A Texas federal appeals court has ordered a new trial for a death row inmate convicted in the slayings of a woman, her daughter and four grandchildren. A three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found prosecutors withheld two statements that could have swayed jurors during the trial of Anthony Graves.
"If the two statements had been revealed, the defense's approach could have been much different and probably highly effective," Circuit Judge W. Eugene Davis wrote in the unanimous opinion released late last week.
Graves, 40, was convicted in 1994 for the deaths of Bobbie Joyce Davis, 45; her 16-year-old daughter, Nicole; and four grandchildren between ages 4 and 9. The victims were shot, stabbed and beaten on Aug. 18, 1992 and their home was set on fire to conceal the crime. The only evidence linking Graves to the crime was the testimony of co-defendant Robert Earl Carter.
On the night before the trial, Carter told then Burleson County District Attorney Charles Sebesta: "I did it all myself, Mr. Sebesta. I did it all myself." However, Sebesta didn't tell Graves' attorney about the statement.
Carter implicated his wife, Theresa, as an accomplice in the deaths, but Sebesta also failed to disclose that. Carter also was convicted of the murders and executed in 2000. He proclaimed Graves' innocence before his execution. The appellate court's decision gives the Texas Attorney General's Office 180 days to appeal or schedule a new trial.