Christopher Coleman

Case record: Christopher Coleman

Timeline

• December 14, 1995 — A man approached the passenger side of a car occupied by four passengers that had stopped on a dead-end street in Houston; the man fired a gun numerous times into the vehicle. Jose Luis Garcia-Castro, Heimar Prado Hurtado, and three-year-old Danny Giraldo were killed by gunfire; Danny Giraldo’s mother, Elsie Prado, survived after being shot several times.
• October 9, 1996 — Christopher Coleman was indicted by a Harris County grand jury for capital murder.
• June 3, 1997 — A jury found Coleman guilty of capital murder.
• June 6, 1997 — After a separate punishment hearing, Coleman was sentenced to death by the jury.
• December 16, 1998 — Coleman filed an application for writ of habeas corpus with the state trial court.
• April 18, 2001 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Coleman’s state habeas application.
• March 21, 2002 — A Houston U.S. district court dismissed Coleman’s federal habeas corpus proceedings without prejudice.
• June 20, 2002 — Coleman filed a second application for writ of habeas corpus with the state trial court.
• September 11, 2002 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed Coleman’s state habeas application as an abuse of the writ.
• October 11, 2002 — Coleman returned to Houston federal court and filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus.
• September 29, 2004 — The federal district court denied Coleman the relief requested in his federal habeas petition and denied a COA on any of Coleman’s claims.
• October 10, 2005 — Coleman filed an application for COA with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
• July 18, 2006 — The federal appeals court affirmed the judgment of the district court, refusing the requested COA.
• September 12, 2006 — The federal appeals court denied Coleman’s petition for rehearing by the full court.
• December 11, 2006 — Coleman petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari.
• April 16, 2007 — The Supreme Court denied Coleman’s petition for certiorari.
• July 23, 2007 — Coleman filed a third application for writ of habeas corpus with the state trial court.
• October 10, 2007 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals again dismissed the state habeas application as an abuse of the writ.
• March 18, 2009 — After Coleman filed yet another application for habeas relief, it was again dismissed.
• May 18, 2009 — The trial court issued an order setting Coleman’s execution date for Tuesday, September 22, 2009.
• September 2, 2009 — Coleman filed a motion for authorization to file a successive federal habeas petition.
• September 10, 2009 — Coleman filed a motion for leave to file a petition for writ of prohibition.
• September 14, 2009 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Coleman’s motion for leave to file for writ of prohibition.
• September 22, 2009 — Coleman was executed by lethal injection in Texas. The execution process began and he was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m.; Coleman made a final statement.

Background

Christopher Coleman was convicted of the December 14, 1995 capital murders of Heimar Prado Hurtado, Jose Luis Garcia-Castro, and Danny Giraldo. After a separate punishment hearing, a jury sentenced Coleman to death on June 6, 1997.

Coleman had one prior arrest for assault and served 60 days in the Harris County Jail before his current incarceration and death sentence.

The offence

In the early morning hours of December 14, 1995, a man approached the passenger side of a car occupied by four passengers that had stopped on a dead-end street in Houston. The man fired a gun numerous times into the vehicle. Killed by gunfire were:

• Jose Luis Garcia-Castro
• Heimar Prado Hurtado
• three-year-old Danny Giraldo

Danny Giraldo’s mother, Elsie Prado, who was in the back seat, survived although she was shot several times.

Elsie Prado told police that she got a good look at the shooter and would never forget his face, and she later identified the shooter as Coleman.

The jury convicted Coleman of capital murder based on his participation in the murders, including under the “law of parties” principle described at sentencing and on appeal.

Investigation

After the murders, Houston police learned on December 29, 1995 that Coleman had been taken into custody in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. Officers investigating the murders flew to Tennessee that night.

After waiving his Miranda rights, Coleman gave a statement admitting to being at the crime scene but denying shooting the victims.

Arrest

Houston police arrested Coleman in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee on December 29, 1995. Officers traveled to Tennessee to transport him back to Texas, read him the warnings required by Miranda v. Arizona, and Coleman waived his rights.

Trial

A Texas state jury convicted Coleman of capital murder in June 1997 and sentenced him to death on June 6, 1997.

Elsie Prado was described as the injured survivor who identified Coleman. She picked Coleman’s picture from a photo spread nine days after the shooting and later provided in-court identification.

During penalty deliberations:

• The jury began penalty deliberations around midday on June 5, 1997.
• The jury foreman sent a note stating the jury had decided special issues numbers one and two, that it was at an impasse on issue number three, that there were “solid votes on either side,” and that the jury had been deliberating on issue three since early that morning.

After the trial judge read the note, Coleman moved for a directed verdict; the trial judge denied the motion. The judge asked the foreman for the numerical split of the jury, without telling the judge who was for one side or the other. The foreman responded: "The numerical difference is eight and four."

The trial judge addressed the jury:

I'm going to ask the jury to go to lunch and come back this afternoon. Give it at least another try, and I will certainly consider your note at that time. We just ask you to continue. See if you can make any headway. If you cannot, just let the Court know sometime this afternoon. Thank you again for your consideration. We'll take you to lunch right away. Thank you.

A second note from the foreman stated the jury was at an impasse and that the vote at that point was eleven to one. Coleman again moved for a directed verdict; the trial court denied the motion.

After receiving the second jury note, the trial court did not call in the jury; the record shows only that the judge wrote a reply note to the foreman:

Members of the Jury: Please continue deliberations.

Sentencing

Following the separate punishment hearing, Coleman was sentenced to death by the jury on June 6, 1997.

The first special issue listed in the appellate discussion was:

Do you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that there is a probability that the defendant, Christopher Coleman, would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society?

Appeals

State proceedings

• May 5, 1999 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Coleman’s conviction and sentence and denied his initial state application for a writ of habeas corpus.
• September 11, 2002 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed a second state habeas application as an abuse of the writ.
• October 10, 2007 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals again dismissed a state habeas application as an abuse of the writ.
• March 18, 2009 — Another application for habeas relief was dismissed.
• September 14, 2009 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Coleman’s motion for leave to file a petition for writ of prohibition.

Federal proceedings and U.S. Supreme Court

• March 21, 2002 — A Houston U.S.
• September 29, 2004 — The federal district court denied Coleman the relief requested in his federal habeas petition and refused to grant a COA on his federal claims.
• July 18, 2006 — The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment and refused the requested COA.
• September 12, 2006 — The Fifth Circuit denied Coleman’s petition for rehearing by the full court.

Outcome

Christopher Coleman was executed by lethal injection in Texas on September 22, 2009.

Coleman made a final statement:

Ain't no way, fo fo. I love all y'all.

He was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. after the lethal injection was started.

Other details

Victims and relationships

Four people were in the targeted car:

• Jose Luis Garcia-Castro (driver)
• Elsie Prado (girlfriend of Garcia-Castro; back seat; survived)
• Heimar Prado Hurtado (Prado’s brother)
• Danny Giraldo (Prado’s three-year-old son; killed)

Co-defendants and other sentences

The appeals discussion included references that:

• Enrique Mosquera received life prison terms for his role in the plot and was tried for capital murder; the jury could not agree to a death sentence and he automatically received a life sentence.
• Derrick Graham also received a life sentence.
• Prosecutors pursued death against Mosquera but the jury could not agree on punishment.

Execution witness and reporting details

No personal or victim witnesses attended Coleman’s execution by lethal injection, and he declined to be interview by reporters while on death row.

Language at execution

The final statement included the quoted phrase “fo fo.”