that on Aug. 18, 1992, he and Graves used a hammer, pistol and knife to kill Bobbie Joyce Davis, 45; her 16-year-old daughter, Nicole; and four grandchildren between 4 and 9. Davis' Somerville home was torched to cover the crime.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Carter told prosecutors the night before he testified that he acted alone, without Graves. Prosecutors failed to notify the defense of Carter's statement and threatened to prosecute his wife as a participant in the slayings, the court said. Carter recanted his testimony in a deposition and in his last statement before he was executed in 2000. "Anthony Graves had nothing to do with it," Carter said. "I lied on him in court." The defense asked Towslee-Corbett to prohibit the prosecution from using a transcript of Carter's 1994 testimony, but she denied the request without explanation. "I can't tell you how disappointed I've been," said David Mullin, one of three defense attorneys representing Graves. "It's as if she said everything the 5th Circuit said is not right," Mullin said.

Special prosecutor Patrick Batchelor did not respond to a request for comment. The order allowing Carter's testimony is the latest in a string of decisions by Towslee-Corbett that have favored the prosecution, including a gag order imposed over the objections of the defense that was overturned by a state appeals court. Graves remains in the Burleson County Jail awaiting a trial date. Attorneys are waiting for Towslee-Corbett to rule on a change of venue request.

Source: 12 July 2007 Harvey Rice Houston Chronicle Anthony Graves' defense suffers setback

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