Death sentence upheld in killing of police officer

Defense argues law enforcement’s presence at trial initmidated jurors

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday upheld the 2014 death sentence of Bellaire police killer Harlem Lewis III.

Lewis, 25, was convicted for the Dec. 24, 2012, shooting deaths of Cpl. Jimmy Norman, 53, a Bellaire police officer, and Terry Taylor, 66, a bystander who tried to help the officer during the Christmas Eve traffic stop near his business.

Lewis fled when Norman tried to pull him over. He struck a pickup during the pursuit and stopped near Taylor’s auto body shop.

He fatally shot the 24year police veteran when Norman tried to take him into custody. He then fatally shot Taylor, who had stepped out of the business to assist Norman. Lewis was shot in an exchange of gunfire with officers who arrived at the scene.

It took the jury about two hours to side with prosecutors and find Lewis guilty of capital murder. He remains on death row. Defense issues

His trial attorney said he was disappointed with Wednesday’s decision by the court to uphold the conviction and death sentence.

“We thought there were some legal errors in the case — obviously the Court of Criminal Appeals disagreed,” Houston attorney Pat McCann said.

He was concerned that the proceedings amounted to a show trial for the benefit of the then relatively new District Attorney Devon Anderson.

“That was pretty clear during the trial,” McCann said.

There was a heavy police presence during the trial that Lewis’ defense lawyers believed might have intimidated the jurors and possibly altered the final outcome, McCann said.

“There was obviously a lot of emotion during the trial,” he said.

There was a concern about Lewis’ mental development during the trial and now that the case is on review, McCann said the appellate legal team will explore new scientific developments in that area.

While the decision by Texas’ highest criminal court might have gone against them, McCann said there still are additional legal avenues to follow, including the federal route.

“There is still quite a long way to go,” McCann said. Other appeals rejected

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday also rejected an appeal from Joseph Prystash, 60, sentenced to death for helping exMissouri City police officer Robert Fratta kill his wife in 1994.

Prystash was the middle-man between Fratta and hired triggerman Howard Guidry.

All three men are on Texas’ death row.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday rejected 15 claims raised by Kimberly Cargill, 50, of Whitehouse, who was convicted in Smith County in 2012 of causing the asphyxiation of 39-year-old Cherry Walker.

Ten of the claims in Cargill’s appeal contended her trial lawyers were deficient for not presenting evidence that Walker died in June 2010 of an epilepsy-related seizure rather than homicidal violence. The court said three other claims were rejected because they should have been raised in an earlier appeal following her conviction and one was refused because it had been raised and rejected in that earlier appeal. The final claim argued attorneys handling the previous appeal were deficient for not arguing that an autopsy photo allowed into evidence was improper and prejudicial.