Linda Carty

{{short description|British-American murderer on death row}} {{Infobox criminal | name = Linda Carty | birth_name = Linda Anita Carty | image_name = | image_size = | image_caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1958|10|05|df=y}} | birth_place = St. Kitts, Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla (present-day, Saint Kitts and Nevis) | death_date =  | death_place = | conviction = Capital murder | conviction_penalty = Death (February 21, 2002) | conviction_status = Incarcerated at Patrick O'Daniel Unit in Gatesville, Texas | occupation = Laborer,<ref name="texasstateinfo" /> former primary school teacher,<ref name="bbc2">{{Cite news|date=September 11, 2009|title=Death row woman's 'bizarre baby plan'|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8248828.stm|access-date=2020-08-18}}</ref> former drug informant | spouse = Jose Corona }} '''Linda Anita Carty''' (born 5 October 1958) is a Kittitian-American{{Efn|Saint Kitts and Nevis was still a British colony in 1958, giving her British citizenship.|name=Kitts|group=}} former schoolteacher who is on death row in Texas, United States. In February 2002, she was sentenced to death for the abduction and murder in 2001 of 20-year-old Joana Rodriguez in order to steal Rodriguez's newborn son.<ref name="appeal1" /><ref name="houston4" /> Carty claimed she was framed by her co-defendants who were drug dealers<ref name="guardian2004" /> because she had previously been an informant.

Carty has appealed her conviction,<ref>{{Cite news|date=2010-05-03|title=Death Row Gran Faces 'Imminent Execution'|work=Sky News|url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Linda-Carty-US-Supreme-Court-Will-Not-Hold-Review-Into-Case-Of-British-Grandmother-On-Death-Row/Article/201005115624558|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506063731/http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Linda-Carty-US-Supreme-Court-Will-Not-Hold-Review-Into-Case-Of-British-Grandmother-On-Death-Row/Article/201005115624558|archive-date=2010-05-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11436217/British-grandmother-on-death-row-in-US-case-to-be-reviewed-after-witnesses-threatened.html| work=The Daily Telegraph | title=British grandmother on death row in US case to be reviewed after witnesses 'threatened'|agency=Press Association | date=February 26, 2015}}</ref><ref>[http://www.reprieve.org.uk/case-study/linda-carty "Press Release: British death row grandmother granted new hearing"], Reprieve, 2015-02-25.</ref> with her most recent petition to the United States Supreme Court for a writ of ''certiorari'' being denied by the Supreme Court on November 13, 2018.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Search - Supreme Court of the United States|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/18-50.html|access-date=2020-08-18|website=www.supremecourt.gov|id=Docket no. 18-50}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Blakinger|first=Keri|date=November 18, 2018|title=Supreme Court turns down appeal from British woman on Texas death row|url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Supreme-Court-turns-down-appeal-from-British-13403410.php|access-date=August 18, 2020|website=The Houston Chronicle}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Michael|last=Graczyk|author-link=Michael Graczyk|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/court-rejects-appeal-british-woman-texas-death-row-52907581|title=Court rejects appeal from British woman on Texas death row|agency=Associated Press|website=ABC News|date=February 7, 2018|access-date=February 10, 2018}}</ref>

==Early life and education== Carty was born on the island of St. Kitts, Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla (present-day, Saint Kitts and Nevis) to Anguillan parents,<ref name="skn" /> Carty holds British citizenship as St. Kitts was a British colony at the time of her birth. She emigrated to the United States in 1982. Carty studied pharmacology at the University of Houston.<ref>{{cite web|first=Alexander|last=Baron|url=http://digitaljournal.com/article/316375|title=Op-Ed: 12 myths about Linda Carty debunked|website=Digital Journal|date=December 20, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Alex|last=Hannaford|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/28/linda-carty-innocent-death-row|title=Death row: the last hope|newspaper=The Guardian|date=February 28, 2010}}</ref>

==Drug informant== In 1992, Carty was convicted of auto theft and impersonation of an FBI agent. She was sentenced to 10 years probation,<ref name="record" /> on the condition she would work as a drug informant.<ref name="appeal2009" /> While working as an informant, she provided information leading to two arrests.<ref name="appeal2009" /> Her services ended when she was arrested on drug charges.<ref name="appeal2009" />

