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Post by unkelremus on Sept 25, 2009 5:30:50 GMT -6
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 Media Advisory: John Balentine scheduled for execution AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott offers the following information about John Lezell Balentine, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Wednesday, September 30, 2009. A Potter County jury sentenced Balentine to death in April 1999 for killing three youths. FACTS OF THE CRIME In the early morning hours of January 21, 1998, Balentine, armed with a .32 automatic pistol, crawled through a window to enter a home which he used to share with Misty Caylor. Once inside, Balentine shot and killed three teens, Mark Caylor, Jr., 17, Misty’s brother; Kai Geyer, 15; and Steven Brady Watson,15, as they slept. Each victim was shot in the head. Balentine fled to New Mexico but was later arrested in Houston, where he confessed to the crimes. CRIMINAL HISTORY In 1983, Balentine committed burglary and theft of property by breaking into a high school JROTC building and stealing several rifles and pairs of military fatigues. In December 1986, Balentine broke into a Wal-Mart store, and attempted to steal a large quantity of firearms. Balentine was convicted of burglary and attempted theft of property arising over the Wall-Mart incident, and received a five-year prison sentence. In 1989, Balentine was convicted of an additional robbery and received a five-year prison sentence. In November 1996, Balentine broke into a Newport, Arkansas, home and abducted the female resident, forcing her into a two-door car. The resident escaped, when Balentine stopped at a convenience store to get cigarettes. Finally, in July 1998 while awaiting transfer to Potter County on the capital murder charge, Balentine became uncooperative and argumentative with Harris County sheriff's deputies. Balentine knocked down a female deputy’s hand and struck another officer in the mouth with his right elbow and knocked the officer into a wall. Several deputies were needed to restrain Balentine, who kept resisting, kicking, and throwing punches. PROCEDURAL HISTORY 01/21/98 - Balentine killed Mark Caylor, Jr., Kai Geyer, and Steven Brady Watson. 08/26/98 - A Potter County grand jury indicted Balentine for capital murder. 04/16/99 - A Potter County jury convicted Balentine of capital murder. 04/19/99 - The Potter County 320th District Court sentenced Balentine to death. 04/03/02 - The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Balentine’s conviction and sentence, denying relief on four points of error. 12/04/02 - The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied habeas corpus relief on twenty-one claims based on the findings and conclusions of the trial court and on the appellate court’s own review. 12/01/03 - Balentine petitioned for federal habeas relief on nine claims. 03/31/08 - A U.S. district court denied habeas relief and issued final judgment. 05/30/08 - The federal district court granted a certificate of appealability (COA) for Balentine to appeal two issues. 09/15/08 - Balentine appealed the federal district court’s decision and applied to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for a COA. 04/13/09 - The appeals court affirmed the district court’s denial of habeas relief and denies COA. 06/23/09 - The Potter County 320th District Court scheduled Balentine’s execution for Wednesday, September 30, 2009. 07/16/09 - Balentine asked the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for a stay of execution, which was denied. 07/02/09 - Balentine petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for certiorari review of the appeals court's decision and applied for a stay of execution. 08/21/09 - Balentine filed a successive state habeas application with the trial court. The application was transferred to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for a ruling. 08/21/09 - Balentine petitioned the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles for clemency. 09/22/09 - The Texas Court of Appeals dismissed Balentine’s successive state habeas application, denied his motion to stay his execution and denied his motion for the court to vacate the judgment entered in his initial state habeas proceedings. 09/23/09 - Balentine filed for rule 60b relief and moved for a stay of execution in a U.S. district court. MISCELLANEOUS For additional information and statistics, please go to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice website, www.tdcj.state.tx.us. This is a real work of ART...A real POS that need to be flushed down the comode.
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Post by leopard32 on Sept 25, 2009 5:45:41 GMT -6
I totally agree with unkelremus but apparently not everyone thinks the same. I have just been on the PTO site and found this :
"I know John appreciates all your prayers and thoughts. He is a good man who made a horrible choice long ago."
So that's OK then if he's really a good man who just made a horrible choice to kill three young people!!
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Post by The Tipsy Broker on Sept 25, 2009 5:51:26 GMT -6
Those pto maggots would support Bin Laden if he were on death row I swear As you can see I have used my ban from there as my signature here. Its like a badge of decency. Plus that Rachel has the hots for me
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Post by Tracy on Sept 25, 2009 7:47:02 GMT -6
dave moff must be weeping in his fairy boots.
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mst3k4evur
Inactive
Member of the Month - 4/09
Ameeerrrrrricaaa, F**k Yah!
Posts: 3,701
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Post by mst3k4evur on Sept 25, 2009 8:04:08 GMT -6
Did he ever face trial or serve time for the 1996 kidnapping?
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Post by ichy on Sept 25, 2009 15:10:41 GMT -6
The state habeas process can take less than a year in Texas? Nice.
