Texas Attorney General Media Advisory

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offers the following information on Michael Patrick Moore who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2002.

On Nov. 3, 1994, Michael Patrick Moore was sentenced for the capital murder of Christa E. Bentley which occurred during a burglary in Copperas Cove, Texas, on Feb. 26, 1994. A summary of the evidence presented at trial follows:

FACTS OF THE CRIME

Moore stated in his confession that he had been drinking and playing pool in a nightclub in Killeen, Texas, on the evening of Feb. 25, 1994, and that he stayed at the bar until last call, after which he drove back to Copperas Cove. According to Moore, he was broke and behind in rent and had 10 or so outstanding bad checks. So when he got back in town, he decided to "look into getting some income." Moore said that he had previously seen a photograph of "T.R." Bentley, the victim's daughter, in a Copperas Cove High School yearbook, and he had looked up her address. Moore said that he had driven by the Bentley home one day and had seen "T.R." standing outside and therefore knew she lived there.

Moore confessed that he got to the Bentley house sometime after 2 a.m. Dressed in black clothing, he approached the home carrying a crow bar, a pistol in a holster on his belt, and a "large knife" in a scabbard. Moore found the back door unlocked and laid the crow bar down on the porch. He entered the Bentley residence armed with his gun and knife. Moore removed his black shirt, laid it in a chair in the dining room and headed toward the bedrooms. He heard a female voice that sounded half asleep calling out a name. He mumbled something back and went into the bathroom. Through a partly open door, Moore saw someone get out of bed. Christa Bentley opened the door and started screaming. Moore stated he tried to push her back into the bedroom, but she grabbed him and kept screaming. Moore stabbed Christa several times in the chest and eventually lost his knife. Moore then drew his revolver and shot her. He then ran out of the house, got into his car, and drove toward Lampasas. Christa's 14-year-old son awoke and found her body and called 911.

The medical examiner, Joanie McClain, later testified during the guilt/innocence stage of the trial that she performed the autopsy on Christa Bentley and described the murder as "overkill" and "particularly brutal." She described that one fingernail on Bentley's left hand had been completely bent backwards and broken and that such a wound was a defensive injury. Bentley also had eight separate, sharp force entries to the body. Dr. McClain estimated the weapon was a 6-inch long blade and that the maximum amount of time Bentley could have survived was "somewhere in the minutes range." The cause of death was determined to be multiple stab wounds.

After fleeing the crime scene, Moore stated he saw police lights behind him, and he thought he was being chased because the police must have known he had stabbed and shot a woman. Trial testimony from officers showed that they followed Moore because he did not have on his car headlights. Instead of giving up, Moore led the police on a car chase of speeds up to 80 mph. Moore slowed down and jumped out of the car, stumbled and tried to run, but the police apprehended him.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

March 31, 1994 - Moore was indicted in the 52nd District Court of Coryell County, for the capital offense of murdering Christa E. Bentley during the course of committing and attempting to commit robbery on Feb. 26, 1994.
October 31, 1994 - A jury found Moore guilty of capital murder.
November 3, 1994 - Following a punishment hearing, the court sentences Moore's to death.
October 16, 1996 - Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirms conviction and sentence.
December 18, 1996 - The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied rehearing.
May 12, 1997 - The United States Supreme Court denied Moore's petition for certiorari review.
December 2, 1997 - Moore filed an application for state writ of habeas corpus.
May 27, 1998 - State habeas application denied by the Court of Criminal Appeals.
November 4, 1998 - Moore filed habeas petition in federal district court.
August 31, 1999 - The district court denied federal habeas relief.
August 23, 2000 - The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied permission to appeal.
October 26, 2000 - The Fifth Circuit court denied rehearing.
January 24, 2001 - Moore filed writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court.
March 26, 2001 - The Supreme Court denied certiorari review.
March 26, 2001 - Moore filed a second state habeas petition.
March 27, 2001 - The Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay of execution.
November 21, 2001- The Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed Moore's successive state habeas petition as an abuse of the writ.
November 29, 2001 - The trial court set Moore for execution on January 9, 2002.

