John —

Last week, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay of execution for Melissa Lucio and ordered the 138th Judicial District Court of Cameron Country to consider the new evidence of her innocence in the death of her daughter, Mariah.

The court’s stay came just two days before she was scheduled to be killed for a crime that never occurred. It was an incredible relief for Melissa, her children and the rest of her family, all of her supporters, and her legal team.

We now have a chance to take Melissa’s case to a trial court for a hearing on four of the claims raised in her April 15 habeas petition:

1. The State used false evidence to obtain her conviction.
2. The State failed to turn over favorable evidence to the defense at her trial.
3. There is new scientific evidence, that Melissa's jury never heard, that undermines her conviction.
4. Melissa is actually innocent.

We joined Melissa’s defense team in January, and, along with the Capital Habeas Unit of the Office of the Federal Public Defender, Western District of Texas; Cornell University Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide; and a pro bono team from O’Melveny & Myers LLP, filed the habeas petition that has paved the way for what we hope will be her eventual exoneration.

Because we know how much work went into this case, we just want to take the time to say thank you to this community. So many of you jumped right in and took action — whether it was contacting Gov. Abbott or District Attorney Saenz, signing the petition, or sharing something about Melissa on social media. This was a true team effort and we can’t express just how much it meant to Melissa and to her whole team to have your support.

We also wanted to share with you a video with a message from Melissa the moment she heard the good news — take a look, then share it on social media.

It was an incredible victory for Melissa’s execution to be halted, but her fight isn’t over. The next step is to present all the new evidence of her innocence at hearings for consideration by a trial court. At the conclusion of the hearings, the trial court could recommend that the Court of Criminal Appeals vacate Melissa's conviction and grant her a new trial, which would give her a chance to be exonerated and, ultimately, freed from prison. The hearing date has not yet been scheduled.

Because the court's remand could ultimately result in a new trial for Melissa, the Board of Pardons and Paroles put her clemency application on hold until the litigation is over.

We aren’t going to stop fighting for Melissa until she is freed and exonerated, and we hope you’ll continue to stand with us.

Thank you for everything,

Vanessa Potkin, Jane Pucher, and Lauren Gottesman,
Innocence Project attorneys for Melissa Lucio

P.S. Send Melissa a note that you’ll keep fighting for her.