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Post by Moonbeam on Sept 25, 2009 20:11:38 GMT -6
A few years ago when I was in the UK working in criminal justice we had a guy working with us for a year who was involved in psychiatric reports for Texas DR inmates. He spoke of some of his work and this one stuck in my mind. There was some thought on personality disorder/ADHD and the home life wasn't good (as is mostly the case). He seemed not to think he'd done anything wrong, citing the baby in the house and presence of drugs and that "they'd started it and he finished it"!
I'm assuming there was an attempt to claim retardation, but seems that hasn't worked for him.
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Post by The Tipsy Broker on Sept 26, 2009 2:04:59 GMT -6
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2009 7:56:18 GMT -6
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Post by Elric of Melnibone on Sept 29, 2009 9:40:57 GMT -6
I saw some of their more recent comments about this mutt. Have they no decentcy? Have then no shame.
They say he "changed," That he is their friend, that he is remorseful....
The only change I want to see is from living inmate to compost.
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Post by greatlakes on Sept 29, 2009 14:26:05 GMT -6
With only one more day to breath, I hope nothing stands in the way of this cowardly murderous scumbag from keeping his appointment... I also hope he's crapping in his britches at this very moment.. Sounds like he was granted a stay. Someone on Prison Talk posted a pdf of the ruling. Speaking of which, I have never seen a forum so filled with damaged, low self esteem women anywhere like at PTO.
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Post by Elric of Melnibone on Sept 29, 2009 15:31:50 GMT -6
The "average" pto maggot maeven tips the scales at 500 lbs. No lie.
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Post by greatlakes on Sept 29, 2009 16:04:11 GMT -6
From what I've seen, the entire site is a testament to the human tragedy: Women (mostly from Europe) who develop a infatuation with death row inmates and become penpals with them, that's just ghoulish. Other women (mostly from the states) whose convict husbands/financees/boyfriends get out and basically treat these women like garbage, yet many of the women try to keep the relationship alive to show how strong they are. Huh???
From what I gather, these women are happier when their men are inside, so they can tell everyone how they stand by their guy, and it also allows them more or less total control over the relationship. Although not universally true about that site, a vast number of these women are hooked on the drama of their own (self sought) victimhood. That is a tragedy.
Ironic, since when they lionize death row inmates, they say little or nothing of the true victims of the crimes these monsters committed.
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Post by Moonbeam on Sept 29, 2009 16:54:17 GMT -6
I see that they did indeed stay his execution. The Attorney Generals Office is to try and get it lifted. I just don't get it, this guy is clearly guilty so what on earth is the point of staying his execution, they even have his confession and information in it that only the killer would know.
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Post by greatlakes on Sept 29, 2009 17:38:21 GMT -6
Those pto maggots would support Bin Laden if he were on death row I swear As you can see I have used my ban from there as my signature here. Its like a badge of decency. Plus that Rachel has the hots for me They love the DC Sniper there as well.
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Post by Charlene on Sept 29, 2009 20:05:48 GMT -6
Victims: Edward Mark Caylor, 17 Kai Brooke Geyer, 15 Steven Brady Watson, 15
John Lezell Balentine was sentenced to death for a triple murder. Balentine had been living with his former girlfriend, Misty Caylor, who was the sister of one of the victims, Mark Caylor, in the residence in which the murders took place. That residence was also owned by Michael Means and Balentine came to know Means in the time he lived with Misty Caylor. Ballentine contacted Means a few days before New Year's Day of 1998 and told Means that he had been thrown out of Misty Caylor's house. Officer Timothy Hardin of the Amarillo Police Department testified that he was dispatched on a shots-fired call at 2:26 a.m. on Wednesday, January 21, 1998. When Hardin arrived, the complainant stated that he thought he had heard .22 caliber shots to the east of his residence. Hardin looked around and found nothing in the complainant's backyard or the alleyway behind the house. Two other officers then arrived and offered to assist Hardin by searching the area in their vehicle. After the officers left, Hardin noticed a man, later identified as Ballentine, walking down the street two houses away from the complainant's residence. Hardin testified that when he first saw Ballentine, he had his hands in his pockets, appeared to be nervous, and was constantly looking over his shoulder in Hardin's direction. In addition, Ballentine was walking away from Hardin at a brisk pace. Hardin ordered Ballentine to stop and raise his hands in the air. Hardin then approached Ballentine, and conducted a pat-down "Terry frisk" because he "didn't know if he might be the person who had fired shots" and that he "wanted to make sure that there was no weapon on him while I was speaking to him." Hardin did not feel any weapons. Nevertheless, Hardin suspected that Ballentine may have been involved in the reported gunfire and he escorted Ballentine to the back seat of his patrol car for questioning. When Hardin asked Ballentine why he was in the area, Ballentine stated that he was walking from a Wal-Mart, which was approximately five miles away, to his sister's house, which was located several miles across town. Ballentine identified himself as "John Lezell Smith" and told Hardin that he was staying with his