PRIOR HISTORY

In his confession, Moore admitted that he had stolen the knife and gun, which he used to stab and shoot the victim, from two different residences in Copperas Cove.

During the punishment phase, the State introduced records from the Conners Children's Home where Moore resided during part of his childhood. The records indicated Moore twice set fire to his house and once to the Children's Home. He threatened to kill his parents and blame their deaths on his younger brother. He also tried to stab his younger brother with a pair of scissors. The State also introduced evidence that as a child, Moore continuously exhibited violent and improper sexual behavior. In addition, while serving in the Navy, Moore was on unauthorized absence three times and was convicted of larceny. Moore also admitted to being involved in a physical altercation while in jail.

The State introduced a notebook written by Moore entitled "The Girls of Copperas Cove" in which he listed the names and addresses of 300 teenage girls of Copperas Cove. Many of these girls, including "T.R.," the victim's daughter, testified that Moore stalked, harassed and threatened them. Moore wrote letters to several of the girls in which he threatened to rape them.

The State introduced evidence of various extraneous offenses, including several burglaries that often took place while the victims were home and that were perpetrated against the girls listed in the notebook. Moore's notebook also contained the license plate numbers of a Coryell County Justice of the Peace and a Copperas Cove police sergeant. The State called psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Coons, who testified to Moore's future danger to society, noting that Moore lacked a conscience, was a continuing threat to society, and that he would be manipulative, vindictive and a threat to smaller prisoners.

Texas Executions Information Center by David Carson.

Michael Patrick Moore, 38, was executed by lethal injection on 9 January in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of a homeowner during a burglary.

In February 1994, Moore, then 30, drove up to the Copperas Cove home of Christa E. Bentley, 35, sometime after 2:00 a.m. He was dressed in black and he approached the home carrying a crowbar. He found the back door unlocked, so he laid the crowbar down on the porch and entered. He removed his black shirt, laid it on a chair in the dining room, and headed toward the bedrooms. When he heard the sound of a female voice calling out a name, he mumbled something back and went into the bathroom. Christa Bentley got out of bed, went into the bathroom, saw Moore, and started screaming. According to Moore, he tried to push Bentley away, but she grabbed him and kept screaming. Moore stabbed Bentley several times in the chest, then shot her. He then ran out of the house and drove off. Bentley's 14-year-old son, Roger, awoke, found his injured mother, and called 911. Christa Bentley died within a few minutes from multiple stab wounds.

A police officer in a patrol car spotted Moore driving at night with his headlights off and speeding, so he followed him and turned his police lights on. Moore led the police on a high-speed chase for about 20 miles down a two-lane country road. Eventually, he slowed down and jumped out of the car and attempted to flee on foot, then the police caught him. While he was in police custody, Moore was connected to the murder of Christa Bentley, and he confessed.

In his confession, Moore told police that he had been out drinking and playing pool that night, and after last call, he decided to "look into getting some income." He explained that he was broke and behind in rent, and had written numerous bad checks. He chose the Bentley home because he had seen Christa Bentley's daughter, "T.R.", standing outside in front of the house one day. Bentley told the police he had previously seen T.R. Bentley in a Copperas Cove High School yearbook, looked up her address, and knew she lived at that house. He also said that he had stolen the knife and gun used in the crime from two different residences in Copperas Cove. (Moore assumed that T.R. Bentley was at home the night of the crime, but she was at a friend's house.)

A jury convicted Moore of capital murder in October 1994. At his punishment hearing, the state introduced a notebook written by Moore entitled "The Girls of Copperas Cove." In this notebook, Moore had listed the names and addresses of 300 teenage girls. Many of these girls, including T.R. Bentley, testified that Moore had stalked, harassed, and threatened them. Moore also wrote letters to several of the girls, in which he threatened to rape them.

Moore had no prior criminal convictions, but the state introduced evidence that Moore twice set fire to his house as a child, that he had threatened to kill his parents, and tried to stab his younger brother with a pair of scissors. During his nine-year service in the Navy, Moore was AWOL three times and was convicted of larceny. Also, the state introduced evidence of several burglaries of homes listed in Moore's notebook, which often took place when the victims were home.

