AUSTIN, TX (KLTV) -
An East Texas man convicted for the 2006 killing of Alton Hicks, a blind man, has been denied by the Texas Court of
Criminal Appeals.
Carlos Stiff appealed his life sentence to the court, arguing that evidence is legally insufficient to support his Gregg County
trial's judgment.
Lasinda Crockett, Stiff's mother, was hired
as Hicks' caretaker, and documents state Hicks accused Crockett and a
friend of taking money from his home.
After Hicks notified the police, Crockett
posted bond for Stiff. The next morning Hicks was killed. Stiff called his
then-girlfriend and did not fully end the call. The girlfriend overheard Stiff
and Crockett talking about disposing of bloody clothes and surveillance video
from Hicks's home.
The appeal claims Stiff's girlfriend said he
told her that he shot Hicks and cut his throat. But Hicks was not shot during
the crime. The appeal says the physical evidence linked Crockett to the
crime scene, but no evidence linked Stiff to the crime scene. According to the
appeal, Crockett took sole responsibility for the murder and said she was
capable of killing Hicks unaided.
The Court of Criminal Appeals said the Gregg
County jury had examined the evidence and could have determined beyond a
reasonable doubt that Stiff participated in the murder in
retaliation for Hicks filing having filed a police report accusing Stiff's mother of theft.
The
court overruled Stiff's appeal and affirmed his life sentence from Gregg
County.
Copyright 2013 KLTV. All rights reserved.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and KLTV, a Raycom Media Station.
