A Woman Sentenced to Death Was Found Not Guilty After 16 Years (6 photos)

In Texas, a court has acquitted a Mexican-American woman who was sentenced to death 16 years ago





The court has found 55-year-old Melissa Lucio not guilty after she was sentenced to death 16 years ago. This was reported by the Washington Post.

In 2007, Lucio's two-year-old daughter was taken to the hospital with bruises and a broken arm. The girl was not breathing. Doctors were unable to save her. Lucio claimed that her daughter fell down the stairs. Law enforcement officials suspected that the woman had beaten the girl. According to the report, after hours of questioning, she, apparently tired of denying it, whispered: "I probably did it." However, she then retracted her words.



For many years after the verdict, Melissa categorically denied her involvement in the death, claiming that the "confession" was given when she was grief-stricken and had difficulty understanding what was happening, and her words were misinterpreted by the investigation and the court.





Lucio's lawyers have spent years arguing that Lucio is innocent and that the verdict was based on false testimony and an examination that was later found to have used unscientific methods.



District Judge Arturo Nelson, who retried Lucio's case, found that the prosecution knowingly concealed evidence that showed the girl had fallen down the stairs. He found the woman not guilty and recommended that the conviction be overturned.



A decision on whether to overturn the conviction must be made by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. If that happens, Lucio could walk free.