A jury gave Moore the death sentence in November 1994. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in October 1996. Moore lost seven subsequent actions in state and federal court, and was scheduled to be executed on 27 March 2001. On 26 March, Moore filed another petition, and the Court of Criminal Appeals granted him a temporary stay of execution. The court dismissed this appeal in November 2001. When his execution date was reset, Moore did not take any further action to attempt to have it stopped.

Moore's attorneys contended that Moore did not deserve the death penalty because he was abused as a child, spent some time in a foster home, and was jilted by his fiancé two weeks before they were to be married.

In a death row interview, Moore took full responsibility for his actions. "I can cry all I want about how people beat me," he said. "The fact is, none of that contributed. I was the one who walked into that house that night." "I can blame it on abuse from my parents but the fact of the matter is, I did it, and there is nobody else to blame." He said that he was motivated to burglarize the Bentley home because of the day he drove by the house and saw T.R. Bentley standing outside. "I saw her and it stuck in my mind." He also apologized for the crime. "I am sorry for what I have done," he said. "I have since become a Christian. I didn't believe in the death penalty before, and still don't."

At his execution, Moore apologized to the victim's relatives. "I'll start by saying I love all of you," he said, choking back tears. "I am sorry. If I could think of a word in the vocabulary stronger -- you need to hear something stronger -- you deserve it. I'm sorry. I can't take back what I have done. I have asked Christ for forgiveness and I ask that you forgive me." As the lethal injection was flowing into Moore's body, his family sang "Amazing Grace." He was pronounced dead at 6:32 p.m.

ProDeathPenalty.com

Michael Patrick Moore was sentenced to death for the capital murder of Christa E. Bentley which occurred during a burglary in Copperas Cove, Texas, on Feb. 26, 1994. Moore stated in his confession that he had been drinking and playing pool in a nightclub in Killeen, Texas, on the evening of Feb. 25, 1994, and that he stayed at the bar until last call, after which he drove back to Copperas Cove. According to Moore, he was broke and behind in rent and had 10 or so outstanding bad checks. So when he got back in town, he decided to "look into getting some income." Moore stated that he had previously seen a photograph of Christa's daughter in a Copperas Cove High School yearbook, and he had looked up her address. Moore related that he had driven by the Bentley home one day and had seen the daughter standing outside and therefore knew she lived there.

Moore confessed that he got to the Bentley house sometime after 2 a.m.. Dressed in black clothing, he approached the home carrying a crow bar, a pistol in a holster on his belt, and a "large knife" in a scabbard. Moore found the back door unlocked and laid the crow bar down on the back porch. He entered the Bentley residence armed with his gun and knife. Moore removed his black shirt, laid it in a chair in the dining room and headed toward the bedrooms. He heard a female voice that sounded half asleep calling out a name. He mumbled something back and went into the bathroom. Through a partly open door, Moore saw someone get out of bed. Christa Bentley opened the door and started screaming. Moore stated he tried to push her back into the bedroom, but she grabbed him and kept screaming. Moore stabbed Christa several times in the chest and eventually lost his knife. Moore then drew his revolver and shot her. Moore then ran out of the house, got into his car, and drove toward Lampasas. Christa's 14-year old son awoke and found her body and called 911.

The medical examiner later testified during the guilt/innocence stage of the trial that she performed the autopsy on Christa Bentley and described the murder as "overkill" and "particularly brutal." She described that one fingernail on her left hand had been completely bent backwards and broken and that such a wound was a defensive injury. Christa also had eight separate, sharp-force entries to the body. The M.E. estimated the weapon was a 6-inch long blade and that the maximum amount of time Christa could have survived was "somewhere in the 'minutes' range." The cause of death was determined to be multiple stab wounds.

After fleeing the crime scene, Moore stated he saw police lights behind him, and he thought he was being chased because the police must have known he had stabbed and shot a woman. Trial testimony from officers showed that they followed Moore because he did not have on his car headlights. Instead of giving up, Moore led the police on a car chase of speeds up to 80 m.p.h. Moore slowed down and jumped out of the car, stumbled and tried to run, but the police apprehended him. In his confession, Moore admitted that he had previously stolen the knife and gun with which he stabbed and shot Christa from two different residences in Copperas Cove.

