Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Texas Attorney General Media Advisory

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott offers the following information on 38-year-old Ivan Ray Murphy, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Thursday, December 4, 2003.

FACTS OF THE CRIME

On January 10, 1989, police discovered the body of eighty-year-old Lula Mae Denning in her Denison, Texas, residence. Death was the result of approximately six blows to the head by a blunt object. An anonymous phone call to Denison police implicated Ivan Ray Murphy in the murder. On January 19, 1989, Murphy was arrested in Hugo, Oklahoma, on unrelated charges. The Denison police interviewed Murphy on two separate occasions while he was incarcerated at the Choctaw County Jail in Hugo. At the second of these meetings, Murphy gave the police a written statement in which Murphy described how, on the evening of January 9, 1989, he and Doug Stoff went to Denning's home intending to rob her. Murphy was a longtime acquaintance of the deceased and was able to gain admittance to Denning's home for the two men. According to Murphy, Stoff was to steal the contents of the deceased's purse while Murphy distracted her. Murphy claimed that, after finishing a bowl of ice cream served to him by Denning, he went out to retrieve her newspaper. Upon his return, Murphy found Stoff arguing with Denning and witnessed him hit her on the head with a hammer. Murphy claimed that he then fled the scene.

However, other evidence offered at trial contradicted Murphy's claim that he fled the scene and had no involvement in the murder. Specifically, the evidence showed that Murphy went to an acquaintance's house around midnight on the night of the murder, and traded a ring belonging to Denning for drugs, and that Murphy and Stoff gave other items of jewelry to their respective girlfriends on the night of the murder. Murphy's fingerprint was also found on the inside of the bowl from which he had eaten ice cream at the Denning residence, but the outside had been wiped clean. Traces of blood were found on the clothes worn by Murphy the evening of the murder. Furthermore, the newspaper Murphy claims he went outside to retrieve when Stoff began attacking the victim was found unrolled, under the victim's chair, covered in what appeared to be blood.

Jail house informant Michael McGregor testified that, while incarcerated at Grayson County Jail, Murphy had confessed to him that he and Doug Stoff went to Denning's home to rob her and that Stoff had "knocked her down" and Murphy beat her. McGregor said that Murphy indicated that Stoff then rummaged around Denning's house looking for something to steal so they could buy drugs. Stoff, Murphy, and Stoff's sister then bought drugs, which they split three ways; Later, they went back to Denning's house for more items, and noticed that Denning had not moved.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In October 1990, Murphy was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Lula Mae Denning committed in the course of committing and attempting to commit robbery and burglary of a habitation. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Murphy's conviction and sentence in an unpublished opinion. The Supreme Court denied certiorari review on October 11, 1994. The Court of Criminal Appeals also denied relief on Murphy's first post-conviction application for writ of habeas corpus on February 28, 1996.

A federal district court judge entered final judgment dismissing Murphy's first federal petition for writ of habeas corpus and denying all relief on August 19, 1997. While denying Murphy's motion to alter and amend the final judgment, the district court granted certificate of appealability on two claims on September 18, 1997. After additional briefing and oral argument, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's denial of habeas corpus relief on March 2, 2000.

On September 13, 2000, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Murphy permission to file a subsequent writ pursuant to Article 11.071 §§ 5 & 6(b), of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, but ultimately denied the requested relief. On June 5, 2001, Murphy filed a second successive application in the state court, seeking to raise a claim pursuant to Penry v. Johnson, 532 U.S. 782 (2001). However, the court of criminal appeals dismissed this application as an abuse of the writ pursuant to Article 11.071 § 5(a) on September 12, 2001.

On October 30, 2001, the Fifth Circuit granted Murphy authorization to file a successive petition for writ of habeas corpus in the district court, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3). However, on November 6, 2001, that Court dismissed without prejudice Murphy's request for a stay of the execution date which had been set for January 16, 2002. The district court stayed Murphy's execution on November 28, 2001, but subsequently denied the petition for writ of habeas corpus on July 29, 2002. On September 6, 2002, the district court granted Murphy's motion for COA as to the Penry claim, but denied certificate of appealability as to the remaining claims.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals denied habeas relief on Murphy's successive application on May 1, 2003. The Supreme Court denied certiorari review on October 6, 2003. An execution date has been set for December 4, 2003.

PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY

In September, 1983, Murphy received a 3 year sentence in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for theft; Murphy's sentence was probated.

On September 6,1984, Murphy's probation was revoked, and in October, 1984, Murphy was ordered to serve his original three year prison sentence for theft.. He was paroled to Oklahoma in May, 1985.

In May 1986, Murphy was sentenced to four years in state prison after pleading guilty to knowingly concealing stolen property in, Choctaw County, Oklahoma. This sentence ran concurrently with a three year sentence in the Department of Corrections in Oklahoma for larceny of an automobile.

In September 1986, Murphy was sentenced to two years in Department of Corrections in Oklahoma for 2 counts of grand larceny.

On June 30, 1989, Murphy was sentenced to two 7-year prison sentences to run concurrently in the Department of Corrections in Oklahoma on two charges of shooting with intent to kill.

ProDeathPenalty.com

On the night of January 9, 1989, Ivan Murphy and Douglas Stoff went to the home of Lula Mae Denning in Denison, Texas. Ms. Denning, an eighty-year-old lifetime friend of Murphy's, invited the two men into her home. Once inside, the two men robbed Ms. Denning of jewelry, including a wedding ring valued at $7,000, beat her to unconsciousness, and left her for dead. They returned several hours later to steal more jewelry that they could sell for more drugs. Murphy, who had a previous record for theft, was arrested 11 days later in Hugo, Okla. His fingerprints were found in the home. The accomplice, Stoff, was sentenced to life in prison.

UPDATE: Ivan Murphy, 38, a former mechanic with an extensive criminal record was executed Thursday night for fatally beating an 80-year-old woman he'd known since childhood. "This is a celebration of life, not death," Murphy said while strapped to the death chamber gurney. "Through Jesus Christ we have victory over death." He thanked Pope John Paul II and others for prayers, love and support. "I want to thank everybody around the world and Father, let your will be done." As the drugs began taking effect, he gasped several times. He was pronounced dead 10 minutes later. Murphy was condemned for the 1989 slaying of Lula Mae Denning at her home in Denison, about 70 miles north of Dallas and just south of the Texas-Oklahoma border. Denning's son Perry Denning said Murphy's comments were nothing but "religious babble" because he never admitted he was guilty. "Just howling in the trees, just wind in the trees. Without true remorse, it means nothing."

Murphy smiled and nodded to friends who witnessed his execution but never acknowledged his victim's relatives. Prosecutors said Murphy and an accomplice went to Murphy's old neighborhood to rob Denning. According to Murphy's statement to police, she invited them in and offered him ice cream because she knew him. "She died in her own chair in her own living room. It was horrible," said former Grayson County District Attorney Robert Jarvis. "They took either her cane and or a sawed-off shotgun they brought with them and just beat her as she sat in her chair." The accomplice was sentenced to life in prison. Murphy insisted in a recent death-row interview that he was innocent. "I wasn't there," he said. "No way I can be associated with this crime. I know I got framed." Investigators found Murphy's fingerprint on the bowl that contained the ice cream. Jewelry taken from the victim was linked to Murphy and traces of the woman's blood were found on his clothes. Murphy had convictions in Oklahoma on counts including theft and grand larceny. A week after Denning was killed, he was arrested in Hugo, Okla., on two counts of shooting with intent to kill.

Texas Execution Information Center by David Carson.

Ivan Ray Murphy Jr., 38, was executed by lethal injection on 4 December 2003 in Huntsville, Texas for the murder and robbery of an 80-year-old woman.

On 9 January 1989, Murphy, then 23, and Douglas Stoff, 18, went to the home of Lula Mae Denning. Murphy was a longtime acquaintance of Denning, and she let the two men inside. Murphy and Stoff then beat Denning to death and stole some of her jewelry.

