Judge in Thuesen Capital Murder Trial Calls for Punishment Reversal

BRYAN - In 2010, John Thuesen was sentenced to die for the 2009 murders of a pair of siblings in College Station. Now, the judge who presided over the trial is recommending that the punishment be reversed.

In a filing to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin on Friday, 272nd District Court Judge Travis Bryan III writes of what he believes were numerous failings by the attorneys who represented Thuesen at trial, Billy Carter and Michele Esparza, and recommends a new punishment phase for Thuesen.

In June 2014, Judge Bryan heard arguments from writ lawyers representing Thuesen, which Bryan largely agreed with in Friday's filing. Some arguments by the writ lawyers were rejected.

Thuesen shot and killed Rachel Joiner, who he had dated, and Rachel's brother Travis in the siblings' house. The Joiners were from West Texas and attending Texas A&M. Thuesen had broken into the Joiner's house and waited for Rachel to return. The two eventually got into an argument. Evidence showed Rachel was shot in the back. It was presented that she was trying to leave the argument and the house when she was shot, and that when the shots rang out, Travis Joiner came out from his room and was also shot by Thuesen.

Prosecutors argued that Thuesen, who called 911 and confessed to the shooting immediately after, was jealous and angry that Joiner had separated from him.

Thuesen served in the Marines and had spent time in combat in Iraq. While the defense made arguments that mental health problems were at the root of Thuesen's acts and could be cause for the jury to choose a life sentence instead of death, Judge Bryan does not believe near enough was done by Carter and Esparza.

In a stinging indictment of the attorneys' work, Bryan gave the following opinions:

- The defense didn't start an investigation into Thuesen's Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) until a few months leading up to the trial, a year after the lawyers were retained as counsel.

- Thuesen's counsel did not get the assistance of an expert witness or witnesses qualified to explain mitigating impacts of PTS.

- The defense's ultimate presentation of information on PTS, including specific info on Thuesen's, was "significantly incomplete."

- The investigation and presentation of evidence that the Department of Veterans Affairs failed to properly diagnose and treat Thuesen's PTS "fell below the norms of professional standards for capital counsel."

- Defense counsel did not present sufficient evidence that Thuesen would not pose a future danger to others, one of the three questions the jury is asked to answer in choosing life in prison or death as a penalty.

- The defense did not speak to witnesses of an incident Thuesen was involved in during his high school years that would have disputed a prosecution witness' account, nor did they cross examine the witness. The incident was used by the prosecution to convince the jury that Thuesen had violent tendencies before his war service.

- Thuesen's attorneys were ineffective during the jury selection process in fighting for and against potential jurors who could have helped or hurt the defense in the deliberations.

- The defense didn't present enough evidence concerning the Thuesen family's history of mental illness.

- Defense counsel didn't raise the issue of mental illness in its opening argument in the punishment phase.

- Carter and Esparza didn't object to a prosecutor's comment about his stepfather's World War II service and PTS during closing arguments in the punishment phase.

In an automatic appeal granted by law to any defendant sentenced to death, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the conviction in February 2014.

The only possible punishments the State of Texas allows for people convicted of capital murder are life in prison without possibility of parole or the death penalty. The prosecution has the option not to pursue death.

Thuesen's case was considered capital murder because two people were killed in the same incident.

Because of the case's status, Bryan could not comment on his recommendation. News 3 has calls in to Carter and Esparza for comments, and has also called the Court of Criminal Appeals in regards to a possible timeline on its ruling on the Thuesen case. This story will be updated when and if those additional details and comments come in.