During the punishment phase, the State introduced records from the Conners Children's Home where Moore resided during part of his childhood. The records indicated Moore twice set fire to his house and once to the Children's Home; he had threatened to kill his parents and blame their deaths on his younger brother; and he had tried to stab his younger brother with a pair of scissors. The State also introduced evidence that as a child, Moore continuously exhibited violent and improper sexual behavior. In addition, while serving in the Navy, Moore was on unauthorized absence three times and was convicted of larceny. Moore also admitted to being involved in a physical altercation while in jail. The State introduced a notebook written by Moore entitled "The Girls of Copperas Cove" in which he listed the names and addresses of 300 teenage girls of Copperas Cove. Many of these girls, including Christa's daughter, testified that Moore stalked, harassed, and threatened them. Moore wrote letters to several of the girls in which he threatened to rape them. The State introduced evidence of various extraneous offenses, including several burglaries that often took place while the victims were home and that were perpetrated against the girls listed in the notebook. Moore's notebook also contained the license plate numbers of a Coryell County Justice of the Peace and a Copperas Cove police sergeant. The State called a psychiatrist who testified to Moore's future danger to society, noting that Moore lacked a conscience, was a continuing threat to society, and that he would be manipulative, vindictive and a threat to smaller prisoners.

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Michael Patrick Moore was convicted of the 1994 murder of Christa Bentley and is currently scheduled to be executed on Jan. 9 by the state of Texas.

Very little information exists on Moore’s case, as the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals dismissed his appeals without comment. Greg Wiercioch, Moore’s current attorney expressed dismay when commenting on the case. “We’re baffled that the court has vacated his stay, because the issue over which it was granted has yet to be decided.” Wiercioch was referring to the Anthony Graves case in Texas, which will decide whether defendants have a right to competent counsel in Texas during state habeas appeals.

Moore’s background does indicate that he is emotionally disturbed and has never denied his guilt in the crime. He has spent four years in an institution for mental health issues and has a history of rejection and family abuse. Moore’s current attorney raised the issue of incompetent counsel in his appeals, because the information and testimony from experts was never used during the punishment phase of his trial. Michael Moore’s case has generally been low profile up until now. Write to Gov. Perry to keep Moore’s case from slipping under the public radar.

From the Mother of Michael Moore

Michael Patrick Moore was born a beautiful, healthy baby in 1963. By 1997, Michael was on death row in Huntsville Prison for murder. What happened in those few years to Michael? Michael wasn't born to grow up and kill someone. No one is I suppose, but there are circumstances that drive people down different roads in life, circumstances that at some point in time might have been altered but weren't, circumstances that accumulate over a period of years, gaining momentum until there's an explosion. Years of pent-up range, years of rejection and abuse come together one day with an outcome that is predictably violent. Michael's story probably echos countless of other stories, all about little lost boys whose lives have been warped from birth by uncaring parents. But Michael is my son, and I know his story better than anyone else.

Michael was born in 1963, ten months into a disastrous marriage. I was young and immature, not ready for the responsibility of a baby. Too much was already wrong in my life. My husband was an alcoholic who frequently gave me beatings, even violently kicking me in the stomach while I was pregnant; it didn't matter to him whether I was pregnant or not when he flew into one of his violent rages. The whole time I was pregnent he continued to go out with "the boys." The result of his abuse and neglect of me was that I resented being pregnant and therefore resented my unborn baby. Michael's birth didn't improve circumstances, of course. My husband continued to go out, but by now I knew that it wasn't "the boys" he was seeing.