An anonymous phone call to Denison police implicated Murphy in the murder. He was arrested in Oklahoma on 19 January for shooting at someone in an unrelated incident. He was brought back to Texas, where he gave a written confession. Murphy stated that he and Stoff went to Denning's house with the intent of robbing her. Their plan was for Murphy to distract Denning while Stoff looked through her purse. Murphy claimed that after he finished a bowl of ice cream that Denning served him, he went outside to retrieve her newspaper. Upon his return, he found Stoff arguing with Denning and saw him hit her on the head with a hammer. Murphy claimed that he then fled the scene.

At another point in the investigation, Murphy claimed that he had nothing to do with the crime and had not been to Denning's house in 20 years. The police investigation uncovered evidence indicating that Murphy went to an acquaintance's house after the murder and traded one of Denning's rings for some drugs, and that he and Stoff each gave some of Denning's jewelry to their girlfriends. The Cool Whip bowl from which Murphy had eaten strawberry ice cream had been wiped clean on the outside, but Murphy's fingerprints were found on the inside. Traces of the victim's blood were also found on his clothing.

Prosecutors claimed that Murphy and Stoff were at Stoff's house sniffing paint and doing drugs when they decided to go to Murphy's old neighborhood and rob Denning. They said that they beat Denning to death with either her own cane, or a sawed-off shotgun that they brought with them.

At Murphy's trial, Michael McGregor testified that he was incarcerated with Murphy at the Grayson county jail, and that Murphy described the murder to him. He testified that Murphy said that Stoff knocked Denning down and he beat her. They then took some items and traded them for drugs. When they went back to Denning's house to look for more items to steal, they saw that she had not moved.

Murphy had a previous conviction for theft and was sentenced to 3 years' probation. After about a year, his probation was revoked, and he served 6½ months in prison. He was then paroled to Oklahoma in May 1985. He had three theft-related convictions in Oklahoma over the next two years. In June 1989, while awaiting trial for Denning's murder, Murphy was tried in Oklahoma and found guilty of two counts of shooting with intent to kill.

A jury convicted Murphy of capital murder in October 1990 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Courts of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence in September 1993. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Douglas Wayne Stoff received a life sentence for murder. In September 1995, he received an additional 5-year sentence for possession of a deadly weapon in prison. "I wasn't there," Murphy insisted in an interview the day before his execution. "No way I can be associated with this crime. I know I got framed." He said that he was drunk when he confessed to being at Denning's house on the day of her murder. "Police took advantage of me because I was in a drunken stupor," he said.

Of the shooting incident in Oklahoma, Murphy said that he was responding to someone who shot at him. "I was wrong for having a gun," he said. "But that's what happens when you're weak. To me, I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. It's a case of bad luck."

"This is a celebration of life, not death," Murphy said in his final statement. "Through Jesus Christ we have victory over death." He thanked Pope John Paul II and others for prayers, love, and support. "Father, let your will be done," he concluded. He was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m. After the execution, Denning's sons, Perry and Richard, expressed anger toward Murphy for his lack of remorse. Although "Christianity is about the Lord's forgiveness," Perry said, it also involves "acknowledgment of one's sins of the past, and there was absolutely none of that." "'Sorry' would have helped a lot," Richard said.

TheDeathouse.Com

"Texan Who Killed Elderly Woman Executed." (December 4, 2003)

HUNTSVILLE, Tex. - A man who beat an elderly woman to death after she invited him inside her home to eat some ice cream was executed by lethal injection Thursday at the state prison. Ivan Murphy, 38, became the 24th convicted killer - and the second in as many days - to be put to death in the nation's busiest death chamber.

Murphy and another man were convicted of the 1989 murder of Lula Mae Denning, 80, of Denison. The victim was beaten to death. The victim was described in court documents as a "lifelong friend" of Murphy's. In his last statement before the lethal drugs began to flow into him, Murphy thanked the friends who had come to watch him die. "I would like to thank everybody for coming out tonight and celebrating life," Murphy said. "This is a celebration of life, not death."

