Unit 1012 will honor
Senior Police Officer Jaime D Padron who was killed in the line of duty on
April 6, 2012. The Cop-Killer was sentenced to death on. Please go to the Force
1109 Blog Post to learn more about the fallen policeman and let us hear from
his loved ones here:
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INTERNET
SOURCE: http://kxan.com/2014/03/11/brandon-daniel-transferred-to-death-row/
Brandon
Daniel transferred to Death Row
By Jackie Vega Updated: Tuesday, March 11, 2014,
5:38 pm
Published: Tuesday, March 11, 2014, 11:17 am
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A week to the day that
a jury sentenced Brandon Daniel to death by lethal injection for the April 2012
killing of Senior Austin Police Officer Jaime Padron, officials transferred him
to Death Row.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
officials confirmed Daniel is in the Polunsky Prison in Polk County, Texas,
after authorities transferred him on Friday.
Jurors —
10 women and two men — found Daniel guilty of capital murder after more than
eight hours of deliberations and nine days of testimony.
“You
are a coward and I hope you rot in hell,” Johnny
Padron, Jaime’s older brother, said in a brief statement to Daniel following
the sentence.
Amy
Padron, Jaime’s ex-wife, also took the stand after the sentence was handed
down, giving an emotion-packed speech where she read letters from her 8 and
12-year-old daughters.
“You
made me cry,” one of the letters read. “Now it is your time to cry in prison for the rest of your
life.”
“There
are so many things you took away,” Matt
Baldwin said to Daniel. Baldwin was Padron’s old partner in San Angelo. “I don’t know why you did it. I don’t care. So many lives
were destroyed by what you did.
“Any
moments of fame you may think you had, I want you to know that you lost,” Baldwin added. “You
confirmed Jaime was the winner. Jaime was the hero.”
The
weight of the jury’s life-or-death decision was not lost among those in the
courtroom.
“You guys
had a very difficult task. Your lives will never be the same from here on out,”
Linda Diaz, Jaime’s sister, said to the jury. “You were doing your job. Please
don’t carry this on your shoulders. You followed the instructions you were
given.”
Daniel
was remanded into custody to be transferred to The Texas Department of Criminal
Justice.
Prosecution’s
closing arguments
“He is a
future danger, and there is not one good reason not to sentence him to death,”
said prosecuting attorney Bill Bishop, ending his argument.
- Photos: Day 5 | Brandon Daniel’s sentencing phase
- Photos: Day 3 | Brandon Daniel’s sentencing phase
- Photos: Day 2 | Brandon Daniel’s sentencing phase
- Photos: Day 1 | Brandon Daniel’s sentencing phase
Before
closing, Bishop told jurors everything that can be considered to Daniel’s
benefit came from him — adding that all of the defense experts only got their
information from Daniel himself.
“It
cannot be trusted. It is all his grand design,” said Bishop, referencing Daniel
trying to find a Xanax and Ambien defense while in jail. “He laid out the
clinical words he was supposed to say but he could not explain them.”
Bishop
went on to say that Daniel gets his self-worth by taking pictures of himself
with a gun, blowing a hole in his ceiling and taking a picture of the damage.
Yet, Bishop pointed out that Daniel’s motive for having that gun on April 6,
2012, is still a mystery.
“For 22
months, he has pondered upon that and still cannot give an explanation as to
why he took a loaded .380 to Walmart,” said Bishop. “You take a loaded .380 to
Walmart to kill somebody, and that is what he did.”
Bishop
said Daniel’s intention was not escape or to run away the morning of April 6,
2012.
“His
intention was far more sinister,”-said Bishop, describing Daniel readying his
weapon as he ran. “This is someone who gains his self-worth through evil that
he has done.”
Bishop
went on to describe Daniel’s fascination with Columbine and the Boston Marathon
bombings.
The life
of Jaime Padron was remembered by Assistant District Attorney Gary Cobb.
“In our
society, we are critical of police until we need police,” said Cobb who
reminded the jury about Padron’s military service in the Marines and his desire
to serve the community.
Cobb
called the shooting “A cold-blooded assassination” and said Jaime Padron’s two
daughters already will be paying a price for the rest of their lives. He said a
sentence of life in prison would force them to pay again. In a letter from
jail, Daniel wrote he was “living the dream, retired at age 25.” In the patrol
car ride after the shooting, he said he at lease would not have to work or pay
for food.
