Jermarr Arnold

Case details

Jermarr Arnold was convicted of the capital offense of murdering Christine Sanchez in the course of committing the offense of robbery on July 15, 1983, and he was sentenced to death.

Timeline

• August 2, 1990 — Arnold was indicted in the District Court of Nueces County, Texas, for the capital offense of murdering Christine Sanchez in the course of committing the offense of robbery on July 15, 1983.
• December 18, 1990 — A jury found Arnold guilty of the capital offense.
• December 19, 1990 — Following a separate punishment hearing, the court sentenced Arnold to death.
• November 10, 1993 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence.
• October 3, 1994 — Arnold’s petition for writ of certiorari in the United State Supreme Court was denied.
• December 30, 1996 — Arnold filed an application for writ of habeas corpus in the trial court.
• December 13, 1999 — Court of Criminal Appeals denied the application in an unpublished order.
• February 1, 2000 — Arnold filed a federal habeas petition in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
• January 12, 2001 — The federal district court denied habeas relief and granted permission to appeal.
• August 28, 2001 — The Fifth Circuit affirmed the Federal District Court’s decision on appeal.
• January 16, 2002 — Arnold was executed by lethal injection in Texas.
• January 14 — The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Arnold’s final appeal.
• January 15 — The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted unanimously to deny Arnold’s request for a stay of execution.
• Wednesday (January 16, 2002) — Governor Perry declined the stay request.

The offence

On July 15, 1983, a lone gunman robbed the Greenberg Jewelry Store in Corpus Christi. The store’s clerk, Christine Sanchez, was killed in the robbery by one gunshot to the head.

Arnold wrote letters from prison in which he confessed to the Greenberg Jewelry Store robbery and the murder of Christine Sanchez. In his account, he cased the jewelry store and entered as it opened for business. He pulled a .32-caliber revolver and told Sanchez that this was a robbery and that if she didn’t give him any problems, she wouldn’t get hurt. He filled a bag with jewelry and then told her that he wanted cash. Arnold said Sanchez grabbed a gun from the desk and attempted to point it at him. He struggled with Sanchez, took the gun away from her, and shot her in the head with it. He fled the scene in a car he had parked near the store, abandoned the car at the railroad tracks, and bought a bus ticket to San Antonio under the name Troy Alexander.

An eyewitness identified in the case was Joe Morano, who testified that he observed Arnold in the Greenberg Jewelry store between 10:30 a.m. and before 11:00 a.m. on July 15, 1983, and later identified a photo of Arnold as the person he had seen in the store.

Investigation

The investigation of the robbery and murder focused on a possible suspect named “Troy Alexander.” Further investigation revealed the eyewitness, Joe Morano, who later testified about his short conversation with a male in the Greenberg Jewelry store between 10:30 a.m. and before 11:00 a.m. on July 15, 1983, and Morano later identified a photo of Arnold as the person he had seen in the store.

The investigation was delayed for five years because police lacked information to pursue it further.

After a local district attorney received a letter from Arnold, who was in a California prison at the time, Arnold claimed to have information about the Greenberg Jewelry Store robbery/murder and about Troy Alexander. Further investigation revealed that Arnold had written several letters to the news media, namely to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

The Texas Rangers interviewed Arnold on Sept. 22, 1988 in the California Men’s Colony State Prison while Arnold was serving time there for several crimes committed in that state. During the interview, Arnold told the Rangers that he had monitored the store for several days before the robbery. He also described watching the store as it opened for business on the morning of the robbery/murder, followed by entering the store and telling the clerk that he was interested in purchasing a ring. Arnold described that a “young, Spanish” man came into the store and left five or 10 minutes later, and then he brandished a .32-caliber revolver and told Sanchez that this was a robbery and that if she didn’t give him any problems, she wouldn’t get hurt. Arnold described Sanchez taking merchandise into a bag tucked into his pants, Sanchez walking toward where she believed cash was stored, and Sanchez grabbing a gun from the desk, after which Arnold said he struggled with Sanchez, took the gun away from her, and shot her in the head.

Investigators later connected Arnold to the case through his possession of details that could only be known by someone who was there, including a description of the color of the dress Christine Sanchez was wearing, and Morano’s identification of Arnold’s photo.

Arrest and custody details

Arnold was extradited from California to Texas to stand trial for the capital offense relating to Christine Sanchez.

While Arnold was being held before trial, he injured a cellmate with a ball point pen.

