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Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Executed Offenders (Miguel Flores)

Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Texas Attorney General

MEDIA ADVISORY - Miguel Angel Flores Scheduled To Be Executed

Flores was convicted and sentenced to death for the June 1989 murder of Angela Tyson. Flores kidnapped Tyson as she was leaving the video rental store where she worked in Borger, Texas. Flores forced Tyson into her car and then drove to a remote location away from the city. There, Flores raped Tyson. He then stabbed her numerous times, killing her. Flores turned himself in to the police the day Angela Tyson's body was found.

Flores turned himself in to police the day Angela Tyson's body was found. Flores gave police four tape recorded statements, confessing to the murder. Flores told police that he and Angela sat in her car for about ten minutes without talking and then he took out a pocket knife and stabbed her. DNA tests performed on semen found on Tyson's body showed the DNA matched Flores. Flores' car was found at the video store where he kidnapped Tyson.

APPEALS TIME-LINE

December 8, 1993 - Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Flores' conviction.
March 9, 1994 - Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied rehearing.
October 11, 1994 - U.S. Supreme Court denied Flores' petition for writ of certiorari.
June 5, 1995 - Flores filed an application for writ of habeas corpus in state court. Based on the filing, the trial court recommended denial of relief.
July 28, 1995 - Court of Criminal Appeals denied relief.
November 6, 1998 - District court denied relief based on the petition for federal habeas corpus that Flores filed.
April 20, 2000 - Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's denial of relief.

Flores has no prior criminal record and a clemency petition with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles which is pending.

ProDeathPenalty.Com

Miguel Flores was convicted of the June 28, 1989 kidnapping, rape and stabbing of an Eastern New Mexico University student. Flores went to death row in 1990 for the slaying of Angela Tyson, a beauty queen and outstanding college student in Portales, N.M., who was working over the summer at a video rental store in Borger in the Texas Panhandle. Flores rented a movie from the store, went home and began watching it but apparently became fixated on Angela, and returned a short time later to await the store's closing time.

Flores abducted Angela at knifepoint as she was closing the store and forced her into her car. He drove her to a remote area outside Borger, where he sexually assaulted her. Angela's parents knew she would not be late coming home so her father went out looking for her. After the rape, Flores drove Angela to a spot where they were seen by the victim's father. He approached the driver's side of the car and Flores pushed Angela to the floorboard, then tried to run down Angela's father with her car. Angela's father tried to chase them, but lost track of the fleeing vehicle. Flores drove back to Borger, where he parked the car and talked to Angela for several minutes. When Angela began screaming, Flores stabbed her with a pocket knife. She was stabbed 6 times in the chest and 4 times in the back. Her body was found in the front seat of her car about 1 a.m. June 29, 1989.

Flores confessed to the murder and led police to the rape site for additional evidence. Flores came within days of being executed in 1995. On Aug. 5, 1995, Flores received a stay of execution from U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice. Attorney John Jay Thorpe asked that the court appoint him to represent Flores at the federal level and to put off the execution. Justice granted Thorpe's request and gave him 180 days to prepare the petition that would challenge the constitutionality of Flores' conviction and death sentence. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Flores' conviction and death sentence in December 1993 and denied an application for relief on July 28, 1995, court documents show.

Amarillo Globe-News

HUNTSVILLE (Morris News Service) - A convicted killer whose supporters included the Mexican government and a host of other international leaders was executed Thursday night. Miguel Flores, 31, thanked his family and attorneys for their faith as he was strapped to a gurney waiting for the lethal injection. After turning his head to look at the parents of his victim, 20-year-old Angela Tyson of Borger, he apologized to them and told them he had said a prayer this day for them to find peace. Gerald Tyson, father of the victim, shook his head. After Flores was pronounced dead, Tyson and his wife, Minnie, said they would not forgive Flores. "He took away too much," Gerald Tyson of Borger said, adding that his family wanted the world to know that Angela Tyson was a precious life. Other friends of Tyson also were present for Flores' execution.