“The man
murdered your father in cold-blood and you will, as an adult when you start
paying taxes, will pay for his room and board,” said Cobb as he posed the
scenario. “If that is what passes for justice in this community, we should tear
that flag down and blow up this courthouse, because it is wrong.”
Defense’s
closing argument
Brad
Urrutia took the floor for defense, talking about the Texas sentencing law.
“The next
time he leaves prison will be in a coffin,” he said.
Urrutia
said Daniel is going to a place where hardened criminals go to do time, not a
club with a pool or tennis courts. In addition, Urrutia told the jury there is a
pattern of the state trying to deceive the jury.
“They
aren’t lying to you,” he said. “They are just trying to hide the truth.”
Urrutia
said the alleged list that Daniel kept with jailers’ name on it doesn’t exist
or else it would have been introduced as evidence. He continued to say that
with all the talk about coded letters, the state never disclosed that, decoded,
the letter said, “I love you, mom.”
Urrutia
continued on during closing arguments to tear into inmate informant Louis
Escalante’s testimony.
“You
can’t trust a word that man says,” said Urrutia. “He is a liar … They [the
prosecution] got in bed with Mr. Escalante and had to live with his fleas.”
He
questioned: “They [the state] wants you to take a man’s life, and they bring
you that kind of evidence to do it? … You really, really, should demand better
evidence from your DA. It should not be half-truths and innuendo.”
Russell
Hunt said Daniel’s life can still produce positives even behind prison walls.
He mentioned Daniel’s intelligence and potential that allowed him to become a
software engineer at Hewlett-Packard and develop programs still being used
today.
“Brandon
Daniel has expressed remorse and has responded to psychiatric medication in
jail,” Hunt said about the prospect of Daniel’s future in prison.
Daniel’s
sister has been sitting two rows behind the defense table for the entire trial
and has spent much of it crying. His family may also be considered a mitigating
factor.
“This
person has value. He has value to others and is loved by others for a
reason.”
The
Backstory
During
the trial of Areli Escobar, the county’s last death penalty case in 2011,
defense attorney Allan Williams said juries for death penalty cases are given
almost “God-like power.”
In April
2012, Daniel was arrested in the death of Senior Austin Police Officer Jaime
Padron who was responding to a disturbance call at the Walmart on Parmer Lane.
Employees called police and said Daniel was drunk and trying to steal from the
store. When Padron arrived, police say Daniel tried to run and it led to a
struggle between the two men. Padron was shot in the neck during the incident.
Seven
months later, the Travis County District Attorney’s office announced they would
pursue the death penalty for Daniel — something Chief Art Acevedo had
immediately pushed for when initially responding to the media in the early
morning hours of the shooting inside a North Austin Walmart.
In a
county where the death penalty is rarely sought, officials weighed several
factors including community outrage over the officer’s killing, the grand
funeral procession, the arrangements and the number of people in the
community moved over the entire incident.
Although
it was ultimately Lehmberg’s decision, it was one the district attorney had to
first run through a committee of trusted advisors within her office — people
with differing views and some who even oppose the death penalty itself.
GOING IN-DEPTH: Padron’s Service
· Padron spent 14 years as a police
officer in San Angelo.
· He joined the Austin Police
Department just more than three years before he was killed and also served as a
police officer at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport as part of the
Emergency Management Department that consolidated with APD in 2009
· Padron, 40, was shot in the neck
responding to an early-morning call. Police say store employees subdued Daniel
and tried desperately to save Padron’s life.
· Padron was the first Austin
police officer killed on duty since 2004.
· He is one of 18 APD officers
killed in the line of duty. The first dates back to 1875, with the most recent happening in October of last year.
Travis
County and the death penalty
According
to the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice, Travis County has just five inmates on
death row.
Hays
County has one while Williamson County has none.
By
comparison, Bexar County (San Antonio) has 18, Dallas County has 32, Tarrant
County (Fort Worth) has 38, and Harris County (Houston) has 95.
Remembered
“Above
all else, he was a hero … He is in heaven right now.” – Police Chief Art
Acevedo
“Jaime,
you will always be with me. Always. You are my brother.” – Fellow
officer and partner Rahim Kidd
“He was
destined to be a leader in our organization, just like he was a leader wherever
he went.” — APA President Wayne Vincent
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