In media interviews, Carty has claimed that she was recruited by a friend from the Houston Police Department and that her work for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) helped land seizures of thousands of dollars' worth of narcotics and led to the imprisonment of scores of dealers.<ref name="guardian2004" />

==The crime== According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice:

<blockquote>On May 16, 2001, Carty and three co-defendants invaded a home and kidnapped a 20-year-old female and her newborn son. The victim subsequently died of suffocation, but the baby was found unharmed.<ref name="texasstateinfo" /></blockquote>

==Investigation== {{Expand section|date=December 2011}} Investigators initially suspected Carty after discovering that she had told people she was going to have a baby despite not appearing pregnant.<ref name="houston2" /> While interviewing neighbors in the apartment complex, police heard from one neighbor that she sat with Carty in a car, saw a child's car seat in the car, and was told by Carty that she was pregnant, although the witness thought Carty did not appear to be pregnant. Police then telephoned Carty and asked her to meet with them. She told them that a car she had rented and her daughter's car might have been used in the crime. She was placed under arrest. Then she directed them to a location where both cars were found: the live baby was in one, and the suffocated victim was in the back of the other. Carty's fingerprints were in both cars. They found various items of baby paraphernalia.<ref name="appeal1" />

==Trial== The following evidence was presented during the trial:

* In early May 2001, Carty and her husband separated. Carty then informed him that she was pregnant with his child.<ref name="appeal1" /> * On the day before the murder, 15 May 2001, Carty told her neighbor, Florence Meyers, that she was pregnant and that the baby would be born the next day. Meyers testified that Carty did not appear to be pregnant.<ref name="appeal1" /><ref name="houston3" /> * Carty told her husband on 15 May that she would have a baby boy the next day. When he met her at the police station on 16 May after she had been arrested, he asked her if the baby had been born, and she told him "not yet."<ref name="appeal1" /> * On 15 May, Carty told Sherry Bancroft, an employee at Public Storage, that she had indeed had the baby and that he was at home with his father.<ref name="appeal1" /> * The victim's husband testified that while the intruders were in his home, one of them answered his cell phone and said, "We are inside here. Do you want it?" Then he yelled that "she" was outside and that they had to go. The intruders left, taking the baby with them.<ref name="appeal1" /> * Carty's cell phone records were introduced and showed 11 calls logged between 12:50 a.m. and 2:50 a.m. on 16 May 2001 between Carty's phone and the cell phone number that led police to Gerald Anderson. Seven of those calls were placed between 1:09 a.m. and 1:14 a.m.<ref name="appeal1" /> * Sarah Hernandez testified that she met Carty while they were both serving time in jail. Carty asked Hernandez to write a letter for her because she did not want the letter to be in her own handwriting. Carty wrote out what she wanted the letter to say, and Hernandez copied it. Hernandez said the letter was supposed to be from someone named Oscar. The letter said Carty was being set up by "Chris and Zeb," who borrowed Carty's car and put the baby in it. The letter stated they had a grudge against Carty.<ref name="appeal1" /> * Carty's mother testified that her daughter did not mention that she was pregnant when they talked on 13 May or the following days, and Carty did not appear to be pregnant around that time.<ref name="appeal1" />

==Conviction and appeals== [[File:Entrance to TDCJ Mountain View Unit.jpg|thumb|Patrick O'Daniel Unit (then Mountain View), where Carty is held]] Carty was convicted of murder on February 19, 2002. On February 21, she was sentenced to death by lethal injection.<ref name="appeal1" /><ref name="houston1" />

The imposition of a death sentence in Texas results in an automatic direct appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. This appeal was rejected on April 7, 2004. Carty appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. This appeal was rejected on September 19, 2009. On 26 February 2010, Carty appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, in which the British government filed an amicus curiae brief.<ref name="timesonline1"/><ref name="UK Amicus Curiae Brief">{{cite web|title=UK Amicus Curiae Brief|url=https://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/09-900_Amicus-brief-of-United-Kingdom-of-Great-Britain-and-Northern-Ireland.pdf|access-date=9 November 2013}}</ref><ref name="morningstaronline1"/><ref name="scotsman1"/> However, on May 3, 2010, the Court refused to review the case, denying certiorari.<ref>{{cite news|first=Renée C.|last=Lee|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6986708.html|title=Supreme Court rejects plea from British woman on death row|newspaper=The Houston Chronicle|date=May 3, 2010|access-date=May 31, 2010}}</ref> The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has the option to recommend clemency to the Governor of Texas. However, such recommendations are rare.<ref name="telegraph2"/>

