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1
IN
THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
EL
PASO DIVISION
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TONY EGBUNA FORD,
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Petitioner,
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-v-
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NO.
EP-01-CA-386-DB
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JANIE COCKRELL, Director,
Texas
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Department of Criminal Justice,
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CAPITAL CASE
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Institutional Division,
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Respondent.
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AMENDED
PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS
BY
A PERSON IN STATE CUSTODY
I. INTRODUCTION
This is Tony Ford's first federal petition for writ of habeas corpus
challenging the constitutionality of his conviction and death
sentence. Mr. Ford was convicted and sentenced to death for the
murder of eighteen-year-old Armando Murillo during a home break-in in
El Paso in late 1991, during which the assailants also attempted to
kill Armando Murillo's mother and two sisters. The trial turned on
the eyewitness identification of Mr. Ford by Mr. Murillo's two
sisters. Mr. Ford testified that he was not involved in the home
break-in but was sitting outside in the vehicle in which the
assailants drove to the victims' house, and that he did not know that
the assailants planned to break in to the house and kill people. This
petition shows that the trial did not fairly resolve this critical
factual conflict, that Mr. Ford was telling the truth, that the
eyewitnesses who identified him were mistaken, and that he is
entitled to a new trial.
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