Lucio stands by her attorney

BROWNSVILLE - Melissa Elizabeth Lucio of Harlingen is standing by her attorney.

Lucio, who in July was found guilty of killing her toddler daughter, said she wants attorney Larry Warner to represent her in appeal, despite that he is not listed among attorneys approved by the Fifth Administrative Judicial Region for death penalty cases.

That office oversees judicial proceedings in 11 counties, including Cameron County.

Although Warner has submitted an application to be placed on the list, his application is pending, an official with the Fifth Region said, adding that no list is currently available.

On July 22, Lucio was sentenced to death by lethal injection after a Cameron County jury found she killed her 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Mariah Alvarez.

The girl died from blunt trauma to the head in 2007, according to court testimony. She also had bruising, bites marks on her back, and injuries to her kidneys and liver, according to testimony.

Lucio didn't seek medical treatment for her daughter until Feb. 17, 2007, two days after she fell from the stairs at her family's apartment on West Lee Street in Harlingen, prosecutors said.

A hearing was held Friday concerning Warner's qualifications to represent Lucio in her appeal, during which she repeated several times her support for Warner.

"I want Mr. Warner to represent me," Lucio said when asked repeatedly by 138th State District Judge Arturo C. Nelson about who she wanted to represent her during appeals of her capital murder conviction.

The hearing was requested by the Cameron County's District Attorney's Office.

A right under the Sixth Amendment allows an individual to choose an attorney to represent him or her in a criminal trial.

Prosecutors had filed a motion questioning Warner's qualifications because Warner has stated in another capital murder case that "he does not have trial experience in the use of challenges to mental health or forensic expert witnesses," the motion reads.

Warner's other case is the pending capital murder trial of Manuel Velez, who is accused of killing the 1-year-old son of his girlfriend.

Defense attorney John Blaylock, who represented Warner, said Warner is qualified to handle Lucio's case and has successfully handled several other cases in the past.

"He meets all of the qualifications, just technically his application hasn't been approved yet," Blaylock said, adding that he and Warner explained to Nelson that depriving Lucio of her attorney of choice would be a violation of her Sixth Amendment right.

Nelson asked Lucio numerous times if she understood the state's motion that Warner was not competent to handle the issues of mitigation, in which she said, "yes."

After the hearing ended, Nelson ruled that Warner could remain as Lucio's attorney.

"We are keeping Mr. Warner on," Nelson said. "That's what she wants."