As Michael grew, I noticed a strong resemblance to his father who was becoming increasingly violent. Because Michael looked so much like his father, I resented him more and more. Though the most violent beatings were reserved for me, Michael came in for his own share of abuse. I remember one incident that happened when Michael was still a baby. He toddled over to his sleeping father and tugged on his hair. His father jumped up and yanked the baby's hair so hard that Michael screamed. "There!" he roared at Michael. "That will teach you!" The violence and abuse continued, and in May of 1966 Michael's brother Shawn was born. For some reason still unknown to me, I wanted Shawn. Michael sensed this and resented him. What must it have been like to have known only hostility and abuse for the three short years of his life, and then to have a brand new baby thrust into the situation who was loved and coddled by the very mother who had rejected him? Michael was as resentful of Shawn as I had always been of him. Michael began getting into everything. If I didn't get up early enough to prepare his breakfast, he would sneak downstairs to get it himself, making a mess in the kitchen, an offense that always earned him a beating. Often he would get bored and walk down to the corner fire station to visit with the firemen; he was all of three or four years old.

Because he was so "bad" and "out of control" his father put a padlock on his bedroom door where he spent most of the day locked in his room. Imagine the life of that little boy. Imagine how circumstances over which he had no control were shaping him. Imagine being unloved and unwanted, physically and emotionally abused everyday of your life; then imagine you are only four years old. Already the world doesn't make sense to you. There is no safe haven to run to, no place to turn for affirmation, no love in your life. And you can't understand the whys because you are only four years old. By the time Michael was five, things had gone from bad to worse. I was suffering beatings more often and more violently, and Michael was getting actual beatings by now. Instead of becoming passive, which had been my reaction, he became more rebellious. Now much of my anger at my situation was focused on him. I clearly remember one time when Shawn snuck downstairs and took some matches. He and Michael sat on the bed playing with them and accidentally started a fire. Of course, I blamed Michael entirely and accused him of trying to murder his baby brother. No wonder he resented Shawn so much. Michael couldn't get a fair shake, for I had started to physically abuse him just as his father did. I had always abused him emotionally, calling him stupid and telling him how bad he was, or pushing him away when he asked me to read him a story. "I don't have time," I would yell at him. "Go on! Get away!" Now I was beating him. That scared me, and I decided to send him 400 miles away to my mother's to live. We told him we were sending him away to help him. We told ourselves the same thing. The truth was I just wanted to get rid of him and he knew it. All of his life there had been only abuse and resentment; yet somehow, being sent away was proof - if any was needed - of our rejection of him. Circumstances beyond his control were still shaping Michael. At six years old, he was already carrying the weight of the world on his frail little shoulders, but I was too caught up in my own pain to notice his.

Michael started kindergarten at my mother's and spent the entire school year there, not once causing any trouble at her house or at his school. Once school was out, Michael came home. We expected that since he had behaved so well at my mother's that he was now a well-behaved child and that we would have no problems with him. How we expected so much of him when our own abusive relationship had not changed is incomprehensible. As soon as he found out that we still found fault with everything he did and that Shawn could do no wrong, he fell back into his old pattern of behavior. He began to fight with Shawn, nothing violent, just normal sibling rivalry, but the fighting was constant. He ran away a lot and skipped school constantly. We never lost an opportunity to tell him how bad he was. By 1970, I still couldn't cope with Michael (the problem was mine, not his) and I sent him away once again. This time he was sent to live with my sister just outside of Buffalo, New York, about 400 miles away. Michael was gone, but Shawn stayed home with us, and once again we were a 'family.' While Michael was away staying with my sister, I finally got my divorce. Shawn and I moved to the town that my sister was living in. She was having difficulties with trying to raise my six year old Michael and her own one year old child. She was only twenty-one herself. Not knowing what the behavior of a six year old child should be, she assumed that some things were bad, based on what I had told her of him. She had been counseling with Child and Family services and when I arrived, she arranged for me to meet with them. After I found out that they might be willing to take him off my hands and place him in a residential treatment home, I lied about his behavior to get him placed. He was admitted to the Connors Children's home for emotionally disturbed boys on December 21, 1970. He spent Christmas there without any of his family, but of course Shawn stayed home with us and we had Christmas together.

