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Accused man asks court not to pursue death penalty
Mother also accused of killing a 1-year-old

BY SERGIO CHAPA
The Brownsville Herald

March 18, 2006 - A Brownsville man accused of capital murder in a shaken baby case has asked a state district judge to spare him from the death penalty.

Prosecutors have not decided if they will ask for the death penalty in the case, but Manuel Velez, 41, asked Judge Menton Murray with the 103rd state District Court in a pre-emptive motion filed Thursday to spare him from capital punishment based on constitutional grounds.

Both Velez and girlfriend Acela Rosalba Moreno, 25, are accused of biting, burning, shaking, torturing and killing Moreno’s 1-year-old baby, Angel Moreno, last year.

The couple was arrested after Angel died from multiple head and bodily injuries in a Harlingen hospital on Nov. 1, the boy’s first birth-day.

Under state law, Velez and Moreno must be found guilty without a reasonable doubt, and they must be determined to be a “continuing threat to society” for the death penalty to apply.

According to another motion filed in the case on March 3, Velez asked for Mission-based social worker Gilda Bowen to study him to determine if there are any facts that would prove he is not a continu-ing threat to society.

“This case is just beginning,” said Velez’s attorney Gary Ortega.

In a motion for reasonable bail, Velez asked Murray to receive a $50,000 bond so that he could resume his job as a construction worker and live with his parents Consuelo and Wenceslao Velez at their Paloma Blanca Drive home in Brownsville.

In other motions, Velez asked for the court’s financial assistance in his defense as well as another attorney to be appointed to the case.

Although Moreno has not filed any motions in the case, court rec-ords show both she and Velez are expected to be appear before Murray next Friday in a hearing where Velez’s nine motions will be heard.

Court records show that Velez is an American citizen born in Brownsville, while Moreno is a Mexican national born in Ciudad Mante, Tamaulipas.

The 25-year-old woman claimed her baby fell from a bed two days before his death, but prosecutors said previously that he would have had to fall the equivalent of a two-story building to receive the same level of injury.

Although a decision had not been made at press time, First Assis-tant District Attorney Charles Mattingly said Moreno’s nationality does not prevent his office from asking for death penalty against her.

“Any person 18 or older in the state of Texas who commits a capital offense can be considered for the death penalty regardless of nation-ality,” he said.

If prosecutors choose to seek the death penalty, Mattingly said his office expects the Mexican Consulate in Brownsville to provide an attorney to defend her from capital punishment as they have done in the past.

Mexico does not use capital punishment and opposes the death pen-alty being used against its citizens accused of crimes abroad.

Velez remains in custody under $1.1 million in bonds, while Moreno is jailed under $2.1 million in bonds.

schapa@brownsvilleherald.com



Posted on Mar 18, 06 | 12:00 am