The lethal dose of drugs began at 6:14 p.m. and Murphy was pronounced dead 10 minutes later. For his last meal, Murphy requested fried chicken, fried fish fried pork chops, French fries, fried onion rings, ketchup and tartar sauce

Fingerprint In Cool Whip Bowl

Prosecutors said that Murphy and another man, Douglas Stoff, had been using drugs and went to the victim's house to rob her on Jan. 9, 1989. Knowing Murphy, Denning had invited the men inside her home to have some ice cream, the Associated Press reported. Murphy had grown up in the neighborhood. Denning's body was found in a chair. Murphy's fingerprints were found in a Cool Whip bowl inside the victim's home, prosecutors said. Murphy was later arrested in Oklahoma. Murphy, in an interview with the Associated Press before his execution, claimed that he was drunk when he told police about robbing Denning and says he did not murder Denning.

Texas Death Row Express Rolls On

After beating the victim to death, prosecutors stated that Murphy and Stoff left her home, but later returned to steal more jewelry so they could buy more drugs.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"Second Inmate In As Many Days Executed," by Michael Graczyk. (Associated Press Dec. 04, 2003)

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - A former mechanic with an extensive criminal record in Oklahoma was executed Thursday night for fatally beating an 80-year-old woman he'd known since childhood. Ivan Murphy, 38, was the second convicted killer executed in as many nights in Texas and the 24th this year. The total is the highest in the nation.

"This is a celebration of life, not death," Murphy said in a brief final statement while strapped to the death chamber gurney. "Through Jesus Christ we have victory over death." He thanked Pope John Paul II and others for prayers, love and support. "I want to thank everybody around the world and Father, let your will be done." As the drugs began taking effect, he gasped several times. Ten minutes later, at 6:24 p.m., he was pronounced dead.

Murphy was condemned for the 1989 slaying of Lula Mae Denning at her home in Denison, about 70 miles north of Dallas and just south of the Texas-Oklahoma border. "It's easy to feign religion in the face of death like that, but Christianity is about the Lord's forgiveness, acknowledgment of one's sins of the past and there was absolutely none of that. Not wanting to be offensive to anyone, it was just religious babble," Perry Denning said of Murphy's final comments after watching his mother's killer die. "Just howling in the trees, just wind in the trees. Without true remorse, it means nothing."

Murphy, who smiled and nodded to several friends who witnessed his execution, never acknowledged the presence of relatives of his victim. "'Sorry' would have helped a lot," Richard Denning, another son of the victim, added.

A plastic bowl that contained strawberry ice cream helped convict Murphy . "We dusted the inside of a Cool Whip bowl and found his fingerprint," said former Grayson County District Attorney Robert Jarvis, recalling evidence in Murphy's capital murder trial. "He told officers he hadn't been there in 20 years. He was lying about that." Besides the fingerprint, jewelry taken from the victim was linked to Murphy and traces of the woman's blood were found on his clothes. "I wasn't there," he insisted in a recent death-row interview. "No way I can be associated with this crime. I know I got framed."

Murphy had a record for theft in Grayson County and was paroled in 1985 to McAlester, Okla., after serving 6 1/2 months of a three-year prison term. In Oklahoma, he had multiple convictions and prison terms for concealing stolen property, larceny of an automobile and grand larceny. A week after the Denning slaying, he was arrested in Hugo, Okla., on two counts of shooting with intent to kill. Murphy said he was responding to someone who shot at him. "I was wrong for having a gun," he said. "But that's what happens when you're weak. To me, I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. It's a case of bad luck. I know I didn't kill nobody. I'm not a killer." A Murphy accomplice, Douglas Stoff, also was convicted in the slaying. He received a life term.

Police were summoned to Denning's home after she couldn't be reached by phone. "I remember a little old lady sitting in her chair with her blood splattered all over the wall and the ceiling and dripping down on the newspaper," Jarvis said. "She died in her own chair in her own living room. It was horrible. "They took either her cane and or a sawed-off shotgun they brought with them and just beat her as she sat in her chair."