In June of 1971, I married my current husband. We went to the Connors home and visited Michael on the weekends and eventually were able to bring him home for weekends and holidays. I began trying to make up for all the lost time and the lost love, but it seems that the one who needs the love the most is the most difficult to love. Michael had suffered so many rejections that he had built a wall around him and wouldn't let anyone through. However, once the new stability of family life started to become apparent, Michael started to respond. Finally, in June of 1975, Michael was discharged from the children's home and he came home. He was now almost thirteen years old, and it was like bringing home a stranger. At first Michael went to ungraded classes, but by 1976 he went to regular classes for the first time. He was placed two grades behind his age group though his IQ was 150 in the 6th grade. Michael had not matured emotionally because of his surroundings. The other kids were mean to him, teasing him, calling him a retard. They even beat him up, and Michael quit school at the age of sixteen. I was having a difficult time with him just hanging around the house. He was going through normal teenage changes and problems, but I kept thinking it was because he was 'disturbed.' I kept telling him that he was 'sick.'

Again I decided to shift my problems to someone else's shoulders. This time I sent Michael to my two brothers who lived about two hours away. They had offered to let Michael come and live with them as I was threatening to throw him out. Same story! Michael was gone. Shawn stayed and we were a family again. Michael only lived with my brothers a couple of months. At sixteen, he couldn't hold down a job and was threatening to to kill himself. My brothers sent him back, and you can bet that I made sure that he knew that once again he had screwed up. He continued to say he was going to kill himself. He ran away and when we found his hat floating in the canal, we thought he had. When we found him, we took him to the psyche ward of the city hospital and had him admitted for two weeks observation. When the admitting doctor asked him why he had wanted to kill himself, he stated, "I must be a real piece of garbage if my own (natural) father don't even want me." He had not heard from his real father since 1972. There had been no phone calls, letters, Christmas cards. Nothing! Apparently even hearing from an abusive father would have meant a lot to Michael. Once the two weeks was up at the hospital, the social worker called to make discharge arrangements. I told her he could Not come home! They placed him in a room at the YMCA and put him on welfare. This was about twenty-five miles from where we lived. While he sat alone in his room at the Y, the three of us enjoyed normal family life without him. Another rejection!

In October of 1981, Michael went into the Navy. Sometime during his tour, he stopped writing to me. I didn't hear from him for almost a year, and I had the Navy chaplain track him down. Once Michael knew that I had been wondering about him and looking for him, he became emotional. For the first time, he felt that perhaps I did love him a little. He was so sorry that he had upset me that he went AWOL and came home to let me know that he did love me. This act would be used against him at his trial. In November of 1990, Michael was on a hospital ship off the coast of Saudi during Desert Storm. He had put nine years in the Navy and his enlistment was up. He was frightened of the fighting and did not re-enlist. I became angry with him for spoiling a career when he had nothing else going for him. He asked if he could come home until he found a job. I said no. If he could throw away a nine year career, I was not going to support him! When Shawn had gotten out of the Marines in 1985, he had come home with no questions asked. The obvious difference in my treament of Michael and his brother must have seemed so unfair to Michael. He was the one who had always been rejected, was still being rejected. My brother was living in Virginia close to the place where Michael had been discharged. He called to tell me that Michael had lost the part time job he had and was living in his car. I got the message to him that he could come home. He arrived in late November and stayed with us until we moved to Texas the following July. He found a job at Burger King and earned his GED. During the time he stayed with us, we asked him not to smoke in his bedroom. We were afraid of fire. He continued doing so anyway, and we removed the bedroom door. He left while we were out shopping one day, and when we came home, there was a note telling us he had run away. The note was childish and accused us of adopting him, etc.

He was twenty-seven years old! He did not have to run away like a small child. No matter how we treated him, we were all that Michael had, and he flew ahead to Texas so that he could have a job by the time we arrived in August. He stayed with my sister and her family. His uncle got him a job at the moving company he worked for. When the three of us arrived in August, Mike moved in again with us. Things seemed to be settling down some. Michael became engaged to be married and in 1992, he moved in with his fiance. They were planning a nice wedding, but two weeks before the wedding, he found out that she was seeing another man. He called up to help him move out. He showed no anger. He did not trash the place as a lot of other guys would have done, but he did leave a one-word note on the television. "Why?" it asked. Once again, he had been rejected by someone who had purported to love him very much. He asked if he could move back home as he had nowhere else to go. I again told him that he could not move in with us. I told him that I had to intention of supporting him; yet, when Shawn had broken up with his girlfriend, I had invited him back home until he could find another place. Since I wouldn't let Mike come home, he moved into Shawn's one room apartment and slept on the sofa. I had two empty bedrooms at the time. Shawn lost hie job and couldn't pay his half of the rent, so he moved back in with us. Mike kept the apartment until the time of his arrest.

