SAN ANGELO — A defense attorney for Lesley Renay Moreno Fernandez filed seven court motions earlier this month — among them, that the 391st District Court consider declaring the death penalty in Texas unconstitutional.
Fernandez is facing capital murder charges after San Angelo police and firefighters found her toddler son unconscious in his crib. An autopsy report later declared 21-month-old Nathan Quezada died from trauma.
Police arrested Lesley Fernandez and Andrew Andy Fernandez in February 2019 in connection to Quezada's March 2018 death. In Texas, the slaying of a child younger than 10 is a capital murder offense.
In April 2019, 51st District Attorney Allison Palmer notified the court of the state's intention to seek the death penalty against Andrew Fernandez.
Court documents do not show that the state is seeking the death penalty against Lesley Fernandez as of Tuesday June 30, 2020.
Defense attorney argues death penalty is 'racist in its application'
On June 15, 2020, defense attorney Jenny Henley along with co-counsel Evan Pierce-Jones filed several motions on behalf of Lesley Fernandez, aka Leslie Moreno, according to online court documents.
In addition to requesting all 911 phone calls, witness statements, and body camera footage from when police arrived at the Fernandez residence to find Quezada unresponsive, Henley also submitted "pretrial motion number 15," asking the court to declare the death penalty unconstitutional.
Henley took aim at the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure itself, and stated Article 37.071, which outlines how verdicts are determined in a capital murder trial, failed to adequately protect Texans against the "discriminatory, arbitrary and capricious application of the death penalty."
In Texas, if a person accused of capital murder is found guilty, a separate hearing will be held to determine whether that person receives the death penalty or life in prison.
During this second hearing, prosecutors can introduce "any matter that the court deems relevant to sentence, including evidence of the defendant's background or character," according to Article 37.071.
Henley took several issues in how jurors determine if a guilty person will receive the death penalty and argued the process itself was inherently stacked against the defendant.
"(Article 37) is impermissibly vague and devoid of any objective standards to guide the jury in its decision whether or not to apply the death penalty in a particular case in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution," Henley wrote.
She stated Art. 37.071 also prevented a jury from hearing evidence that the administration of the death penalty could be partially based on race, ethnic background, gender and socio-economic status.
Without citing specific examples — Henley stated the death penalty was "racist in its application" and violated the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects citizens from cruel and unusual punishment.
Henley's arguments echo similar ones made before the U.S. Supreme Court.
In the 1972 case of Furman V. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision to suspend the death penalty citing the laws guiding its application violated the Eighth Amendment. Four years later, the Supreme court reinstated the death penalty in Gregg v. Georgia, Jurek v. Texas, and Proffitt v. Florida, also known as the Gregg decision.
Defense attorney argues death penalty unfair to Lesley Fernandez due to 'intellectual disabilities'
Henley concluded her arguments by asking the court to declare the death penalty unconstitutional against Fernandez "on the basis of her intellectual disabilities," according to the motion.
The US Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that individuals with an intellectual disability are constitutionally protected from receiving the death penalty.
After Florida decided an IQ score of 70 or below demonstrated intellectual disability, the Supreme Court ruled that because IQ scores contain a margin of error, states must consider other factors in determining intellectual disability in death penalty cases.
"Intellectual disability is not a number," Henley wrote, and argued the court should consider not only Fernandez's IQ score but her academic record as well.
"Though her IQ may be close to but above 70 ... this court should also look at (Fernandez's) record of academic failure, the fact that she did not finish school, along with a history of childhood abuse and suffering and must follow the guidelines of the medical community where trauma experiences are counted as risk factors for intellectual disability," according to the motion.
As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 30, 2020, online court documents do not show the next time Lesley Fernandez will make an appearance in court.
The State of Texas vs. Andrew Andy Fernandez and Lesley Renay Moreno Fernandez
Three months shy of his second birthday, 21-month-old Nathan Quezada was found unconscious in a home around 5:35 a.m. March 8, 2018. Police and firefighters arrived in the 2600 block of Junius Street for the report of an unconscious child.
The boy's stepfather, Andrew Andy Fernandez, told investigators he found Quezada in the child's crib taking short breaths and called 911 before starting CPR. Medics transported the child to the hospital, where he died.
"I acted to protect my son," he said in an earlier interview with the Standard-Times. "Who wouldn't try saving their kid? We love our kids and we are innocent."
An autopsy listed the toddler's cause of death as multiple vertebral fractures due to blunt impact trauma. These fractures occurred at different times, reports state.
The findings included three vertebral fractures in the boy's mid and lower back, swelling of his brain, along with bleeding near his spine and bruises. The autopsy also revealed a previously healed fracture of the boy's left leg.
The preliminary autopsy stated the injuries were caused by assault and the manner of death was homicide. A full autopsy, issued two days later, changed the manner of death to "pending investigation."
Nathan Quezada had developmental delays with motor and language skills, according to a clinical history in the full autopsy.
Andrew Fernandez said Quezada had meetings with Early Childhood Intervention Services three times a week. Quezada had a checkup March 5 that showed he was not gaining weight or height, he said.
A pediatric radiologist suggested Quezada had osteopenia, or low bone density.
San Angelo Detective Roger Spearman later testified in court that due to the possibility of Quezada having osteopenia coupled with an inconclusive CT scan, police did not have probable cause to charge Fernandez with abuse.
That changed on Feb. 28, 2019, when San Angelo Police arrested Andrew and Lesley Moreno Fernandez on suspicion of capital murder of a child younger than 10 years old, a first-degree felony charge punishable by 5-99 years or death.
Their bonds were set at $1 million. Both remained in Tom Green County Jail as Tuesday.
Lesley Fernandez appeared in court in February 2020 in hopes of reducing her $1 million bond. A judge denied the request.
Source: gosanangelo.com, John Tufts, June 30, 2020
⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.
 |  |
Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!
"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde