SAMURAI POLICE 1109

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Matthew Reeves executed by lethal injection in Alabama (January 27, 2022)

Death Row inmate Matthew Reeves, 44, had claimed his 'intellectual disability' meant he did not understand he had accepted death by lethal injection as opposed to an alternative method using nitrogen hypoxia recently legalized in the state

On this date, January 27, 2022, Matthew Reeves was executed by lethal injection in Alabama. He was convicted of murdering taxi driver, Willie Johnson in 1996.

Brutal facts have immense power; they etched deep marks in my psyche. Those who commit such atrocities, I concluded, forfeit their own right to live. We tarnish their memory of the dead and heed needless misery on their surviving families by letting the perpetrators live. – Alex Kozinski

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://quozio.com/quote/5k4wzxw7msdt/1195/brutal-facts-have-immense-power-they-etched-deep-marks-in]

https://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2014/07/judge-alex-kozinski-cares-for-victims.html

lethal injection after SCOTUS rejects claim killer with 'language skills of a 4-year-old' did not understand paperwork allowing him to die by less 'tortuous' nitrogen hypoxia

· Death Row inmate Matthew Reeves was executed at Holman Prison, Alabama

· He was convicted of capital murder of taxi driver Willie Johnson in Selma in 1996

· Defence lawyers claimed Reeves had an 'intellectual disability', meaning he did not understand forms he was asked to fill out regarding his execution options

· Supreme Court ruled he had proper counsel and allowed execution to proceed

By Jacob Thorburn For Mailonline

Published: 19:57 AEDT, 28 January 2022 | Updated: 00:51 AEDT, 29 January 2022

An Alabama man was executed Thursday for brutally murdering a taxi driver who gave him a ride more than 25 years ago.

Death Row inmate Matthew Reeves, 44, had claimed his 'intellectual disability' meant he did not understand forms asking him to choose either death by lethal injection or an alternative method using nitrogen hypoxia.

Defense lawyers had claimed Reeves had a reading capacity of a first-grader and the language skills of a four-year-old.

But the Supreme Court rejected this plea on Thursday, voting 5 to 4 that Reeves was intellectually sound enough to comprehend the forms.

He declined his last meal and was executed hours later at Holman Correctional Facility at 9.24pm local time according to Steve Marshall, Alabama's Attorney General.

Reeves was sentenced to death for robbing and then fatally shooting taxi driver Willie Johnson after he had collected the then 18-year-old Reeves on a rural highway in Dallas County, Alabama.

It was reported the teenager went to a party after murdering Mr Johnson with a shotgun, where he danced and re-enacted the killing while still covered in the taxi driver's blood in 1996.

Reeves gave no final words before his execution and only requested a bottle of Sprite.

Questions persisted over the defendant's intellectual capacity after his planned execution was delayed by an Alabama federal judge and then the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Suing under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Reeves' lawyers tried to claim he was intellectually disabled and lacked the comprehension skills of an adult.

Instead of choosing a 'torturous' lethal injection, Reeves would have chosen to die by newly legalized nitrogen hypoxia, but was never given assistance in filling out the relevant forms, his lawyers claimed.

The case was heard at the Supreme Court after an appeal by the Alabama Attorney General's Office.

America's highest court tossed out the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals' decision on Thursday evening and ruled the execution could go ahead as Reeves did in fact have effective counsel at trial.

But Justice Amy Coney Barrett noted she would deny the state’s petition, while Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Stephen Breyer, who has announced his retirement, also dissented.

Justice Kagan wrote: 'This Court should have left the matter there, rather than enable Reeves’s execution by lethal injection to go forward.'

Mr Johnson had picked up Reeves and a group of others as they were at the roadside in Selma, before he was robbed of $360 and shot in the neck.

Reeves later went to a party and bragged about getting a 'teardrop tattoo' to signify he had killed another person, a court heard. Meanwhile, Johnson's body was discovered in his truck on Thanksgiving.