Michael had suffered one rejection too many. He became a recluse, staying in the apartment all the time and not letting anyone in. We later found out that he had gone into a deep depression with obsessive-compulsive behavior. He started to fantasize about young high school girls (his emotional age level). He was making an extensive list of them with vital information. The town we had moved to had a population of fewer than 28,000. Everyone knew everyone. There was one family who practically owned the whole town. You know what I mean. We will call them "Smith." They owned Smith Furniture, Smith Oil, Smith School, Smith Medical Plaza, etc. Michael's list included over 300 names. That was just about every young girl in town, so you know just about every family was affected. He quit his job and never told anyone. He started breaking into homes to pay his rent, knowing from past experience that we wouldn't let him come home. This time he never asked. In one break-in he stole a gun, but tried to sell it to a friend because he didn't know how to use it. His friend showed him how.

From his list, he chose five girls and started to write them notes. And yes, I guess you could say that he started to stalk them. He took a particular fancy to one girl and went to her house in the middle of the night to see her, to profess his love to her. She was not home, but her mother was and caught him. He tried to get away, but she grabbed him by his hair and wouldn't let go. One time, when he was about fifteen years old, I had dragged him across the street from my mother's house by his hair in front of all the neighborhood. He had cried and begged me not to do it. He had been so humiliated and perhaps this triggered Michael's response to being grabbed by his hair again. He panicked and killed her. He ran out of the house in blind terror, speeding away at 100 miles an hour with his headlights off. After he was stopped for the traffic violations, he confessed to the murder immediately. He didn't have to. They even admitted that there probably wasn't enough evidence to convict him. But he felt so devastated by what he had done that the guilt overwhelmed him. Once they had his confession, they did not have to plea bargain for anything.

Two lawyers were appointed by the court. One had never handled any kind of criminal case, let alone a capital murder. The other was a cocky sob who had no use for Michael. He said right to his face that Michael was a sorry piece of sh--. The guilt phase of the trial was a formality. He had confessed. The only question was, did he deserve the death penalty? During the punishment part of the trial, the DA swore herself in as a witness and read the report from the children's home. The report was full of lies, innuendoes and hearsay. So many things that normal kids do can sound bad if viewed from a courtroom where a trial for murder is occurring. She said that it was a fact that Michael had threatened to kill his parents and blame his younger brother. How could she swear to this being true? Was she at our house? Did she hear him say it? No! So who did? Who put this in the report? Why weren't they at the trial to be cross-examined? Not only did she read this report, which could have been anybody saying anything with no one there to cross-examine, but Michael's so called lawyers never offered a single objection to any of this. The DA also took the lies that I had told the children's home and used them against him. There is no record of his ever setting fires or trying to kill his brother. She had only my words from a school paper, yet she swore to them in court as the gospel truth. We had a list of more that twenty character witnesses, most of them local police officers and prison guards. Michael's idea of a fun evening was going over to the local coffee shop and joining the townspeople at the round table drinking coffee all night. When they found out what he did, they all said, "Not our Michael." Yet his lawyers never called a single one of them as character witnesses.

Instead, the DA portrayed him as an "unemployed drifter" with no ties to the town, and his lawyers did nothing to change that image. Remember the small town of 28,000. Well, a judge's wife was on his list. This judge just happened to be friends with the judge that tried Michael's case. The investigating officer's wife was on the list, etc, etc. His lawyers, as a formality, did ask for a change of venue. Remember Mr. Smith, the town's leading citizen? They called him to testify if he thought there was undue publicity or prejudice in town. Smith said no and the change of venue was denied, but it just so happens that Smith's sister is married to the victim's family lawyer. The victim was a secretary at the Smith school. One of the jurors was a neighbor of the victim and almost everyone in town knew someone on "the list." The States Special prosecutor kept winking at Michaels lawyer, the one who had never tried a criminal case before. She did this right in front of Michael while he was on trial for his life. She, the state prosecutor, and Michael's lawyer were heard talking about the missionary position being a great stress reliever. On the day he was given his death sentence, they made a date for dinner right in front of him..

