Plea deal ends 20 years on death row

Ballistics, HPD lab questions were factors in overturning his conviction

By DALE LEZON
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Martin Allen Draughon beat the odds Friday when he walked out of jail after nearly 20 years on Texas' death row.

"I beat the executioner," he said later by telephone from the home in Livingston where he will live with his fiancee, Joy Weathers. "It's the biggest miracle in my life."

Draughon � who will turn 43 on Thursday � was freed on mandatory supervision because of a plea agreement he reached with prosecutors after a federal judge overturned his 1987 capital murder conviction.

"Could you ask for a better birthday present?" said Weathers, who met Draughon through her prison ministry about a year ago.

But while he is no longer behind bars, Draughon must live under tight restrictions for the next 20 years and could go back to prison if he violates them.

He was convicted for the 1986 killing of Armando Guerrero after a botched robbery at a Long John Silver's restaurant in Houston. He maintained that he didn't mean to kill anyone, but had fired several shots to scare people who were chasing him.

In overturning the conviction in September 2004, U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal said a ballistics expert had presented evidence in a federal appeals hearing, showing that Guerrero was killed by a bullet that had ricocheted.

Rosenthal said that Draughon's attorney had failed to hire a ballistics expert who could have presented that evidence in his trial, noting that it could have persuaded jurors to sentence Draughon to life in prison.

The judge also cited "serious questions" about the accuracy of analysis by the Houston Police Department's crime lab, which is still the focus of an independent investigation because of problems in several of its divisions.

The 5th U.S. Circuit of Appeals upheld Rosenthal's order in September 2005.

Instead of retrying Draughon, Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said he opted for the plea agreement because ballistics evidence indicated that the bullet was not fired at Guerrero.

"The bullet that did kill the complainant, turned out it was a ricochet," Rosenthal said.

The agreement called for a 40-year sentence. Draughon already had served enough time to be released under the law requiring mandatory supervision, said Michelle Lyons, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

"It's a blessing," said Weathers. "It's the best one I've ever had."

Draughon must wear a monitoring device that tracks his whereabouts with the global positioning satellite system. He also must meet with a parole officer nine times each month.

He can become eligible for release from supervision in 2026, Lyons said, but if he violates his conditions of release before then, he could be returned to prison.

Draughon is one of 238 condemned inmates who have left death row by means other than execution, while 372 have been put to death since capital punishment resumed in 1982.

Of the 238, most got off death row but remained in prison after their convictions or sentences were reduced. At least 14, however, had their convictions overturned, as in Draughon's case.

Draughon said that, for a while, at least, he will have to get permission a week in advance when he wants to leave his residence.

The rules are tough, he said, but easier than living on death row, where he spent 19 years and nine months.

He said he plans to encourage his former fellow inmates. Weathers said Draughon will help on her radio program for inmates, which is broadcast by KDOL in Livingston and sponsored by All Life Is Precious Ministries, a nondenominational Christian broadcast.

"I'm going to prove to people that once you go to death row, you're not irredeemable," Draughon said. "You're not a monster."

Two years and he's back, five tops.

If that long, Gordon. I mean, Ernie.

[This message was edited by Greg Gilleland on 08-28-06 at .]

The amazing part for me is the guy has been in prison for 20 years and comes out to live with his "fiancee".

That entire subculture of women who are attracted to death row inmates just escapes me.

I just picture them giving an interview (ala the opening credits of "When Harry Met Sally") about when they first met.

You have not truly lived until you have (unfortunately) prosecuted an assault or aggravated assault case on behalf of, say hypothetically, an english woman who met a non-death row inmate and became his pen pal, and later his spouse upon his release from prison as a reformed man. So to speak...

Then, hypothetically, while you are in law school, your future boss prosecutes said inmate for aggravated assault and and wins even though said hypothetical victim recants the allegation of a knife being displayed. Years later, after said hypothetical reformed man is once again released from prison, his winsome prison bride once again alleges assault. But not to the satisfaction of the misdemeanor jury hearing same, wherein the victim reveals that she has had uncertainty in her previous allegations toward said reformed man.

Then hypothetically still, the victim sends you an expensive floral display, which you promptly have delivered to the nearby rest home, a good decision since soon thereafter said victim changes her mind and decides that you tried a lousy swearing match case and calls the aforementioned boss to complain.

Hypothetically.

Did any of y'all happen to notice where good ol' "reformed" aggravated robber, rapist and murderer Martin and his bride-to-be have set up their little domicile of domestic bliss? Yep--that's right--about two blocks from the courthouse from which I type this post, less than 50 yards from our little public library, less than 100 yards from our local intermediate school full of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, and less than 100 yards from where the mighty Livingston Lions play under the Friday night lights. Needless to say, the neighbors didn't exactly have a big block party welcoming him to the neighborhood last Friday night!