In 2018, she petitioned the Supreme Court again, arguing that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals "refused to consider the cumulative prejudice" of constitutional errors in her case, including ineffective assistance of counsel and the State intentionally withholding "numerous items" of exculpatory evidence; however, the Court denied certiorari.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite court|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18-50/52645/20180709153534392_No.%2018-__%20Carty%20v.%20Texas%20Cert%20Petition.pdf|litigants=Linda Carty v. The State of Texas|date=July 2018}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> The British government filed an amicus brief in her support.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="supremecourt.gov">{{Cite news |title=In The Supreme Court of the United States |url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18-50/58868/20180808145239714_Amicus%20Curiae%20Brief%20Linda%20Anita%20Carty%20v.%20Texas%2018-50.pdf}}</ref>

==Defense claims== Carty, her lawyers, and her supporters contend that she has been unjustly sentenced to death for a murder she did not commit. Reprieve claims that her defense attorney did not present mitigating evidence.<ref name="morningstaronline1" /> They assert that no scientific evidence exists that establishes that she was at the scene of the crime,<ref name="guardian2004" /> although her fingerprints were found in the car containing the victim's body.<ref name="appeal1" /> Carty has claimed that she was framed by three men for her work as an informant with the Drug Enforcement Administration.<ref name="guardian2004" /><ref name="bbc1"/> Carty stated that "it was too difficult just to kill me, so they hatched this plot."<ref name="guardian2004" /> Anderson, Robinson, and Williams, the other co-defendants in the kidnapping and murder, were given prison terms, but none received the death penalty after testifying against Carty.<ref name="guardian2004" /> Baker Botts, the law firm handling Carty's appeal, have argued that her trial attorney, Jerry Guerinot, handled her defense in an incompetent manner.<ref name="guardian1"/> Michael Goldberg of Baker Botts accuses Guerinot, who never won a death penalty case over his entire career, of failing to call any witnesses who might have persuaded the jury that she did not deserve execution.<ref name="timesonline1"/><ref name="guardian1"/> In addition, they assert that Guerinot met with Carty for only a single 15 minute interview. Guerinot's co-counsel has disputed this.<ref name=wa_interview/> Carty also claims that she was interviewed without counsel being present on one occasion.<ref name="guardian2004"/>

==US breach of international law== Under the terms of the Bilateral Convention on Consular Officers (1951) between the United States and the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom's consular officials were entitled to be informed immediately upon her detention (art. 16(1) of the convention). The authorities in Texas failed to inform the British Consulate until after Carty's conviction and sentencing. In an interview for a documentary broadcast by the UK's Channel 4, ''The British Woman on Death Row'' (November 28, 2011), the United Kingdom's Consul General in Houston at the time, Paul Lynch, stated that this breach:<ref>{{cite web|title=The British Woman on Death Row|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-british-woman-on-death-row/4od#3304566|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123131424/http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-british-woman-on-death-row/4od|location=London, UK|publisher=Channel 4|archive-date=January 23, 2013}}</ref>

<blockquote>made a material difference to the outcome of this case. If we had been allowed, and given the opportunity to support Linda Carty, if she had been given all the support to which she was entitled and which she deserved ... something entirely different, I believe, would have happened at that trial and Linda Carty would not now be facing a death penalty.</blockquote>

The United Kingdom contends in its amicus curiae brief<ref name="UK Amicus Curiae Brief"/> in the US Supreme Court that it regards the US as having breached its obligations under international law. However, the United Kingdom lacks any legal forum to obtain redress for this breach.<ref name="supremecourt.gov"/>

==Additional information== Carty's case received media attention in September 2009 when her image was placed on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square by her British supporters.<ref name="bbc1"/><ref name="cnn1"/>