Snakes are poisonous wherever they are. You can't underestimate a snake just because there's only one. It's dangerous wherever it is. - Ashin Wirathu

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://quozio.com/quote/cfng2qb4scqt/1289/snakes-are-poisonous-wherever-they-are-you-cant]

http://soldierexecutionerprolifer2008.blogspot.com/2021/09/firebrand-buddhist-monk-ashin-wirathu.html

Commissioner John Hamm, speaking on behalf of Mr Johnson's family, said in a statement: 'After 26 years, justice has finally been served.'

Execution by nitrogen hypoxia has been legal in Alabama since 2018, but has not yet been used by the state.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10451351/Alabama-man-executed-1996-taxi-driver-death-Supreme-Court-intervened-case.html

https://thecrimereport.org/2022/01/28/supreme-court-approves-alabama-lethal-injection-execution/

OTHER LINKS:

Thursday, December 9, 2021

Bigler Jobe Stouffer II executed in Oklahoma for the murder of Linda Reaves (December 9, 2021)

Bigler Stouffer II is set to receive a three-drug lethal injection at 10 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, for the 1985 slaying of an Oklahoma City-area teacher. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP, File)

On this date, December 9, 2021, Bigler Jobe Stouffer II was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma. He was convicted murdering Linda Reaves on January 24, 1985.

If the criminal taking of a human life does not merit forfeiture of one's own life, then what value have we placed on the life taken? - Pat Buchanan

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://quozio.com/quote/5hvg8xggccvn/1318/if-the-criminal-taking-of-a-human-life-does-not-merit]

http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2015/11/pat-buchanan-on-sanctity-of-life-pro.html

Article: http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2015/11/scalia-v-pope-whos-right-on-death.html

Oklahoma prepares for execution on Thursday of Bigler Stouffer

By Adrian O'Hanlon III and Janelle Stecklein CNHI Oklahoma

McALESTER, Okla. — Linda Reaves was excited about two things in 1985, her sister remembers: becoming an aunt and teaching elementary students in Oklahoma.

Reaves, 35, who taught school in Putnam City, near Oklahoma City, was fatally shot in 1985. Her boyfriend, Doug Ivens, was seriously wounded in the attack.

Nearly 37 years later, Reaves’ family members await justice. Bigler Stouffer’s family members and defenders, meanwhile, claim it would be wrong to execute him, alleging there are problems with some of the evidence.

Stouffer, now 79, is scheduled to die at 10 a.m. Thursday in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

He was sentenced to death by two juries 18 years apart. His first conviction was thrown out over a question of ineffective legal representation. Stouffer was convicted a second time and resentenced to death again in 2003.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt denied Stouffer clemency last week, despite a 3-2 recommendation from the state’s Pardon and Parole Board to commute his sentence to life in prison without parole because of concerns some board members voiced about the state’s ability to carry out executions. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also denied Stouffer an emergency motion for a stay of execution.

Late Wednesday, he still hoped for a last-minute reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court, which he had asked to grant an emergency application for a stay.

Stouffer’s family members, reached Wednesday, had no additional comment, and said they preferred to spend the time in final conversation via phone with the condemned.

Reaves’ sister, Dana Wheat, also was unavailable for comment Wednesday, but said during the recent clemency hearing that she was pregnant with her first child at the time of the murder — and knew her sister was looking forward to becoming an aunt. Wheat also said during that hearing that the family is scared of Stouffer, and that she’ll never forget Linda.

“It never leaves me,” Wheat said. “I’m going to see her face … I just hear her screaming ‘No’. And she didn’t have time for a prayer, either.”

Prosecutors said Stouffer went to Ivens' home to borrow a gun before he fatally shot Reaves and wounded Ivens. They said Stouffer was dating Ivens' ex-wife, and that he was trying to get access to Ivens’ $2 million life insurance policy.

Officials with the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office testified at Stouffer’s clemency hearing that Ivens and Reaves were in love and saw a future together.

Reaves’ family said they still mourn her loss — and that Ivens always put a decorated Christmas tree at her grave because it was her favorite holiday.

Family members also testified that Reaves was a kind and beautiful presence who was an excellent artist and occasionally sent them drawings and sketches.