After the robbery, Arnold was arrested in California on unrelated armed robbery charges and incarcerated there.

Trial

Procedural history at trial level

Arnold was indicted on August 2, 1990 in the District Court of Nueces County, Texas, for the capital offense of murdering Christine Sanchez in the course of committing the offense of robbery on July 15, 1983.

A jury found Arnold guilty of the capital offense on December 18, 1990.

Following a separate punishment hearing, the court sentenced Arnold to death on December 19, 1990.

After the State closed, Arnold chose to testify and stated that he was satisfied with the jury’s decisions, the court’s conduct, and the representation of his attorneys.

During the punishment phase, the jury heard testimony about Arnold’s past criminal history and propensity for dangerousness. A Nueces County jail officer testified that while Arnold was being held there, he saw Arnold beating another inmate by using a ball point pen to inflict puncture wounds.

A California prison psychiatrist, Dr. Sheppard, testified with daily contact with Arnold in 1987 and 1988. Dr. Sheppard testified that he believed Arnold was one of the most dangerous people he had come across, and that Arnold would be an ongoing threat of physical harm to others, whether outside or inside prison.

Arnold’s prior convictions referenced during the trial included armed robbery, aggravated assault, possession of a deadly weapon by a state prisoner, multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a concealed weapon, and another count of possession of a deadly weapon by a state prisoner.

Arnold’s testimony and statements

Arnold made statements at trial that included:

That he had committed the murder and deserved to die.

He also made the following statements at trial:

"there are some people that aren't fit to live in society [and] aren't fit to live, and I think I belong in the latter."
"I'm no longer fit to live because I can't live in a moral, law-abiding society."
"I think it would be a moral decision for you to make by sentencing me to die."
"I have taken a life, so therefore, I deserve to have my own life forfeited."
"If [my life is] not taken at this point--if you miss this opportunity, there's a good chance that I will kill again."

Arnold read two poems he had written. When questioned by the State as to why he read poetry, Arnold only responded that everything in the news articles in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times was fair and accurate. When the State attempted a further question, Arnold left the stand.

Appeals

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence on November 10, 1993.

Arnold’s petition for writ of certiorari in the United State Supreme Court was denied on October 3, 1994.

Arnold filed an application for writ of habeas corpus in the trial court on December 30, 1996, and on December 13, 1999 the Court of Criminal Appeals denied the application in an unpublished order.

Arnold filed a federal habeas petition in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas on February 1, 2000. The federal district court denied habeas relief and granted permission to appeal on January 12, 2001. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the Federal District Court’s decision on August 28, 2001.

Thereafter, Arnold filed a petition for certiorari in the United State Supreme Court, which was currently pending at the time of the narrative describing the procedural history. On January 14 (year not specified in the narrative), the U.S.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted unanimously to deny his request for a stay of execution on January 15.

Sentencing

Arnold was sentenced to death on December 19, 1990 after a separate punishment hearing.

Outcome

Arnold was executed by lethal injection in Texas on January 16, 2002. He was pronounced dead at 6:32 p.m.

At his execution, Arnold told the victim’s family:

"I'm taking responsibility for the death of your daughter in 1983," Arnold told the victim's family at his execution.
"I'm deeply sorry for the loss of your loved one ... I cannot explain and can't give you answers. I can give you one thing, and I'm going to give that today. I give a life for a life. I pray you will have no ill will or animosity. You have the right to see this, I am glad you are here. All I can do is ask the Lord for forgiveness. I am not saying this to be facetious. I am giving my life. I hope you find comfort in my execution. As for me, I am happy, that is why you see me smiling. I am glad I am leaving this world. I am going to a better place. I have made peace with God, I am born again."

He continued with his last statement in the same vein, repeating that he took responsibility for the killing and that he hoped the Sanchez family would find peace. After he signaled the warden to begin the lethal injection, he began singing “Amazing Grace” and kept singing as the chemicals coursed into his veins.

Aftermath

A spokesman for the governor’s office said the governor’s office investigated a request for an emergency 30-day stay based on comments from former Nueces county assistant district attorney Bill May and found that the comments were not supported in the trial record.

Bill May asked Governor Perry to grant Arnold an emergency 30-day stay of execution. May said he believed Christine Sanchez may have been murdered because of her role as an informer in drug investigations, and that the jewelry store robbery was faked to cover the real motive behind her murder. Governor Perry declined the stay request Wednesday afternoon.