Flores was convicted and sentenced to the death penalty by a Collin County jury in September 1990 for the 1989 abduction, rape and fatal stabbing of Angela Tyson in Borger. Angela Tyson was an Eastern New Mexico University student and beauty pageant finalist who was working in a Borger video store for the summer. Flores nodded to a warden to begin the lethal flow. "God is waiting for me," he said. "God is waiting now." Flores' only family witness was an aunt. His mother, grandfather and other relatives waited nearby, "immobilized with grief," said his attorney, Elizabeth Cohen. Flores' last meal was Mexican food. He requested three beef enchiladas, three cheese enchiladas, Spanish rice, a bowl of jalapenos, french fries, a cheeseburger, condiments, three Dr Peppers, a banana split and four quesadillas.

Cohen and Flores' other supporters had been hopeful for a call from Gov. George W. Bush to hold off the execution for 30 days. The U.S. Supreme Court voted Thursday against staying Flores' execution for 30 days. The court also had granted three votes for a full review, which had been requested by Flores' attorneys. Justice John Paul Stevens, one of the four who voted for a stay, didn't indicate whether he wanted to hear the case, said Mark Warren, a spokesman for Flores' defense team. "Why stay the execution if you don't want to hear the case?" Warren said. In a death penalty case, four court votes for a hearing grants an automatic stay of execution. Flores' attorneys had renewed their request to the governor for a 30-day reprieve, which the Texas board of pardons and paroles recommended against late Wednesday. The governor could grant only a 30-day reprieve without a board recommendation for clemency. But that time would have allowed his defense team to ask for more information on the Supreme Court's decision, they said. Just a day before, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted unanimously not to recommend the governor grant a 90-day reprieve or give Flores clemency. Flores' attorneys said they found the court ruling so "baffling" that they renewed their request for a reprieve to have time to go back to the court and ask for an explanation. "The only person in the world who can make a decision about this is Gov. Bush, and this is exactly (like) what's going on in Florida," Warren said Thursday afternoon. "Surely, Gov. Bush can understand the need for a 'recount."'

Defense attorney Richard Ellis, who witnessed the execution, said the governor's lack of action in this case sends a "very dangerous signal" to the rest of the world regarding the U.S. approach to violations of the Vienna Convention. Flores' attorneys have argued that, at least in part because Borger authorities didn't notify the Mexican consulate of his arrest in 1989, his trial was unfair. Protesters lined a block along with Huntsville Unit, chanting "justice" and "George Bush is a serial killer." Representatives of the Mexican and Argentine consulates were present. Marco Dosal, a spokesman for the Mexican consulate, said those leaders would continue to protest the executions of Mexican nationals in Texas. With the execution of Flores, 16 other nationals are on death row.

Flores' execution was the 35th this year, with six more scheduled.

Amarillo Globe-News

LIVINGSTON (Morris News Service) - Convicted of capital murder and scheduled to die today, Miguel Flores isn't asking for his life, only justice, he said. In a death-row interview barely more than 24 hours before he is scheduled to receive a lethal injection today for the rape and fatal stabbing of a college woman 11 years ago, Flores said Wednesday that he doesn't think he had a sentencing hearing at all.

Flores was convicted and sentenced to the death penalty by a Collin County jury in September 1990 for the the 1989 abduction, rape and fatal stabbing of 20-year-old Angela Marie Tyson, an Eastern New Mexico University student and beauty pageant finalist who was working in a Borger video store for the summer. He and his supporters say an incompetent defense attorney appointed by the court failed him during the sentencing phase of his trial. They argue that Amarillo attorney Gene Storrs should have called character witnesses and disputed the statements of a psychiatrist who testified for prosecutors that Flores would be a threat to society. Storrs has said that because the case is still in the appellate stages, it wouldn't be ethical for him to comment. The case is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Flores' new defense attorney, Elizabeth Cohen, and Mexican government leaders said that had Borger police notified the Mexican consulate of Flores' arrest - as stipulated by the Vienna Convention treaty both the United States and Mexico signed - those leaders could have ensured he had a fair day in court. And that's all Flores said he wants. "If everything - all of the evidence - had been in front of the jury, and they gave me a death sentence, then that would be justice," Flores said.

Part of the evidence Mexican officials now want the governor, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, and the court to consider is the lack of violence in Flores' life prior to Tyson's murder and during his time in prison. Flores, 31, has caused no problems during his time on death row, said Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Larry Fitzgerald. Flores has worked in the garment factory, which closed after an escape, and in the cleaning detail in the Ellis Unit.

