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Bower, Lester Leroy, Jr.
Citation: Not availableDocket: AP-69,333
Court: Court of Appeals of Texas; June 15, 2015; Texas; State Appellate Court
Original Court Document: View Document
The document is a communication from Carla M. Willis, Deputy General Counsel of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, to Kelly Ashmore, Grayson County District Clerk, regarding the execution of Lester Leroy Bower, Jr. A death warrant issued by the District Court of Grayson County on March 25, 2015, was executed on June 3, 2015. The communication includes a Return of the Director, confirming the execution and detailing compliance with Article 43.23 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure concerning the disposition of remains. Bower's execution was carried out via lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit at 6:34 p.m. on June 3, 2015. The body was subsequently entrusted to an agent from Carnes Funeral Home, as requested by a relative. The document also references a prior court order denying habeas corpus relief and a writ of certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court, affirming Bower's death sentence. The execution was conducted in accordance with Texas law, and the document includes a certification by William Stephens, Director of the Correctional Institutions Division, and is notarized by Connie E. Weigh. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Lester Leroy Bower Jr.'s capital murder conviction and issued various mandates between June 1989 and February 1992, denying habeas corpus relief on multiple occasions, with the latest denial on June 11, 2014. The U.S. Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari on May 23, 2015, leading to an automatic termination of any stay of execution. Consequently, the court ordered that Bower be kept in custody until June 3, 2015, when his execution by lethal injection was scheduled. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice was directed to carry out the execution, and a death warrant was to be issued to the Sheriff of Grayson County, Texas, for delivery to the Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The order was signed by Judge James Fallon on June 3, 2015. Lester Leroy Bower, Jr. was sentenced to death on May 7, 1984, for capital murder in Grayson County, Texas, with the jury's findings and judgment in cause numbers 033426 to 033429. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed this conviction on June 8, 1989, and subsequently denied habeas corpus relief in various proceedings on February 14, 1992, and June 11, 2014. The U.S. Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari on March 23, 2015, and lifted a prior stay of execution. The death warrant commands the Sheriff of Grayson County to deliver the warrant to the Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for execution. The execution is scheduled for after 6:00 p.m. on June 3, 2015, by intravenous lethal injection. The Director must comply with Texas laws regarding the execution and return the warrant to the court clerk. The warrant was officially issued on March 3, 2015, by Kelly Ashmore, District Clerk. The Sheriff executed the warrant on June 3, 2015, delivering copies to the Director and obtaining a receipt. The Director confirmed the execution of Bower on the same date.