The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday remanded Monica Melissa Patterson’s capital murder case back to the trial court to rule on her claim that new medical evidence indicates her 96-year-old victim died of a heart attack, not asphyxiation.
A jury convicted Patterson, 54, in 2017 following a six-week trial for the Jan. 28, 2015, suffocation death of 96-year-old Martin Knell.
Testimony showed that Patterson, who formerly served as director of the Comfort House, a McAllen-based nonprofit that provides hospice care, befriended Knell, gained access to his bank accounts, acquired his power of attorney and became the executrix of his will over the span of four months.
The jury also convicted her of stealing more than $100,000 from the Comfort House and attempting to steal more than $200,000 from Knell.
In addition to claiming new medical evidence would exonerate her, Patterson also argues in her writ of habeas corpus that her co-defendant, Angel Mario Garza, has recanted his confession and that a private investigator her attorney hired determined the cellphone tower evidence that placed her at Knell’s house at the time of his death was inaccurate.
Evidence during the trial indicated Patterson hired Garza to suffocate Knell.
On the day of Knell’s death, investigators actually ruled initially that Knell died of natural causes.
However, a month after the man’s death, a witness who cared for Knell named Celestina Mascarro told police Patterson instructed her to wait 30 to 45 minutes after Garza and Patterson left Knell’s residence to call 911 and report he died from an illness.
In her latest arguments, Patterson’s attorneys again challenge testimony from forensic pathologist Norma Jean Farley, who based her cause of death opinion on statements made by two lay witnesses, law enforcement information, cellphone tower information and Garza’s confession.
“The medical evidence indicates Mr. Knell’s death was a result of sudden cardiac arrest and other natural causes. Yet, the State offered no medical or physical evidence to substantiate their forensic pathologist’s conclusion that his death was a homicide,” the writ stated.
Patterson claims Farley’s opinion is not based on medical findings.
“Instead of utilizing medical expertise, the pathologist’s opinion was rife with confirmation bias and uncorrected false medical testimony,” the writ stated. “In fact, it wasn’t medical testimony at all. It was a regurgitation of Mario Garza’s alleged confession, and junk cellphone tower science.”
Patterson’s attorney’s hired forensic pathologist Judy Melinek, who offered her conflicting opinion after her review of Knell’s autopsy report and photos, the police incident report, the 911 call and transcript, trial testimony, medical and embalming records, witness statements and Garza’s affidavit, among other records.
As for the cellphone tower data, Patterson’s attorneys hired David T. Gallant, a private investigator and computer forensic expert, who is of the opinion that the detective who conducted the initial cell tower investigation did not do it correctly.
Gallant’s investigation determined that Patterson and Garza were 5 miles south of Knell’s home at the time of his death.
And then there’s Garza’s confession, which he recanted, according to the writ.
This assertion is based on affidavits from Norman Cordova, the owner of South Texas Bail Bonds, and Oscar Gonzalez Abraham, whose address on a notarized affidavit is associated with San Antonio-based International Investigations & Security Inc.
Cordova said in his affidavit that he met Garza while he was in the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center after being in talks with his family about a bond.
Cordova said he asked Garza why he killed Knell.
“He said he did not kill the older man and the lady (Melissa Patterson) had not done it either. He even referred to Patterson as ‘that poor lady’ who did not have anything to do with the older man’s death,” Cordova’s affidavit stated. “Mario believed the man had died on his own. Mario said he saw the old man sitting down but did not know anything else that might have happened to him. I left him that day thinking Mario was innocent and he could not have killed anyone.”
In Gonzalez’s affidavit, he said he met with Garza on two occasions and discussed the case.
According to him, Garza said he confessed because he is from Mexico and said in his home country police beat people in order to coerce confessions.
“Mario said he was scared of being beaten by the investigators because Palmer was becoming very upset and his face was turning red. Mario said he had drank some beers and was feeling tired,” the affidavit stated. “He had been questioned for a very long time and was falling asleep.
“Mario said he had realized he had given up his right to an attorney and to remain silent. Palmer told him they did not want him they wanted Melissa. Mario ended up signing some documents and was taken to jail.”
In Wednesday’s Texas Court of Criminal Appeals order, it says that Patterson has made claims that, if true, might entitle her to relief.
“The trial court is the appropriate forum for findings of fact,” the order stated.
Patterson is serving life without parole in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Cristina Melton Crain Unit in Gatesville while Garza is serving a 45-year sentence in the Byrd Unit in Huntsville.
He’ll be eligible for parole in 2038.