Other details

Arnold had been documented as schizophrenic in 1978 and again in 1983, and he was treated with anti-psychotic drugs off and on while in prison. Arnold argued that his confession to the Texas Rangers was invalid because he was psychotic, depressed, and suicidal at the time and was being treated with anti-psychotic drugs. He also attributed his record of prison violence to his mental illness. In addition, it was stated that during the punishment phase the State used expert testimony about Arnold’s mental health taken in 1987, nearly four years after the crime.

Grant Jones, the prosecutor in the case, said that he would not have pursued Arnold as the suspect if his confession were the only evidence, stating:

"We proved without a doubt he was in town; we proved he was at the store the day of the robbery; we connected to him, or had in his possession, some of the jewelry," Jones said, adding that Arnold also provided details only the killer could have known. "You had to ask yourself: How can a guy in California come up with all the details of a robbery in Corpus Christi? How could he know about it unless he was here?"

Arnold was described in the narrative as having “mellowed in recent years,” describing himself as “level, calm, and peace-loving.” On the week before his execution, Arnold stated:

"I can accept I did bad things,"

He also stated:

"I'm not very good with people. Sometimes I feel paranoid and threatened and I strike out ... I start hurting myself or other people."

When asked about the Sanchez killing, Arnold stated:

"I do care and I'm sorry and I wish none of this had happened."

During custody on death row, Arnold murdered another inmate, Maurice Andrews, by driving a sharpened bolt through his temple, then dancing around him in celebration, and the act was described as being caught on videotape. It was described that prosecutors were not planning to try Arnold for the April 1995 stabbing death of Maurice Andrews, but Arnold asked that the pending matter be taken to a jury trial. Information concerning the outcome of that trial was described as unavailable.

In a July 2001 letter to the Socialist Worker, Arnold wrote:

"in a month or two when they give me a date, I might be next, since tragically and unbelievably, Texas’ governor [Rick Perry] just vetoed legislation banning the execution of the mentally retarded."

In another letter written about the same time, Arnold wrote:

"I was convicted in a sham trial. I was given an incompetent court appointed attorney who essentially collaborated to railroad me. ... There was no physical evidence introduced during the trial of my guilt. There were no eyewitnesses. None of my fingerprints were found. No DNA. There was not even a murder weapon. This was a long ago murder robbery that had happened July 1983 and the police had not solved or made any arrests in over 6 or 7 years when I came along and they seen a perfect chance to 'solve' their case."

Arnold called his case “one of the most egregious examples on Texas's already long and growing list of travesties symbolizing the dark cloud of corruption of power and racism long hanging over this state and tainting its entire legal System.”

Arnold’s letter also included a request for funds for a DNA test.

A “LETTER FROM JERMARR ARNOLD” included the following text:

