Ex Parte Gayland Bradford

On February 5, 2001, Vic Sasso, and extremely competent co-counsel, Franklyn “Mick” Mickelsen, were appointed by the U.S. Magistrate under the provisions of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, to represent Texas death-row inmate, Gayland Bradford, in his federal habeas corpus appeals. This case involved the robbery and murder of a security guard in Dallas on December 28, 1988. The case had the distinction of being the first convenience store homicide in Dallas County history that was video/audio recorded from the surveillance equipment. The sheer brutality of the murder as depicted in the video sparked outrage and was a factor in the decision of the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office to seek the death penalty. Bradford was convicted and sentenced to death by a jury in February of 1990. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his conviction in June of 1993, ruling that the trial court improperly denied psychiatric testimony obtained by Bradford’s lawyers in mitigation of punishment. He was given a new trial, and in May 1995, he was once again convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. In June of 1997, the Court of Criminal Appeals abated Bradford’s second death sentence, but then reinstated and affirmed it in February of 1999. Following the direct State appeal, Bradford failed in and exhausted all claims in his state habeas appeals. The case then moved to federal court. Despite being severely hampered and procedurally barred in most of his federal habeas claims by inexperienced, inept, and ineffective state habeas counsel, Sasso’s co-counsel was able to prosecute and litigate several issues, including whether Bradford was mentally retarded, and his execution therefore violative of the 8th Amendment provisions barring cruel and unusual punishment under the Supreme Court case of Atkins v. Virginia (2002). All claims ultimately failed, and Gayland Bradford was executed by the State of Texas on June 1, 2011.