The former carpenter doesn't claim he is innocent of Tyson's murder. He said he thinks he has blocked out the memory of the killing. It frustrates him, he said, because neither he nor his family can imagine him doing such a crime. "I can't explain it," he said. Flores' recent psychiatric evaluation suggests a "moderately severe emotional disorder" and that he has a profile fitting people with post traumatic stress disorder and traits of a "schizoid personality." Despite the findings of emotional troubles and reported drug and alcohol abuse, Flores said a lot of things factor into the mistakes people make. "I don't want to make it sound like an excuse," Flores said, adding that he feels sorry for his crime and sorry toward Tyson's family. "I probably couldn't apologize enough," Flores said. "I hope they can forgive me one day. "If it takes the death penalty tomorrow ... I just hope that they find peace."

Flores' family and supporters asked for clemency in his case. Tyson's family has spoken out against a life sentence for Flores because under 1989 sentencing guidelines, he would be eligible for parole in four years. Flores pointed out that being eligible for parole doesn't mean he would get it. And, he said, being much older now, he thinks he could control whatever impulse drove him to violence one summer night. While Flores' supporters express anger at a system that they think executes only the poor, Flores said he's not angry, just sad. And a little scared. "I believe in God," Flores said. "What I'm scared of is not going to heaven, you know?"

Texas Execution Information Center

In June 1989, Angela Marie Tyson was closing the Borger video rental store where she was working that summer when Miguel Flores entered and abducted her at knifepoint. Flores forced Tyson into her car and took her to a remote area where he raped her. He then took her back into town, where he parked the car and talked to her for several minutes. When she began screaming, Flores stabbed her with a pocket knife six times in the chest and four times in the back. He then left his victim in her car and fled the scene. When Flores learned that police were looking for him, he turned himself in and confessed to the crime. Court testimony showed that Flores was infatuated with Angela Tyson and visited the video store frequently on nights she was working there. He was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death by a jury.

On appeal, Flores' lawyers raised the point that Flores, a Mexican citizen, was not informed of his right to communicate with the Mexican consulate at the time of his arrest. Over the next five years, state and federal courts ruled that although this violated his consular rights under the Vienna Convention, it did not invalidate Flores' conviction. In 1995, Flores was set to be executed, but received a stay from U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice because of the consular rights question. However, later appeals verdicts and statements by the U.S. State Department confirmed the earlier decisions that even though an international treaty was violated, the federal government had no authority to prohibit a state from carrying out an execution in such a case.

In the weeks leading up to the execution, the Mexican government appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, the State Department, and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to halt the execution. The Mexican government did not deny Flores' guilt, but asserted that he would have received fairer representation, especially during the crucial sentencing phase, if he had been informed of his consular rights. Prosecutors said that Flores, who came to the United States when he was four years old, graduated from American schools, and spoke fluent English, claimed to be a U.S. citizen, and that this nullified the Mexican government's case. Another appeal argument had to do with a psychiatrist's testimony which warned that Flores would be a future danger to society. Flores' attorneys criticized this testimony because the psychiatrist never interviewed or even met Flores. Prosecutors said that the psychiatrist could make an accurate diagnosis based on the facts of the case, so a personal interview was not necessary. Prosecutors also pointed out that the defense did not allow the psychiatrist to interview Flores.

On death row, Flores said, "It's something that happened, and it was bad. I'm very sorry for what I did." "I don't feel I got a fair sentencing trial," Flores added. "If I had gotten a fair trial and the jury returned the death sentence, I can accept that. I'm asking for a life sentence, not to be released." Two days before the Thursday execution, the Texas parole board denied Flores' clemency request by an 18-0 vote. The U.S. Supreme Court twice on Thursday denied his request for an appeal by a 5-4 vote -- once about five hours before the execution and again with less than an hour to go. At his hour of death, Flores apologized to Angela Tyson's relatives. "I want to say I'm sorry. I said a prayer today for you so you can have peace. I hope you can forgive me," he told them. As the lethal drugs took effect, he closed his eyes, sputtered, and grunted. He was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m.