deathrow.at (Michael Moore - In Memorium)

Michael Moore, 38, was apologetic and appeared to choke back tears as he expressed love for his family and sought forgiveness for the slaying of Christa Bentley. "If I could think of a word in the vocabulary stronger, you need to hear something stronger, you deserve something stronger," he said, looking at family members of the victim. They watched through a window a few feet way. "I'm sorry. I can't take back what I have done." Moore told his family members, including his mother and stepfather, that he would be waiting for them in heaven. "Do not disappoint me by not showing up," he said. He nodded twice, then gasped and sputtered as his family broke into a verse of the hymn "Amazing Grace." Nine minutes later, at 6:32 p.m., he was pronounced dead.

Moore was the first condemned Texas inmate to be put to death this year and the first of four scheduled to die this month. Seventeen were executed last year. Moore was set to die last March but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted the punishment a day before his scheduled execution. In November, the same court dismissed his appeal and no other court action was filed. "I had prayed to the Lord for more time," he said in a recent death row interview. "I thought I wasn't spiritually ready. He granted me 10 more months. "This time, I did not ask for more time," Moore said.

Last Statement: I'll star by saying I love all of you. I will be waiting for your arrival, don't disappoint me by not showing up. I will be there with the give of Christ. We'll all be there. I promise I'll go up smiling. I am sorry. If I could think of a word in the vocabulary stronger, you need to hear something stronger, you deserve it. I'm sorry, I can't take back what I have done. I have asked Christ for forgiveness, and I ask that you forgive me. And I understand your feelings. God bless all of you. I will be waiting for your arrival. Do not disappoint me by not showing up. God bless everybody.

WHY IT WOULD BE UNJUST TO EXECUTE MICHAEL MOORE

Michael Moore is scheduled to be executed on January 9, 2002. His case is a classic example of why a moratorium on executions is needed in Texas. Being poor, he received ineffective legal counsel during both his trial and initial state habeas appeal. He was given a stay of execution by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in March of 2001. Now, an new execution date has been set without explanation.

Moore's troubles began when he was born. He was the victim of severe child abuse and neglect by his parents which included savage beatings and an attempt to kill him. After being shuffled around from one relative to another, he was placed in a children's home at a young age. He quit school at age 16 and attempted suicide at age 17. Michael's mother later said, "I feel that Michael is sick. He is definitely sick. It is because of what I have done to him, and I don't believe we should kill sick people....I believe that we should put him somewhere where he will get some help, and I just don't think he should die for what I did. It is not his fault."

Moore did not receive effective assistance of counsel during his trial in violation of the 6th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. His trial attorney failed to (1) present any mitigating evidence to show the link between the crime and the abuse that Moore received as a child, and (2) rebut the prosecution's misleading characterization of the records relating to Moore's stay at a children's center.

As if this was not bad enough, Moore's attorney for his initial state habeas appeal has admitted in writing that he provided ineffective counsel because of inexperience. He failed to obtain investigative and mental health expertise before fiing the initial state habeas application. The application consisted entirely of record-based claims that had been previously raised and rejected on direct appeal. Consequently, Moore's rights under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution were violated.

To conclude, Mr. Moore has been victimized by counsel TWICE, both at trial and on habeas review. There can be no equity in refusing to consider viable claims which have not been presented earlier because of factors outside the petitioner's control. With what has been shown in subsequent proceedings, it cannot be seriously argued that the jury's sentencing decision was reliable and is something that should be trusted and upheld. Nor can it be suggested that Moore has had adequate access to the courts.

For all these reasons, Michael Moore deserves to have his case remanded to the district court for proper state habeas proceedings, with representation by competent legal counsel, in compliance with Article 11.071 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S.Constitution. For additional information on this case, contact Attorney Walter Reaves by faxing him at 254-826-3713.