With a jury in place, trial has begun in the case of a Texas City man charged with capital murder in 2020 death of 19-year-old during what police said was a home-invasion robbery.
The trial of Jacob Alvarado, 20, opened Tuesday in the 212th District Court with Judge Patricia Grady presiding.
Alvarado is charged with capital murder in the March 28, 2020, shooting death of Colton Nowak, 19, of Texas City.
The state alleges Alvarado, Sean Lee Greeness, 25, of Santa Fe, and Mason Lee Perry, 19, of La Marque, entered Nowak’s apartment, 402 Fifth Ave. N. in Texas City, at about 6 a.m. intent on robbery, and an exchange of gunfire ensued.
Nowak was shot and killed, and an unnamed 20-year-old woman was wounded, police said.
Perry was shot and taken to a hospital, where he died from his wounds, officers said.
Police allege Alvarado and Greeness fled in a vehicle that crashed in the 1000 block of Fourth Avenue South. A bystander transported Greeness to the hospital, where he died after surgery, officers said.
Alvarado was transported to HCA Clear Lake Hospital, where he was taken into custody, police said.
Alvarado was freed on $500,000 bond Nov. 23, 2020.
Alvarado is being represented by Christopher Henderson of Houston-based Henderson & Hall, while the state is being represented by Assistant District Attorneys Shawn Connally and Angela Kao. The trial is expected to wrap up by the end of the week, Assistant District Attorney Kevin Petroff said.
Trace Harris: 409-683-5247; The Daily News galvnews.com or on twitter at TraceH_news
# years to bring a trial is not reasonable. Justice for the victims and society is the purpose of our system. Commit a crime and the laws are contorted by lawyers to achieve delays, leniency, and release. On parole perps are re-committing crimes. Recidivism is rampant. Jails are full and we release to make more room. Justice is supposed to be blind, not dumb.
David, the amount of time it has taken to go to trial in this case, is about average for a murder trial. They do not want to make a mistake that could cause a mistrial. It even takes a long time just to select a jury for a murder trial. All phases. of a murder trail takes more time.
We have only so many judges and so many court rooms and it takes time to get a case on the docket. If you want to increase the number of judges and court rooms, maybe the time could be shortened some, but taxes would increase.
This is one reason the bail system is not fair for the poor, as they a required to stay in jail until they go to trial, because they cannot afford bail. Just a normal case can take a year or more to get from arrest to trial.
Also remember that if he is found guilty, it may take another 2 years, if he chooses to appeal the ruling.
"There is no way to predict exactly how long an appeal might take. A ballpark figure is 2 years from the date the notice of appeal is filed. (The notice of appeal is not due until 60 days after sentencing.) It could easily take longer."
Jim, all you report is true. 3 years accepted as a norm is absurd. But as always the excuses of not enough - personnel - money - etc. and the excuses that the act (though beyond question as a prima facia evidence) is still considered debatable makes presenting a change or refinement - a case for debate that would take many years of arguing. Thus forget it (my comment). Our general public is so convoluted with politics, partisanship and it is society's fault we can't preform any corrections that a liberal won't find as victimizing some segment of the population as a minority.
Never mind!
The monopoly of the the judicial system by the lawyers as the writer. interpreters. administers and judges has created laws that are fungible/manipulated and politized.
Time to make some judges and juries work a few weekends and after hours to put a dent in the back log of pending cases. Lots of people have to work overtime or additional jobs , just to make ends meet.
When I worked, most of the time I was asked if I wanted to work overtime or on the weekends.
Are you suggesting that we force judges to work overtime? Or are you wanting to make more judges, for the off hours?
Even if there was enough coverage by judges', other people would be required for the extra hours. Clerks, bailiffs, security, check in people and on and on.
If this is what you want, let the people in charge know that you are willing to have your taxes increased to cover the additional cost.
As for myself, I'm in favor of increasing the number of judges to the level required to cover all cases. Just remember, even if you have more judges, it may not speed up the process, because it takes a long time to prepare to take someone to trial.
The Total Population in the county jail runs about 800 people. Some are not allowed to leave because they do not have the money for bail. So besides reworking the way judges work, the bail system needs to be reworked. If a person is in jail they cannot go to work, and some lose their jobs because of this. Some jails let the people leave to work and return when they are off work.
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(5) comments
# years to bring a trial is not reasonable. Justice for the victims and society is the purpose of our system. Commit a crime and the laws are contorted by lawyers to achieve delays, leniency, and release. On parole perps are re-committing crimes. Recidivism is rampant. Jails are full and we release to make more room. Justice is supposed to be blind, not dumb.
David, the amount of time it has taken to go to trial in this case, is about average for a murder trial. They do not want to make a mistake that could cause a mistrial. It even takes a long time just to select a jury for a murder trial. All phases. of a murder trail takes more time.
We have only so many judges and so many court rooms and it takes time to get a case on the docket. If you want to increase the number of judges and court rooms, maybe the time could be shortened some, but taxes would increase.
This is one reason the bail system is not fair for the poor, as they a required to stay in jail until they go to trial, because they cannot afford bail. Just a normal case can take a year or more to get from arrest to trial.
Also remember that if he is found guilty, it may take another 2 years, if he chooses to appeal the ruling.
"There is no way to predict exactly how long an appeal might take. A ballpark figure is 2 years from the date the notice of appeal is filed. (The notice of appeal is not due until 60 days after sentencing.) It could easily take longer."
Jim, all you report is true. 3 years accepted as a norm is absurd. But as always the excuses of not enough - personnel - money - etc. and the excuses that the act (though beyond question as a prima facia evidence) is still considered debatable makes presenting a change or refinement - a case for debate that would take many years of arguing. Thus forget it (my comment). Our general public is so convoluted with politics, partisanship and it is society's fault we can't preform any corrections that a liberal won't find as victimizing some segment of the population as a minority.
Never mind!
The monopoly of the the judicial system by the lawyers as the writer. interpreters. administers and judges has created laws that are fungible/manipulated and politized.
Time to make some judges and juries work a few weekends and after hours to put a dent in the back log of pending cases. Lots of people have to work overtime or additional jobs , just to make ends meet.
When I worked, most of the time I was asked if I wanted to work overtime or on the weekends.
Are you suggesting that we force judges to work overtime? Or are you wanting to make more judges, for the off hours?
Even if there was enough coverage by judges', other people would be required for the extra hours. Clerks, bailiffs, security, check in people and on and on.
If this is what you want, let the people in charge know that you are willing to have your taxes increased to cover the additional cost.
As for myself, I'm in favor of increasing the number of judges to the level required to cover all cases. Just remember, even if you have more judges, it may not speed up the process, because it takes a long time to prepare to take someone to trial.
The Total Population in the county jail runs about 800 people. Some are not allowed to leave because they do not have the money for bail. So besides reworking the way judges work, the bail system needs to be reworked. If a person is in jail they cannot go to work, and some lose their jobs because of this. Some jails let the people leave to work and return when they are off work.
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Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don’t knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be brief. Keep posts to 150 words or less.
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