The investigation showed Stoff and Murphy were at Stoff's house sniffing paint and doing drugs and went to Murphy's old neighborhood, where he was known as "Pee Wee," to rob her. According to Murphy's statement to police, they went to steal her purse and because she knew him, she invited them in and offered him the ice cream. At some point, she was attacked and robbed of jewelry, including a $7,000 wedding ring that another man said he bought the next morning from Murphy. Evidence also showed the attackers may have returned to the woman's house.

"Police took advantage of me because I was in a drunken stupor," Murphy said of his comments to officers who questioned him about the slaying. "Why would we pick Ivan Ray Murphy to pin a murder on?" Jarvis asked, dismissing the inmate's claims. "I feel very confident we have the correct individual that did the crime. I don't have any problems with this verdict at all."

Huntsville Item

"Denison man executed for 1989 murder," by Brian Lacy. (12/04/03)

Ivan Murphy was executed Thursday night inside the Huntsville "Walls" Unit for the 1989 murder of a Denison woman. Murphy, 38, thanked everyone in attendance for coming, and thanked his friends for their spiritual support.

Eighty-year-old Lula Mae Denning was killed in her own home after inviting Murphy, who she had know since he was a child, inside for a bowl of ice cream. After the execution, her sons, Perry and Richard, expressed their anger toward Murphy for his lack of remorse. ''It's easy to feign religion in the face of death like that, but Christianity is about the Lord's forgiveness, acknowledgment of one's sins of the past and there was absolutely none of that. Not wanting to be offensive to anyone, it was just religious babble,'' Perry said. "Just howling in the trees, just wind in the trees. Without true remorse, it means nothing.'' "'Sorry' would have helped a lot,'' Richard said.

Murphy was the 24th inmate executed in Texas this year, and the second in as many days. Next week, three executions are scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. A plastic bowl that contained strawberry ice cream helped convict Murphy. ''We dusted the inside of a Cool Whip bowl and found his fingerprint,'' said former Grayson County District Attorney Robert Jarvis, recalling evidence in Murphy's capital murder trial. ''He told officers he hadn't been there in 20 years. He was lying about that.'' Besides the fingerprint, jewelry taken from the victim was linked to Murphy and traces of the woman's blood were found on his clothes. ''I wasn't there,'' he insisted in a recent death-row interview. ''No way I can be associated with this crime. I know I got framed.''

An accomplice of Murphy, Douglas Stoff, also was convicted in the slaying. He received a life term. Police were summoned to Denning's home after she couldn't be reached by phone. ''I remember a little old lady sitting in her chair with her blood splattered all over the wall and the ceiling and dripping down on the newspaper,'' Jarvis said. ''She died in her own chair in her own living room. It was horrible. ''They took either her cane and/or a sawed-off shotgun they brought with them and just beat her as she sat in her chair.''

The investigation showed Stoff and Murphy were at Stoff's house sniffing paint and doing drugs and went to Murphy's old neighborhood, where he was known as ''Pee Wee,'' to rob her. According to Murphy's statement to police, they went to steal her purse and because she knew him, she invited them in and offered him the ice cream.

Houston Chronicle

"Man to be executed tonight for 1989 murder," by Michael Graczyk. (Associated Press Dec. 4, 2003)

HUNTSVILLE -- Strawberry ice cream in a plastic bowl helped send accused killer Ivan Murphy to death row for the fatal beating of an 80-year-old woman he'd known since childhood. "We dusted the inside of a Cool Whip bowl and found his fingerprint," said former Grayson County District Attorney Robert Jarvis, recalling evidence in Murphy's capital murder trial. "He told officers he hadn't been there in 20 years. He was lying about that."

Murphy, 38, was set for lethal injection tonight, the 24th convicted killer to be executed this year in Texas and the second in as many days.

Murphy was condemned for the Jan. 9, 1989 murder of Lula Mae Denning at her home in Denison, about 70 miles north of Dallas and just south of the Texas-Oklahoma border. "I wasn't there," he said in a recent death row interview. "No way I can be associated with this crime. I know I got framed." He said Wednesday all his appeals had been exhausted.

