Illegal alien accused of killing a police officer...

Jury selection begins in trial in Houston officer's killing: Illegal alien accused of killing a police officer


By Brian Rogers
The Houston Chronicle, April 1, 2008



Clean-shaven and well-coiffed, Juan Leonardo Quintero smiled politely at prospective jurors as a judge explained that prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the 34-year-old illegal immigrant in the shooting death of Houston police officer Rodney Johnson.

His once shaggy shoulder-length black hair now cut short, Quintero's bright yellow jail clothes were replaced by a blue button-down shirt and khaki slacks for the first day of jury selection, expected to last about a month.

He watched the proceedings with headphones on, as a court interpreter translated for him.

Quintero, a Mexican citizen, was in the U.S. illegally after being deported in 1999, according to court records.

On Sept. 21, 2006, Johnson stopped Quintero, who was driving a truck for the landscape company where he worked. Johnson arrested Quintero because he didn't have a driver's license, investigators have said.

As Johnson worked on a report in the front seat of the patrol car, Quintero pulled a pistol overlooked in a body search and shot the officer four times in the head, police said.

Opening statements are set for April 28. Prosecutors expect Quintero to plead not guilty by reason of insanity when he is formally arraigned at the opening of the trial.

Prospective jurors on Monday filled out a seven-page questionnaire then answered state District Judge Joan Campbell's questions about their feelings on the death penalty.

Designed to nail down the jurors' true feelings, the agree/disagree questions included, 'I do not believe in capital punishment, but I do not believe it should be abolished' and 'Capital punishment is wrong, but it is necessary in our imperfect civilization.'

Campbell told the first 40 panelists to be interviewed that the trial would last three or four weeks.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys will spend days individually interviewing prospective jurors before calling another panel of 40.



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