46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2003

REQUESTING THE GOVERNOR OF TEXAS TO PETITION THE TEXAS BOARD OF PARDONS AND PAROLES TO REVIEW THE CASE OF JAMES HARRY REYOS AND CONSIDER PARDONING HIM BASED ON EXISTING EXCULPATORY EVIDENCE.

WHEREAS, James Harry Reyos, a member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, is serving a sentence in the Texas prison system for the murder of a priest that occurred on December 21, 1981 in Odessa, Texas; and

WHEREAS, the night that the murder took place in Texas, James Harry Reyos was in New Mexico as shown by a speeding ticket and various credit card receipts for expenditures that he made on the evening of December 21, 1981, in and around Roswell, New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, regardless of the conflicting evidence, Mr. Reyos was convicted of the murder and sentenced to thirty-eight years in prison; and

WHEREAS, when she was governor of Texas, Ann Richards petitioned the Texas board of pardons and paroles three times to release Mr. Reyos, but the board did not issue a pardon; and

WHEREAS, Dennis Cadra, one of the prosecutors on the James Harry Reyos case, is convinced that Mr. Reyos was wrongfully convicted;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the governor of Texas be requested to petition the Texas board of pardons and paroles to review the case of James Harry Reyos and that the board be requested to consider granting Mr. Reyos a pardon based on existing exculpatory evidence; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor of Texas, the Texas board of pardons and paroles, the governor of New Mexico, the president of the Jicarilla Apache Nation and the New Mexico innocence and justice project.