Death Penalty Witness Condemned by Courts
A.P. Merillat has spent two decades investigating crimes in Texas prisons, and his testimony about the violence that inmates serving life sentences can inflict has helped send at least 15 murderers to death row.
Now, the credibility of Merillat — a go-to expert for prosecutors seeking the death penalty — has been condemned by the state’s highest criminal court, after judges determined that Merillat gave false testimony and two death sentences were reverted to life sentences, the most recent in June.
Merillat said he was close to being devastated by those decisions. “A guilty capital murderer was removed from the ...
Comments (4)
David O
When I started practicing law in Texas in 1983, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals was considered one of the most if not the most pro-prosecution state appellate court in the nation. When I retired a year or so ago, that reputation had not changed. Remember that this is the same court that has Sharon Keller as its chief judge. She is the judge that refused to keep the court open past 5:00 p.m. to allow lawyers for Michael Richard to file a last minute motion to stay his execution that evening.
Considering how pro-prosecution the court is, if they say Mr. Merillat is a lier, he must have really screwed up. Of course, as a general rule, prosecutors know which witnesses will shape their testimony for the benefit of the prosecution and they get used a lot but it s unlikely that the court would ever find them complicit in the use of tainted testimony.
Kurt Rheinboldt via Texas Tribune on Facebook
He could be a pundit for Faux News.
Phillip Baker
All I can say is "Hallelujah!!". I have had a note to myself on my desk for months to look into this guy. I read about his antics in connection to another miscarriage of justice. Now I can just toss that note with a clear conscience. I worked around Richard Coons at Travis County Jail back int he late 80's. I was always amazed at how quickly he labeled the people he interviewed. In15 minutes he'd "assess" a man and slap a label on him. His favorite phrase was "He's manipulative". I always found that ironic, since Coons was by far the most manipulative man I ever worked with. But never fear, prosecutors will find another darling who will obligingly spew out the desired psychobabble They always do.
M Kaye
Call me crazy, but I always think it's a good idea to hear from the one in question. After reading this article, it left me with several unanswered questions... Merillat is a "go-to expert" for prosecutors. Is this how he makes his living? If not, what's in it for him? What does he gain by giving his expert testimony? Where does his "expert" knowledge come from? What's his experience with prison crimes?
And who's fighting him? ACLU? So, I could ask what's in it for them but the answer seems quite glaring.
What's Merillat's supposed offense? He can tell the court if a CONVICTED criminal - a criminal who has committed HEINOUS crimes will commit again? No offense, Mr.. Merillat, but I think there are a lot of us citizens who would agree with you and we don't have the experience you do.
From what I'm gathering, Merillat's crime is that he's trying to protect others from becoming victims. People who don't deserve to die at the hand's of a cold-blooded killer.
I did some research on Merillat. I'm not one to be bullied into an opinion. I want to hear ALL the facts and come up with my own decision. Here's what I've found:
http://tdcaa.infopop.net/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/157098965/m/9097019606