Christy Miller, an assistant district attorney, told the Pardon and Parole Board that this was the first death penalty case she had ever tried in 2003, adding that she has never forgotten Ivens’ voice on the 911 call and the trauma that Stouffer inflicted on “a completely innocent woman.”

Ivens has since died, but all he wanted was justice for Reaves, his sisters, Debby Wiens and Pam Korgan, both said when testifying recently before the Pardon and Parole Board.

“The evil that this man has done, has perpetrated and seeped into the lives of many others,” Korgan said. “And this evil has caused fear. It has caused confusion. It has caused pain, and it has changed lives forever.”

Miller said Reaves’ last moments were “filled with terror” as she watched her boyfriend get shot, tried to defend herself. Miller also argued that the killer tried to frame the attack as a murder-suicide.

“BJ Stouffer has spent the last 36 years trying to fool everybody in the criminal justice system,” Miller said.

But the Rev. Howard Potts, pastor at Anchor Baptist Church in Muskogee, believes Stouffer should not be executed.

He said Stouffer was known as “Buddy” to friends because anyone who knew him was a “buddy.” The name stuck with him all through school.

Potts could not be reached for additional comment Wednesday, but in previous remarks touted Stouffer’s athletic prowess and said teammates could always count on him. Following graduation, Stouffer went into business, and surprised his friends by making good money.

During his first trial in 1985, many were astounded that Stouffer had been accused, Potts said.

And, in a petition presented to Stitt recently, Stouffer’s defenders, citing a forensic expert, point out that there should have been “substantial blood on the clothing of the person responsible for the contact gunshot wound to Linda Reaves’s head. There was no blood on Mr. Stouffer’s clothing.”

Family members, who presented Stitt with a petition they said was signed by 10,000 people opposing the execution, also have said publicly they do not believe there has been an adequate investigation of the case, despite two trials.

And, in the 37 years he was on death row, Stouffer has faced three other execution dates, which were cancelled, Potts said.

“This is not a righteous kill,” Potts said at the time.

Potts said he’s provided spiritual counseling to Stouffer since 2017, and now runs some of “his errands” on the outside. He said Stouffer now serves as an advocate for prisoners who are to be executed.

“He is (a) strong believer in the Christian faith, and really believes that God has been in control … And, his 37 years on death row, he has given testimony that God was in control and has been orchestrating all through it.”

Stouffer’s son, Bigler Job Stouffer III, testified at the hearing that he feels horrible for all the families who were involved, but loves his father, who has now spent the vast majority of his life behind bars.

He said he believes the facts show that this case is not as clear cut as many believe, and that he hopes others will view it without emotion.

Stouffer also said at his parole board hearing that Reaves was dead when he arrived and Ivens was shot as he and Ivens struggled over the gun.

Parole board members who opposed Stouffer’s execution primarily questioned whether Oklahoma's recent history with lethal injections violates the 8th Amendment after John Grant vomited and convulsed several times while being put to death in October.

Grant, convicted of killing a prison cafeteria worker, became Oklahoma’s first execution since a hiatus in 2015 after scrutiny stemming from a series of problematic lethal injections.

Clayton Lockett, convicted in 2000 of murder and several other charges, writhed for nearly an hour on a gurney during his 2014 lethal injection. A state investigation later found the IV in Lockett’s groin came loose and prolonged his death.

The state then used an drug not approved at the time of the 2015 execution of Charles Warner, who was convicted in the rape and murder of an infant.

Oklahoma’s then-general counsel, Steve Mullins, told prison officials to proceed using the same mixture used in Warner’s execution for the lethal injection of death row inmate Richard Glossip — but then-Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin intervened by issuing a stay.

The state uses midazolam to first render the inmate unconscious, then vecuronium bromide as a muscle relaxant, and finally potassium chloride to stop the heart.

Oklahoma resumed lethal injections in October using the same three-drug combination used in Lockett’s 2014 execution.

Defense attorneys have challenged the effectiveness of midazolam — but federal appellate judges wrote Stouffer didn't address key factors in his appeal.