Carty is presently being held on death row at the Mountain View Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Texas Department of Criminal Justice Offender Search|url=https://offender.tdcj.texas.gov/OffenderSearch/offenderDetail.action?sid=03256514|access-date=2020-08-18|website=offender.tdcj.texas.gov|archive-date=2015-12-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227180540/http://offender.tdcj.texas.gov/OffenderSearch/offenderDetail.action?sid=03256514|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2012, she appeared on a segment of Werner Herzog's series ''On Death Row'', broadcast on the Discovery Channel program ''Investigation Discovery''.<ref>{{cite web|title=On Death Row |work=Discovery |publisher=Discovery Channel |url=http://press.discovery.com/us/id/programs/on-death-row/ |access-date=March 16, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121128211311/http://press.discovery.com/us/id/programs/on-death-row/ |archive-date=November 28, 2012 }}</ref> In November 2013, Carty's story was profiled on Investigation Discovery's documentary series ''Deadly Women'', in an episode titled "Untamed Evil."

On June 19, 2016, Sky Network aired a one-hour program about her case on CBS Reality. The program is called ''The British Woman on Death Row''. On March 22, 2022, ITV broadcast ''British Grandma on Death Row with Susanna Reid'', in which Carty continued to profess her innocence.

==Notes== {{Notelist|refs=Kitts}}

==References== {{reflist|30em|refs=

<ref name="guardian2004">{{cite news| author=Alex Hannaford |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jul/26/usa.law |title=Linda Carty: 'I'm not afraid of dying. I'm just angry' |work=The Guardian |date=2004-08-02 |access-date=2010-04-28 | location=London }}</ref>

<ref name="guardian1">{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/observer/magazine/story/0,,2218841,00.html |title=David Rose on the inept handling of British citizen Linda Carty's murder trail |first=David|last=Rose|author-link=David Rose (journalist) |work=The Observer Magazine |date= December 2, 2007 |access-date=April 28, 2010 |location=London }}</ref>

<ref name="timesonline1">{{cite news |url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7043309.ece |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110601071641/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7043309.ece |url-status= dead |archive-date= June 1, 2011 |title=Death-row inmate Linda Carty launches last-chance appeal to US Supreme Court - Times Online |work=Times Online |access-date=28 April 2010 | first=Giles | last=Whittell | date=February 27, 2010 }}</ref>

<ref name="texasstateinfo">{{cite web |url=https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/death_row/dr_info/cartylinda.html |title=Offender Information - Linda Carty |publisher=Tdcj.state.tx.us |access-date=2021-04-24 }}</ref>

<ref name="appeal1">{{cite web |url=http://www.cca.courts.state.tx.us/opinions/HTMLopinionInfo.asp?OpinionID=12448 |title=Linda Carty v. The State of Texas |publisher=www.cca.courts.state.tx.us |access-date=2009-09-10 |archive-date=2011-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718102717/http://www.cca.courts.state.tx.us/opinions/HTMLopinionInfo.asp?OpinionID=12448 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name="morningstaronline1">{{cite web |author=McGuffin, Paddy |url=http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/87824 |title=Facing imminent death |work=Morning Star |access-date=2010-04-28 |archive-date=2010-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100314041231/http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/87824 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name="scotsman1">{{cite web |first=Mat |last=Williams |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/world/death-row-grandmother-linda-carty-last-ditch-plea-1732253 |title=Death-row grandmother Linda Carty in last-ditch plea |work=The Scotsman |date=26 February 2010 |access-date=28 April 2010 }}</ref>

<ref name="cnn1">{{cite news |first=Melissa |last=Gray |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/09/10/uk.death.row.plea/index.html |title=Death row grandmother in Trafalgar Square plea |website=CNN |date=September 10, 2009 |access-date=April 28, 2010 }}</ref>

<ref name="telegraph2">{{cite news |last=Leonard |first=Tom |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6207124/Death-Row-Briton-Linda-Carty-faces-execution-in-US-after-losing-appeal.html |title=Death Row Briton Linda Carty faces execution in US after losing appeal |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=September 18, 2009 |access-date=April 28, 2010 }}</ref>

<ref name="bbc1">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8247564.stm |title=UK | Plinth spot for death row Briton |work=BBC News |date=September 10, 2009 |access-date=April 28, 2010 }}</ref>

