The Candid Review: A Blog About Appeals

Linda Carty Appeal in Texas

In 2001 a British national was convicted for the murder of Johanna Rodriguez and the abduction of her four-day-old son. A man named Christopher Robinson, a star witness for the prosecution, testified that he saw the murder take place and identified a British woman as the murdered. The woman, Linda Carty, was sentenced to death. Since that time Robinson has admitted that his testimony was a lie. Not only did Robinson lie, in September of last year he stated that the prosecutors “threatened and intimidated” him into giving the damning testimony and told him that he would be placed on death row if Mrs. Carty was not. Advocates for Carty claim that Robinson is not the only witness to claim that the prosecutors threatened him into testifying one way or another. Carty’s attorneys are using this information to launch an appeal.

The Crime

The state of Texas built a case against Linda Carty in 2001 and presented the theory that she and three other men forced their way into the home of a 25-year-old woman named Johanna Rodriguez. The three men, and later co-defendants, were Gerald Anderson, Chris Robinson, and Carlos Williams. Johanna and her newborn son were kidnapped while two other victims were beaten, bound, and left in the home. Johanna was tied with duct-tape and a bag was taped over her head. She was placed in the trunk of a car where she died from suffocation.

The Investigation

Police officers learned from neighborhood interviews that Carty had said that she was going to have a baby. This was odd to the witness because Carty did not appear to be pregnant, and she said she was having the baby the next day. The police contacted Carty, who told them that she had rented a car and that car may have been used in the crime. She told the police where the car was. At that location the baby was found, still alive, and Johanna was found already deceased. The investigation led to witnesses coming forward claiming that Carty informed them that she had a baby around the time of the murder. Carty’s husband told investigators that in early May of 2001 he and Carty separated; shortly after that she told him she was pregnant with his child.

The Trial

At trial this information was put before a jury. Other pieces of evidence came in the form of testimony, alleging that Cartys husband asked, upon arriving at the police station at the day of her arrest, whether the baby had been born; in response she told him, Not yet. Cartys mother testified that her daughter never mentioned being pregnant and did not look as though she was. Johanna’s husband testified that while the intruders were in his home, one of them answered a cell phone call and said, We are inside here, do you want it? The prosecutors put forth the theory that this question was directed to Carty on the other end of the phone, and in reference to stealing the baby. Carty was sentenced to death on February 21, 2001.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals made a rare decision this week and granted a hearing to review Cartys case for possible prosecutorial misconduct. Our team at Brownstone Law believes in the power of the appeals process and hopes that justice is brought to the families of Carty and Rodriguez.