Murphy had a previous record for theft in Grayson County and was paroled in May 1985 to McAlester, Okla., after serving 6 1/2 months of a three-year prison term. A week after the Denning slaying, he was arrested in Hugo, Okla., on two counts of shooting with intent to kill. Murphy said he was responding to someone who shot at him. "I was wrong for having a gun," he said. "But that's what happens when you're weak. To me, I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. It's a case of bad luck. I know I didn't kill nobody. I'm not a killer."

A Murphy accomplice, Douglas Stoff, also was convicted of her slaying but received a life term. Police were summoned to Denning's home after she couldn't be reached by phone. "I remember a little old lady sitting in her chair with her blood splattered all over the wall and the ceiling and dripping down on the newspaper," Jarvis said. "She died in her own chair in her own living room. It was horrible. "They took either her cane and or a sawed-off shotgun they brought with them and just beat her as she sat in her chair."

The investigation showed Stoff and Murphy were at Stoff's house sniffing paint and doing drugs and went to Murphy's old neighborhood, where he was known as "Pee Wee," to rob her. According to Murphy's statement to police, they went to steal her purse and because she knew him, she invited them in and offered him the ice cream. At some point, she was attacked and robbed of jewelry, including a $7,000 wedding ring that another man said he bought the next morning from Murphy, Jarvis said. Evidence also showed the attackers may have returned to the woman's house a second time.

"Police took advantage of me because I was in a drunken stupor," Murphy said of his comments to officers who questioned him about the slaying. "Why would we pick Ivan Ray Murphy to pin a murder on?" Jarvis asks, dismissing the inmate's claims. "I feel very confident we have the correct individual that did the crime. I don't have any problems with this verdict at all."

Ice cream -- Blue Bell Moollennium Crunch -- was on a lengthy final meal request Murphy submitted to Texas prison officials. Spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said while the prison system did have Blue Bell ice cream, it was unlikely the premium flavor he wanted was available.

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Ivan Murphy (TX) - December 4, 2003

The state of Texas is scheduled to execute Ivan Ray Murphy, a Native American and white man, Dec. 4 for the robbery and murder of Lula Mae Denning in Grayson County. The only implicating evidence that the state is using to execute Mr. Murphy was the fabricated and perjured testimony of a jailhouse “informant” who has since recanted.

Mr. Murphy, like the disturbing majority of poor defendants in capital cases, was not adequately represented by his lawyer. On appeal, he attempted to present new evidence and address unresolved factual issues. After cursory review, the court refused to hear his arguments, though four dissenting judges protested that decision. They wrote “Because the first application (of appeal) is essentially the only opportunity a condemned inmate has for habeas review of his confinement and death sentence, the habeas judge should be especially conscientious when considering the issues raised.”

If Mr. Murphy was capable of paying for his defense, he probably would never have received a death sentence. One in three indigent defendants facing capital charges will receive the death penalty if their case isn’t properly investigated by a competent attorney. However, none of Texas’s nine administrative judicial regions have “performance standards” to evaluate which attorneys are qualified for death penalty appointments; many counties have yet to allot enough money to pay for defense investigators and experts.

Texas’s defense standards, even when upheld, still fall short of the standards for “high quality legal representation” outlined by the American Bar Association – standards the Supreme Court has recognized in considering death penalty appeals. It is absurd that we continue to kill people in the light of such injustice.

Please contact Gov. Perry and urge him to declare a moratorium on executions and commute Mr. Murphy’s sentence.

ALIVE - Coalition to abolish the Death Penalty

Ivan Ray Murphy was executed by the state of Texas on December 4th 2003

His former pen friend page:

Hallo, how are you? My name is Ivan Ray Murphy. I was born on 10-01-1965, have blue eyes, dark hair and am 5'9'' tall.

I have been on death row for 9 years and 9 months now. At the moment I have a successor writ of Habeas Corpus in state court on a factual innocence claim. The only evidence presented at trial that implicated me in the crime was the fabricated and perjured testimony of a jailhouse snitch and he has recanted...

I am in need of pen pals, people that can help me get my freedom back, I need financial support very badly, both my parents are deceased and I have no contact with any of my family. My father was Irish and my mother was Cherokee Indian.