According to the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, it costs taxpayers from $2 million to $5 million per death sentence, for trials and appeals. Life sentences cost an average of $1 million — or 40 years at $25,000 per year.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=361471949116312&id=100057605302283

https://www.mcalesternews.com/news/local_news/oklahoma-prepares-for-execution-on-thursday-of-bigler-stouffer/article_84b0cef6-f14a-5de9-96c5-ef8b46b2a1fd.html

FILE - This undated photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows Bigler Jobe Stouffer II. Bigler Stouffer II is set to receive a three-drug lethal injection at 10 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, for the 1985 slaying of an Oklahoma City-area teacher. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP, File)

Oklahoma executes man for 1985 slaying of schoolteacher

By SEAN MURPHY December 10, 2021

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma executed a man Thursday for the 1985 shooting death of an Oklahoma City-area schoolteacher after courts rejected his claim that the state’s lethal injection method would result in unconstitutional pain and suffering.

Bigler Stouffer II, 79, received a three-drug lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

Stouffer was the first person executed in Oklahoma since John Grant convulsed on the gurney and vomited during his lethal injection in October as the state ended a six-year execution moratorium brought on by concerns over its protocols.

Thursday’s execution process that began at 10 a.m. appeared to go more smoothly. After receiving lethal drugs, Stouffer was declared unconscious at 10:07 a.m., and his breaths became shallower at 10:09 a.m. He was declared dead at 10:16 a.m.

Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor said in statement that the execution “was carried out with zero complications.” The Rev. Howard Potts, who was in the death chamber with Stouffer, said Stouffer “was totally at peace.”

Stouffer’s last words were: “My request is that my father forgive them. Thank you.”

Stouffer has maintained his innocence in the attack that left Linda Reaves dead and her boyfriend, Doug Ivens, seriously injured. He and his attorneys argued in court filings that the state’s three-drug execution method poses a risk of unconstitutional pain and suffering and that Stouffer should be included among other death row plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit challenging the protocols. But his request for a stay of execution was denied by a federal district judge and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. A final appeal with the U.S.

Supreme Court was denied Thursday morning, less than two hours before the scheduled execution

Stouffer was convicted and sentenced to death in 2003 after his first conviction and death sentence were overturned. At a parole board hearing last month, he said Ivens was shot as the two men fought over a gun at Ivens’ home, and that Reaves was dead when he arrived.

“I am totally innocent of the murder of Linda Reaves and my heart goes out to the family of Linda Reaves that have suffered as a result of her murder,” Stouffer told the board during a video appearance from prison.

Prosecutors said Stouffer went to the home to borrow the gun from Ivens, then fatally shot Reaves and wounded Ivens to gain access to Ivens’ $2 million life insurance policy. At the time, Stouffer was dating Ivens’ ex-wife.

Despite being shot three times with a .38-caliber pistol, including once in the face, Ivens survived and testified against Stouffer. Ivens has since died.

“Stouffer’s heinous actions against Doug and Linda, his lies and manipulations in the years to follow, and his complete lack of sorrow and remorse for the hurt he caused should dictate one conclusion — the jury’s death sentence must be carried out,” attorneys for the state wrote in asking the Pardon and Parole Board to reject Stouffer’s request for clemency.

Several members of the board voiced concerns about the state’s ability to humanely execute people. But Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt ultimately rejected the board’s recommendation that Stitt commute Stouffer’s sentence to life in prison without parole.

Reaves’ cousin, Rodney Thomson, spoke to reporters after Stouffer’s execution, saying the killing had consumed his family members. He thanked the attorney general and staff and other prosecutors and investigators who worked on the case.

Bigler Stouffer is set to be executed today.
-This is the woman who was murdered, Linda Reaves.
-Court records say she was dating Doug Ivens and Stouffer was dating Ivens’ estranged wife.
-On January 24, 1985, they say Stouffer went to Ivens to borrow a gun to deal with a prowler who had been by the estranged wife’s home.
-They say Ivens was worried about her safety and the safety of his young daughters, so he got a gun and handed it to Stouffer.
-They say Stouffer then used that gun to shoot Ivens twice, then walked over to the couch where Reaves was and shot her twice in the head, then walked back over to Ivens and shot him in the face.
-Ivens survived and called 911 and said Stouffer had shot them both and later testified at the trial.
-Reaves had been a school teacher in Putnam City.
-Staffer’s attorneys argue the scene wasn’t properly processed because officers went with the information from the 911 call.
-All appeals have been denied and the execution is set for 10 am.