sister. Ballentine initially stated that he did not know his social security number but later told Hardin five of the digits. He then stated that he had planned to visit a friend in the area and agreed to let Hardin ask this friend to identify him because he did not have a driver's license or an identification card. Hardin drove Ballentine to his friend's residence. Ballentine's friend identified him as "John" and stated that he lived a block away, which contradicted Ballentine's story that he was staying with his sister several miles across town. Ballentine explained that his friend was unaware he had moved. When Hardin asked Ballentine to show him where he used to live, Ballentine gave Hardin an address that turned out to be an empty lot. Hardin asked Ballentine if he had ever been arrested in Amarillo and Ballentine replied that he had not. Hardin contacted the police dispatcher to run a records check. According to the police dispatcher, "John Lezell Smith" had been arrested for traffic warrants. Hardin again became concerned for his safety because he felt that a subject who would lie to him during questioning might "commit some type of unsafe act or conceal a weapon." Hardin placed Ballentine in handcuffs, had him exit the vehicle, and conducted a second, more thorough pat-down search. When he patted down the outside of Ballentine's front pants pocket, he felt what he thought was a small pocket knife. Hardin put his hand in Ballentine's pocket and felt that the object was actually a lighter. While Hardin was feeling the lighter, his hand touched an object that he immediately recognized as a bullet. He removed the object from the pocket and saw that it was a .32 caliber bullet. Ballentine told Hardin that he had recently been on a hunting trip and forgotten the bullet in his pocket. Hardin again placed Ballentine in the patrol car and called a supervisor who told Hardin to complete a field interview card and then release Ballentine because possession of a bullet was not against the law. Hardin returned the bullet to Ballentine and offered him a ride to his sister's house, which Ballentine accepted. The trip took five to ten minutes and Hardin dropped Ballentine off at the residence at 3:36 a.m. Hardin returned to the area where he had detained Ballentine to have another look around but found nothing. Later that day, officers for the Amarillo Police Department were called to the scene of a triple homicide that had occurred at a residence fifty yards from where Officer Hardin encountered Ballentine. Two teenage girls had gone to the house when requested to do so by the mother of one of the victims. They found the door ajar and after entering, they found the three teenage boys in the living room where they had been sleeping, and called 911. There was no evidence of forced entry so police suspected that the killer was known to at least one of the young men. The police identified Ballentine as a suspect the day the victims were discovered. Ballentine was eventually arrested in July of 1998 in Houston. At a pre-trial suppression hearing, Ballentine moved to suppress the physical evidence obtained as a result of Officer Hardin's search. The trial court denied the motion and Hardin testified at trial about the bullet he found in Ballentine's pocket. In addition, the State introduced evidence that the three victims were killed by .32 caliber bullets and that three spent cartridge shells found at the scene of the murders were marked identically to the bullet found on Ballentine. Sergeant Paul Charles Horn, an investigator with the Special Crimes Unit in the Amarillo Police Department, was assigned to investigate the homicides. He testified at the suppression hearing that acquaintances of the victims identified "John Balentine" as a possible suspect. Investigators for the Unit also determined that "John Balentine" was the same individual as "John Lezell Smith," whom Officer Hardin encountered earlier that morning. They learned that Balentine had been staying in a building owned by Mr. Michael Means, located at 308 North Virginia Street in Amarillo. When Lieutenant Edward William Smith arrived at 308 North Virginia Street the following day, Means told him that he was not renting the residence to Balentine but that he had given him permission to stay there as a "guest" because "he felt sorry for him." Means gave written consent to search the residence. The police then searched the residence and found a receipt for the purchase of .32 caliber ammunition from a local K-Mart store. Mark Caylor had threatened Balentine because of his treatment of Mark's sister. Misty Caylor, Mark Caylor's sister and Balentine's former girlfriend, testified that she lived with Balentine for a brief period, but the relationship soured. Balentine, she said, came back to her home to patch things up, but he beat her and another boy up after she would not renew the relationship. She also told jurors that Balentine threatened to harm her family and that her brother, in turn, said he would kill Balentine.
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Post by Californian on Sept 29, 2009 20:23:24 GMT -6
The stay isn't posted on the 5th Circuit website yet. Perhaps Texas will be successful in overturning it.
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Post by Moonbeam on Sept 30, 2009 0:37:36 GMT -6
They're removed him from the TDCJ scheduled execution list, apparently they intend in overturning it but expect that this warrant may expire before they do. I expect they'll apply for a new date straight away. I read some of the idiotic threads on PTO, but felt too sickened by the foolish comments to read on.
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Post by unkelremus on Sept 30, 2009 5:00:51 GMT -6
Minute Reprieve
A Texas death row inmate who was facing execution Wednesday evening for the shooting deaths of three teenagers more than a decade ago won a temporary reprieve from a federal appeals court Tuesday.
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