Death Penalty News

HUNTSVILLE — David Lee Powell (left), the once-promising University of Texas honors student who fatally shot an Austin police officer 32 years ago, has been executed by lethal injection. Powell, 59, was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m. He declined to make a final statement. David Lee Powell spent his final day packing personal property and meeting visitors. Powell’s day began before dawn, and guards reported that he was eating breakfast at 3:48 a.m. By 6:15 a.m., guards noted that he was packing his personal property before being escorted to a visitation area before 9 a.m. His visitation period ended at noon. By 4 p.m., Powell was scheduled to eat the final meal he requested. Prison officials this afternoon also released the names of family members of slain police Officer Ralph Ablanedo who planned to witness the execution, as well as those who would attend for Powell. The list also included prison officials, clergy and media representatives. At 4:10 p.m., Huntsville police escort...

The Supreme Court has turned down David Powell. Things look grim but we can't give up yet. The D.A. in Austin has an office that practices restorative justice. David's case should be perfect for this. Call Tuesday and remind Rosemary Lehmberg to have the courage to do the right thing and ask the judge to withdraw the execution order. Phone: (512) 854-9400 Fax: (512) 854-9695 Rosemary.Lehmberg@co.travis.tx.us Source: Abolish!, June 15, 2010 Appeals Court Denies David Lee Powell Bid for Life Sentence An appeal from convicted murderer David Powell has been denied by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Powell, who was convicted of killing Officer Ralph Ablanedo in 1978, had appealed to the court to give him a life sentence instead of death by lethal injection. Austin police officer Ralph Ablanedo had just let a driver go with a ticket for having no rear license plate when the reply to his background check came through, revealing her passenger had outstanding warrants for th...

David Lee Powell, convicted and sentenced to death in 1978 for the murder of Austin Police Officer Ralph Ablanedo, is scheduled to be executed in Huntsville on June 15, 2010. There will be a large group of people attending outside the prison walls, including Austin Police Officers. In fact, the Austin Police Association has chartered a bus and booked a block of discounted hotel rooms to bring in as many uniforms as possible in a show of force , or as they call it, “support for the family”. In other words, they will be celebrating the death of David Lee Powell. The Austin Police flooded the courtroom with up to 100 uniformed officers every time David Lee Powell was sentenced, showing the jury that they lived for his death. Now, 32 years after the first trial, even though many officers were not even born when this crime occurred, the torch has been passed. The Police Association is out of step with the community that its members serve. As police officers, the members of the Associati...

Members of the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole unanimously voted today against commuting the death sentence of David Lee Powell (pictured), who fatally shot an Austin police officer 32 years ago. Powell's scheduled execution by lethal injection is set for Tuesday in Huntsville. Powell is among the state longest-serving death row inmates; the state has never executed an inmate who has served so long behind bars. Powell, 59, was convicted and sentenced to death in the May 18, 1978 death of Police Officer Ralph Ablanedo during a traffic stop in South Austin. Ablanedo was shot 10 times with an AK-47. Powell's supporters have said that in his time behind bars, he has counseled fellow inmates and helped others learn to read. This week, Powell's attorneys filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus to state District Judge Mike Lynch and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, saying that jurors inaccurately predicted his future dangerousness. Lynch has said that he will l...

With his execution date drawing near, David Lee Powell says he hopes to 'connect with family and loved ones outside family — let them know what they've meant to me, apologize for my departure and say goodbye.' Heavily armed, deeply paranoid and strung out on drugs, David Lee Powell was a nightmare personified in 1978. Sitting in a car that had been pulled over on a dark Austin side street, Powell sighted his AK-47 through the rear window. Police radios caught officer Ralph Ablanedo's scream as the first bullet penetrated his bulletproof vest. Nine more shots found their mark. The well-liked father of 2 young sons died shortly after the 12:30 a.m. attack . Barring the unexpected, Powell will be executed for that crime on June 15 — 32 years, three weeks and five days after Ablanedo was buried with honors. Texas has never executed a man after so much time has passed, giving rise to a question that speaks to a basic concept of punishment and justice: Has Powell's e...

David Lee Powell (left) is scheduled to be executed in the US state of Texas on 15 June for the murder of a police officer committed more than three decades ago. David Powell, who was 27 years old at the time of the crime, is now aged 59. Officer Ralph Ablanedo was shot dead in the state capital, Austin, in May 1978. David Powell was convicted of his murder in October 1978. He was sentenced to death according to Texas law, which stipulates that in order for such a sentence to be passed, a jury must decide that it is probable that he would commit future acts of criminal violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society. In 1989, the US Supreme Court overturned the conviction and death sentence. David Powell was retried in 1991 and again sentenced to death. In 1994, this sentence was overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals because of an error in the judge's instructions to the jury. In 1999, a new sentencing hearing was held. As evidence of David Powell's ...

David Lee Powell has already served more than most do on a life sentence. Now they want to give him death. In the early morning hours of May 18, 1978, Austin police officer Ralph Ablanedo pulled over a red Mustang on a minor traffic violation. The car was missing a rear license tag, and the driver, Sheila Meinert, was driving without a license. Ablanedo called to run a check on Meinert and her boyfriend David Lee Powell, the owner of the car, but the computer system was down. He let them go, but within minutes he was radioed that Powell had some outstanding misdemeanor warrants. He pulled the Mustang over again, got out of his unit and approached the car. Before the night was over, Ablanedo would be dead. Early years David Lee Powell was born in Texas on January 13, 1951. His family were devout Catholics, and were well known and respected in their rural community. As a boy, David excelled in school, earning high marks in all his subjects. He was liked and remembered by teachers...