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/LoriFullbrightNewsOn6/posts/476576530493137]

“Today we witnessed the law of the land carried out on behalf of my cousin,” Thomson read from a statement. “Although long in coming, justice has prevailed.”

Stitt did grant clemency to another man on death row, Julius Jones, last month just hours before his scheduled execution, commuting his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. That case had drawn outcry and protests over doubts about his guilt in the slaying of a businessman more than 20 years ago.

Executions in Oklahoma have typically been held in the evenings, but prison officials moved Stouffer’s execution to 10 a.m. to make it easier for the prison to return to normal operations, said Department of Corrections spokesman Josh Ward.

Oklahoma had one of the nation’s busiest death chambers until problems in 2014 and 2015 led to a de facto moratorium. Richard Glossip was just hours away from being executed in September 2015 when prison officials realized they received the wrong lethal drug. It was later learned the same wrong drug had been used to execute another man in January 2015.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://apnews.com/article/executions-oklahoma-oklahoma-city-mcalester-010c24e70725c52f787f9fdb7d73cbf9

– Alex Kozinski

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://quozio.com/quote/5k4wzxw7msdt/1195/brutal-facts-have-immense-power-they-etched-deep-marks-in]

https://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2014/07/judge-alex-kozinski-cares-for-victims.html

RELATED LINKS:

VFFDP:

Grandmother of 3-year-old Del City murder victim supports the death penalty, calls for justice

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2119274974890529&id=1299628893521812

https://www.facebook.com/koco5/posts/10158336825186782

https://www.koco.com/article/grandmother-three-year-old-del-city-murder-victim-death-penalty-justice/38335995

'Satan is real' says mum after killer rapist buried daughter then joined search

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2117861261698567&id=1299628893521812

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/satan-real-says-mum-after-25495596

Parents of Murdered Children Demand Steeper Penalties for Killing Kids

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2118661191618574&id=1299628893521812

https://news.wttw.com/2021/11/16/parents-murdered-children-demand-steeper-penalties-killing-kids

https://vk.com/wall-184585082_352

Bigler Stouffer executed for 1985 murder of elementary teacher

https://www.facebook.com/LifesparkJustice/posts/3079573239029697

https://kfor.com/news/local/execution-scheduled-for-oklahoma-death-row-inmate-bigler-stouffer/

Court denies stay of execution for Oklahoma death row inmate Bigler Stouffer

https://www.facebook.com/LifesparkJustice/posts/3078459852474369

https://www.koco.com/article/court-denies-stay-of-execution-bigler-stouffer/38449189

OTHER LINKS:

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

THE FIRST PERSON TO DIE BY LETHAL INJECTION IN THE U.S: CHARLES BROOKS JR. (SEPTEMBER 1, 1942 TO DECEMBER 7, 1942)

On this date, December 7, 1982, Charles Brooks Jr. made history as the first person to be executed in the United States by lethal injection. I will post information about this condemned criminal from Wikipedia and other links.

Charles Brooks, Jr.,

INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/brooks006.htm

Summary: On December 7, 1982 Brooks and two friends used heroin, drank, then decided to go shoplifting. When their car broke down, Brooks went to a nearby auto dealership and asked to test drive a car. An employee of the dealership, David Gregory, a 26 year old mechanic was required to go with Brooks pursuant to company policy. Once inside, Brooks kidnapped Gregory and went to a hotel, where he and friends bound him and shot him to death.

Citations:
Brooks v. State, 599 S.W.2d 312 (Tex. Cr. App. 1979) (Direct Appeal).
Brooks v. Estelle, 697 F.2d 586 (5th Cir. 1982) (Habeas).
Brooks v. Estelle, 103 S.Ct. 1490 (1982) (Stay).

Last / Special Meal:
A T-bone steak, french fries, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, biscuits, peach cobbler and iced tea.

Last / Final Statement:
"Yes, I do. I love you. Asdadu an la ilah illa Allah, Asdadu an la ilah illa Allah, Asdadu anna Muhammadan Rasul Allah, Asdadu anna Muhammadan Rasul Allah. I bear witness that there is no God but Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Inna li-Allah wa-inna ilayhi rajiun. Verily unto Allah do we belong, Verily unto him do we return. Be strong."

Internet Sources:

Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Executed Offenders (Charlie Brooks Jr.)

Inmate: Brooks, Charlie Jr.
TDCJ #: 592
Date of Birth 9/1/1942
Date Received 4/25/1978
Age (when Received) 35
Education Level (Highest Grade Completed) 12
Date of Offense 12/14/1976
Age (at the time of Offense) 34
County Tarrant
Race Black
Gender Male
Hair Color Black
Height 5' 9"
Weight 150
Eye Color mar (according to DPS records)
Native County Tarrant
Native State Texas
Prior Occupation: Laborer

Prior Prison Record
Federal Prison, Leavenworth, Illegal Possession of Firearms, Discharged 1968; TDCJ #214019, Discharged in 1975

Summary of incident

Brooks went to a car lot under the pretense of wanting to test drive a car. A mechanic accompanied him on the drive. Brooks stopped to pick up a co-defendant. The mechanic was put in the trunk of the car. Brooks and his co-defendant went to a motel. The mechanic was brought out of the trunk and taken into a motel room. The mechanic was bound with coat hangers, gagged with adhesive tape, and shot in the head, causing his death. Brooks and the co-defendant fled the scene.

The State of Texas executed the first offender by lethal injection on 12/7/1982. Charlie Brooks of Tarrant County was executed for the kidnap/murder of a Fort Worth auto mechanic.

Co-defendants: Woody Loudres

INTERNET SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Brooks,_Jr.

Charles Brooks, Jr., (September 1, 1942 – December 7, 1982) was a convicted murderer who was the first person in the United States to be executed using lethal injection. He was the first prisoner executed in Texas since 1964, and the first African-American to be executed anywhere in the United States of America in the post-Gregg era.

Biography

Brooks was raised in a family in Fort Worth, Texas. He attended I.M. Terrell High School (named after its first principal Isaiah Milligan Terrell), where he played football.

He had a prior criminal history, having served time at the United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth for illegal possession of firearms.

On December 14, 1976, Brooks went to a used car lot and asked to test drive a car. The mechanic, David Gregory, accompanied him in the car. After Brooks picked up his accomplice Woody Loudres, they put the mechanic in the trunk of the car and Brooks and Loudres drove to a motel. There the mechanic was bound to a chair with coat hangers, gagged with tape and then shot once in the head. Neither Brooks nor Loudres would say who fired the shot and therefore the State sought the death penalty for both Brooks and Loudres. Loudres received a 40 year sentence; Brooks received the death sentence.

The Supreme Court of the United States rejected by 6-3 a petition to grant a stay of execution. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended by 2-1 that the execution should proceed.

After a last meal consisting of a T-bone steak, french fries, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, biscuits, peach cobbler and iced tea, Brooks was rolled into the death chamber at the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas. There he made his final statement. Brooks had converted to Islam while in prison and as such said a prayer to Allah.

Brooks was executed on December 7, 1982. He was the first person ever to receive lethal injection.

THE CASE:

The record reflects that on the morning of December 14, 1976, Marlene Smith, an admitted prostitute, thief, and heroin addict, traded sexual services for the use of a car from a used car dealer. She then picked up Woody Loudres and the appellant at a liquor store on Rosedale Avenue. Smith testified that she and Loudres lived together in Room 15 of the New Lincoln Motel in Tarrant County. The record reveals Smith had been acquainted with the appellant for two weeks and that appellant had on occasion stayed with them at the motel.

Smith, Loudres and the appellant drove back to the motel, where Smith and Loudres took heroin. The three then drove to the home of appellant's mother, where they *315 drank. The trio then left, heading for the south side of Forth Worth so that Smith could go shoplifting.