<ref name="record">{{cite web |url=http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/texas-prisons/inmates/linda-carty/28242/ |title=Prison inmate details |work=Texas Tribune |date=2011-12-14 |access-date=2011-12-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110821022917/http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/texas-prisons/inmates/linda-carty/28242/ |archive-date=2011-08-21 }}</ref>

<ref name="appeal2009">{{cite web |url=http://www.reprieve.org.uk/static/downloads/Carty_-_Cert_Petition_Appendices_2.pdf |title=Fifth Circuit appeal, Appendix A, Page 10 |publisher=US Court of Appeal |date=2009-10-15 |access-date=2011-12-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111201101310/http://www.reprieve.org.uk/static/downloads/Carty_-_Cert_Petition_Appendices_2.pdf |archive-date=2011-12-01 }}</ref>

<ref name="wa_interview">{{cite web |url=http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/315657 |last= Baron |first= Alexander |title=Op-Ed: Linda Carty's other lawyer sets the record straight |work= Digital Journal |date=December 6, 2011 |access-date=December 6, 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="houston1">{{cite news| url=http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Woman-given-death-sentence-in-kidnap-case-2057778.php |title=Woman given death sentence in kidnap case |work=The Houston Chronicle |first=Dale |last=Lezon |date= February 22, 2002 |access-date=December 31, 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="houston2">{{cite news| url=http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Three-men-sought-in-kidnap-killing-2035654.php |title=Three men sought in kidnap, killing |first=Mike |last=Glenn |work=The Houston Chronicle |date= May 19, 2001 |access-date=December 31, 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="houston3">{{cite news| url=http://www.chron.com/default/article/Prosecution-paints-Carty-as-schemer-2063067.php|title=Prosecution paints Carty as schemer |first=Carol |last=Christian |work=The Houston Chronicle |date= February 12, 2002 |access-date=December 31, 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="houston4">{{cite news| url=http://www.chron.com/news/article/Desire-for-baby-seen-as-a-motive-2037794.php |title=Desire for baby seen as a motive |first=Dale |last=Lezon |work=The Houston Chronicle |date= May 18, 2001 |access-date=December 31, 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name="skn">{{cite news| url=https://www.sknvibes.com/news/newsdetails.cfm/56251 |work=St. Kitts Nevis Vibes |title=Death Row Granny may soon be executed |first=Stanford |last=Conway |date=April 11, 2012 |access-date=April 11, 2012 }}</ref> }}

==External links== * Hannaford, Alex. "[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/28/linda-carty-innocent-death-row Death row: the last hope ]." ''The Guardian''. Sunday February 28, 2010 - Linda Carty interview * [http://www.cca.courts.state.tx.us/opinions/HTMLopinionInfo.asp?OpinionID=12448 The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718102717/http://www.cca.courts.state.tx.us/opinions/HTMLopinionInfo.asp?OpinionID=12448 |date=2011-07-18 }} - Linda Carty v. The State of Texas. (Contains a description of the events of May 16, 2001.) * [https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/08/08-70049.0.wpd.pdf The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit] - Linda Anita Carty v. Nathaniel Quarterman, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100714115733/http://www.reprieve.org.uk/static/downloads/2009_05_04_Carty_UK_Govt_Amicus_Brief_.pdf Amicus Curiae brief by the UK government in support of Carty] * [http://www.fairtrials.org/cases/linda-carty/ Linda Carty Case] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211232522/http://www.fairtrials.org/cases/linda-carty/ |date=2013-12-11 }} Presentation of the case on the Fair Trials International website. Retrieved 2013-10-14 * [http://www.reprieve.org.uk/2009_09_02lindacartyfifthcircuitappeal Website of Agency Involved in Carty's Appeal] * [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-11395285 Death row Briton's last hope for mercy] - BBC video report and interview with Linda Carty, September 23, 2010.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carty, Linda}} Category:1958 births Category:2001 murders in the United States Category:American female murderers Category:American people convicted of murder Category:British female murderers Category:21st-century British murderers Category:British people convicted of murder Category:British people imprisoned abroad Category:British prisoners sentenced to death Category:Drug Enforcement Administration informants Category:Living people Category:People convicted of murder by Texas Category:Prisoners sentenced to death by Texas Category:Saint Kitts and Nevis emigrants to the United States Category:Saint Kitts and Nevis people convicted of murder Category:University of Houston alumni Category:Women sentenced to death