myfoxhouston.com

Illegal Immigrant Guilty of Capital Murder for Officer's Death
Last Edited: Thursday, 08 May 2008, 6:06 PM CDT
Created: Thursday, 08 May 2008, 12:43 PM CDT

HOUSTON -- Less than six hours after jurors began deliberating the fate of an illegal immigrant accused of murdering a Houston police officer on Thursday, the jury said they have reached a verdict.

Jurors convicted Juan Leonardo Quintero-Perez of capital murder shortly before 6 p.m. They began deliberating the illegal immigrant's fate shortly after noon Thursday.

The case went to trial on April 28 after prosecutors rejected the suspect's offer to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence without parole.

Quintero, 34, faced a charge of capital murder in the death of Officer Rodney Johnson. Investigators say Perez shot Johnson during a traffic stop in 2006, shooting the officer four times in the head after being arrested for driving without a license.

Danalynn Recer, an attorney for Quintero-Perez, says the Mexican citizen confessed to the killing and accepts responsibility for his actions. She said he would agree to all the evidence against him if offered life without parole.

But Harris County prosecutors said Saturday they will proceed with the trial.

"We trust the judgment of 12 citizens to determine the appropriate punishment for the man who executed Officer Johnson," assistant district attorney Denise Bradley said.

Quintero-Perez is plead not guilty by reason of insanity when he was formally arraigned in April.

Police said Johnson, 40, was shot after Quintero-Perez pulled a gun from his waistband as he sat handcuffed in the back of the patrol car. Johnson apparently missed the gun when he patted down Quintero-Perez, authorities said.

Johnson's shooting renewed criticism of the Houston Police Department's policy that only allows officers to ask about immigration status after arresting a suspect.

Critics of the policy say it encourages illegal immigration by creating so-called "sanctuary cities" and it ties officers' hands in enforcing the law.

Quintero-Perez was deported in 1999 after being convicted a year earlier of indecency with a child.

A grand jury indicted Robert Lane Camp in February for allegedly helping Quintero-Perez return to the U.S. after being deported in 1999 on a conviction for indecency with a child.

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