In response to a question as to whether appellant and Loudres were going shoplifting with her, Smith testified without objection "they were with me" and appellant had his "booster coat on." As they were driving on East Lancaster Street, the car vapor-locked and they pushed it into a service station. They were unable to get the car started and, according to Smith, the appellant left the other two and walked to a nearby used car lot to "get a car to test drive" so that the three would have transportation to the south side.

An employee of the used car lot talked to the appellant when he walked onto the lot and asked to test drive a car. Appellant was wearing a tan topcoat at the time. Company policy required that customers who walked onto the lot and asked to test drive a car had to be accompanied by an employee. David Gregory, the deceased, was told to accompany the appellant around the block. The record reflects that Gregory was a paint and body repair man who sometimes assisted as a mechanic and also answered wrecker calls.

The deceased and the appellant drove to a location where Smith and Loudres were waiting in the vapor-locked car. Loudres got into the car with Gregory and the appellant. They drove off with Gregory, leaving Smith with the broken- down car. A car identified as the one taken on a test drive from the used car lot was driven into the New Lincoln Motel at about 6:00 p. m. The appellant and Loudres were in the car at the time. The appellant released a man from the trunk of the car and took him at gunpoint into Room 17 of the motel.

Loudres came to the office of the motel and told the manager's wife, Emma Speers, that they had a man tied up and "we are going to have to kill him." The appellant also came to the window of the motel office, pointed a large revolver at Speers' head, and told her, "You're ignorant. If you say anything, I'll blow you and your daughter's brains out."

The appellant then walked away from the motel, returned a few minutes later, and walked toward Room 17. Shots were heard soon thereafter. During this time a woman who was delivering cleaning to the motel talked to Speers. When she left the motel she noted the license number on the car in which the appellant and Loudres had arrived. After leaving the premises she notified the police. After hearing the shots, Speers also notified the police and her husband, the manager of the motel. Loudres and the appellant were seen leaving the motel by the back entrance.

Fort Worth police officers arrived at 6:24 p. m. They were advised that shots had been fired. The officers began checking the rooms for signs of foul play. They began their checking at Room 13. Room 15 was unlocked and empty. Rooms 16 and 17 were locked. When Room 17 was unlocked by the manager, Gregory's body was found bound and gagged with adhesive tape and shot in the head.

Phil Watson testified that at about 11:00 p. m. that night he met Loudres and the appellant at the Flamingo Club in south Fort Worth. Loudres asked Watson to drive them back to the New Lincoln Motel. When they arrived, the manager told Loudres to leave. When they were passed by two police cars, appellant stated that "there had been a killing." Watson, Loudres and the appellant were arrested later at Watson's home.

Appellant contends that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence certain items seized by the police as a result of an illegal search of Room 15 of the New Lincoln Motel.

The record reflects that after finding the deceased's body in Room 17 of the motel the police returned to Room 15 and recovered State's Exhibit No. 16, two spools of a Curity adhesive tape dispenser, and State's Exhibit No. 23, three hypodermic syringes. State's Exhibit No. 16 was admitted without objection and State's Exhibit No. 23 was admitted over objection that it constituted evidence of an extraneous offense.

The pertinent portion of the indictment charged that Brooks: "did then and there intentionally and knowingly cause the death of an individual, David Gregory, by shooting him with a firearm, and the said Charlie Brooks, Jr. did then and there intentionally cause the death of the said David Gregory in the course of committing the offense of kidnapping, by then and there intentionally and knowingly abducting David Gregory; ..."

Brooks was previously convicted in the State of Louisiana on September 27, 1962 and was sentenced to three years for the offense of "simple burglary" in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. He was paroled in 1963 and his parole was revoked in 1965.

Brooks also pled guilty in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas in 1968 to three counts of illegal possession of firearms. Brooks was also convicted in Walker County, Texas of Theft over $50 and Burglary. (A total of four prior felony convictions introduced during penalty phase)

Almost five years after Brooks was convicted, Woody Lourdes, who had been indicted for and convicted of the same offense, and whose conviction had been reversed on appeal, made a plea bargain with the State, pleaded guilty to non-capital murder and was sentenced to forty years in prison.