"I am on Texas‘s death row and sometime in the next few months or so a date will likely be set. I will then be forcibly taken to the Walls Unit. I will be strapped tightly to a gurney by a team of state executioners. Then, I will be murdered. And, forgotten. At least the state of Texas hopes so. They hope to ‘bury‘ the unanswered questions, discrepancies, lies and inconclusive ‘evidence‘ and ‘facts pointing elsewhere. And, most of all a ‘confession‘ that was coerced from a mental patient. They hope, again, to be able to successfully use the state‘s unchecked power to manipulate the truth and blur the line between justice and deliberate calculated murder by evoking sympathy and for the victim. And, hatred and public scorn for me: the one marked for the death chamber. I, too, feel compassion and sympathy for this young woman victim, and indeed inside me there is sadness for all victims of violence. However, it isn‘t right using this to take away other people‘s rights and increasing the state‘s power of life and death. I sharply disagree that innocent people aren‘t being sent to death row and haven‘t been executed. Or, that we‘ve all received trials that were fair and honest. And, I challenge anyone who's got the notion or misguided belief that all this state killing is about ‘justice‘ or bringing ‘closure‘ and healing. And, whatever it will be about it won‘t be about ‘justice‘. What killing me will be is the culmination of a chilling miscarriage of justice and mockery that, if facts in my case were viewed in the proper light and objectively, is likely one of the most egregious examples on Texas‘s already long and growing list of travesties symbolizing the dark cloud of corruption of power and racism long hanging over this state and tainting its entire legal System. I was convicted in a sham trial. I was given an incompetent court appointed attorney who essentially collaborated to railroad me. While this may be hard to believe, it is not uncommon in Texas. And, my case is a perfect example. There was no physical evidence introduced during the trial of m y guilt. There were no eyewitnesses. None of my fingerprints were found. No DNA. There was not even a murder weapon. This was a long ago murder robbery that bad happened July 1983 and the police bad not solved or made any arrests in over 6 or 7 years when I came along and they seen a perfect chance to ‘solve‘ their case. I was already in a prison in California. So it was not hard for them to convince anyone they had the right person. Plus, it was a white owned business whose owners throughout trial were spoken of as ‘pillars of the community‘ putting further pressure on the D.A. and judge to find me guilty regardless of the lack of solid evidence or witn­esses. All they had was a ‘confession‘ from me they got when they came to Calif­fornia where I was being treated with anti-psychotic drugs off and on and was psychotic, depressed, and suicidal as my prison record clearly documents as I was severely ‘disturbed‘ at that time and completely unable to recollect truthfully or reliably something that happened as far back as seven years when I was barely sane or managing to stay alive in Folsom, Pelican Bayou and some of California's most inhumane and notorious lockups where I was involved in an unusual amount of assaults and violent episodes due to my mental illness causing me assorted problems with guards and other prisoners which has all worked to the advantage of Texas authorities and prison officials who have repeatedly called me ‘one of the state‘s most dangerous inmates‘ and the ‘meanest man on death row‘ and other similar propaganda: This rhetoric and nonsense is but a smokescreen thinly veiling the real reasons for them wanting me dead (i.e. to complete the ‘cover up‘) begun when they charged me with this crime without any evidence And, even if it were true would it have anything to do with the murder robbery at a south Texas jewelers for which I‘ve been sentenced to death and forced to endure a living nightmare?! Does a ‘bad‘ reputation in prison and the record of problems I‘ve had since I got locked up necessarily prove that I must be guilty of something that happened before I got locked up?! Or, is it more feasible and logical to any justice minded and caring people that it may be the problems in prison and mental and emotional issues might be the direct result of prison itself and massive persecution I‘ve endured? Going through the ordeal of living on death row and the possibility of death by lethal injection, isn‘t an easy thing. Put yourself in my shoes, if you can. How would you react? How would living under these conditions affect you? So instead of treatment Texas would rather hide my history so that they can kill me. Until they murder me I am going to be fighting not just for my life, but also for the justice that‘s been so far denied me. And, for the higher purpose of exposing and unmasking to as many as possible this state‘s arrogant use of the death penalty. Its unparalleled record of systematic violations of fundamental legal and human rights and total perversion of justice while feeding their ‘killing frenzy‘. Already over 250 executions in this state since December 1982 have done little or nothing to stop violence! That should tell you something right there. All the death penalty does in reality is encourages and legitimizes violence and vengeance. If it deterred it Texas would have the safest streets in the world. But all it does is cheapen and erode respect for human life when the state itself is in the immoral business of taking life. Now, comes the hard part. Asking people for help is never easy. I can only pray that if you‘ve read so far that you‘re someone that cares about justice and human rights and that you‘ll continue. I am poor and have no family to help or support me during this present legal ordeal. Until recent­ly I had a girlfriend who helped and supported me during this financially and otherwise but now she‘s left and I am completely destitute and with little or none resources beyond my unquenchable faith and my unbreakable spirit to fight until justice is done and the death penalty is abolished! I would be very grateful to hear from any who might be willing and able to help and support mc by writing letters, sending e-mails, photocopying etc. I particularly welcome any and all financial assistance. Since my girlfriend‘s left me I have no funds in my prison account I use to buy commissary and stamps and writing supplies. Most urgently and importantly I need to get a DNA test performed by an independent lab and a competent investigator to gather some crucial exculpatory evidence that has been ‘overlooked‘ by' the state. All this costs money, which I do not have. I am therefore coming to you begging your mercy and understanding and asking that you open your heart. I ask you to remember the saying that ‘there but by the grace of God go I‘! It is no overstatement to say my very life could depend on people like you. I will answer letters from anyone who writes to mc about my case, and I will be more than happy to provide you more information or details about any aspect of the Texas ‘killing machine‘. Time is of the essence. Please write. Don‘t let them silence me. Please. Jermarr C. Arnold # 000987 Polunsky Unit 12002 South FM Rd.350 Livingston, Texas 77351 USA"