I need friends that will go through all the rough times as well as the good times. I am very open minded, caring, loving and very honest.

Ivan Ray Murphy

Deathrow.at

D.O.B January 10, 1965. Height 5'9", Weight: 190 lbs, eyes: blue, hair: dark, Birthplace: Denison, Texas. I am part Irish and part Cherokee Indian. I have two sisters and one brother. I have many hobbies, I like to read, write, draw, write poetry, fishing, and all outdoor activities. I love all aspects of nature and have much respect and love for it.

I have been on death row for 8 years, 7 months for a crime that I didn't commit. Anyone interested in helping in my quest for freedom, I'd be happy to share my proof with you of my innocence, it is all legal documents. I would like to correspond with all open minded people who know the true meaning of friendship. Age and race doesn't matter, honesty, loyalty, and trust does. I will answer all letters. All photos greatly appreciated. I would also prefer to write to people that isn't already writing to other inmates. I send my love and respects to you all.

My address: (please write it as I have). Thank you

Ivan Ray Murphy Jr #000989
Polunsky Unit
12002 FM 350 South
Livingston Texas
77351 USA

U.S. Court of Appeals

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

IVAN RAY MURPHY, Petitioner-Appellant, VERSUS GARY L. JOHNSON, DIRECTOR, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, INSTITUTIONAL DIVISION, Respondent-Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

March 2, 2000

Before WIENER, DeMOSS, and DENNIS, Circuit Judges.

DeMOSS, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner Ivan Ray Murphy appeals the district court's denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On the night of January 9, 1989, Petitioner Murphy and Douglas Stoff went to the home of Lula Mae Denning in Denison, Texas. Ms. Denning, an eighty-year-old lifetime friend of Murphy's, invited the two men into her home. Once inside, the two men robbed Ms. Denning of jewelry, beat her to unconsciousness, and left her for dead. They returned several hours later to steal more jewelry that they could sell for more drugs.

A Grayson County Grand Jury indicted Murphy for the capital murder of Ms. Denning, specifically charging that he had committed murder during the course of the commission of a robbery or burglary. Following a trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict, and at a subsequent punishment hearing, the same jury answered affirmatively the two special issues set forth in the version of article 37.071 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure that was in effect at the time of the offense. Accordingly, the trial court imposed upon Murphy the sentence of death.

Murphy's conviction and sentence were automatically appealed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. On September 23, 1993, in an unpublished opinion, that court affirmed Murphy's conviction and sentence. And on October 11, 1994, the United States Supreme Court denied Murphy's petition for writ of certiorari. See Murphy v. Texas, 115 S. Ct. 312 (1994).

Murphy next filed an application for state habeas relief. The same judge who had presided over Murphy's trial considered his application and issued a one-page order stating that there were no unresolved factual issues and recommending that Murphy's application be denied. On February 28, 1996, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Murphy's application for state habeas corpus relief.(1) Murphy then filed his petition for habeas corpus relief in federal district court asserting eleven claims for review. Following the district court's denial of his petition, Murphy received from the district court, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2), a certificate of appealability ("COA") on the following two of eight issues for which he sought a COA: (1) whether the district court erred in refusing to grant Murphy's request for discovery and an evidentiary hearing; and (2) whether the district court erred in denying Murphy's claim that the grand jury selection process of Grayson County, Texas, violated his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Murphy moved this Court for a COA on four of the six issues that had been denied by the district court. On March 8, 1999, a panel of this Court denied his request for an additional COA. With the benefit of briefing and the oral argument of counsel, we now proceed to the disposition of the original two issues for which a COA was granted by the district court.

* * *

For all of the reasons set forth above, we are unconvinced that the district court erred in refusing to grant Murphy either discovery or an evidentiary hearing, and we are precluded by the non-retroactivity principle announced in Teague v. Lane from granting relief on Murphy's claims that the grand jury selection process in Grayson County, Texas, is violative of his rights under the Sixth or Fourteenth Amendments. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the district court's denial of habeas corpus relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254.