Linda Carty - Texas Lethal Injection Death Row Inmate Seeking Appeal: Why Linda Carty Kidnapped 4-Day-Old Baby

Linda Carty, Gerald Anderson, Chris Robinson, and Carlos Williams were all arrested and accused in the assault of two men and the kidnapping of a 20-year-old woman named Joana Rodriquez and her four-day-old baby Ray Cabrera in May 16, 2001.

Linda Carty Gets Lethal Injection for Murder of Joana Rodriquez; Three Men Charged: Aggravated Kidnapping

Carty is the only one facing the death sentence in the murder portion of the Joana Rodriquez case, as the other three defendants turned state's evidence against Carty, saying she was the mastermind in the planned abduction, according to Dallas News.

Linda Carty, aged 50 and a British citizen from the British Virgin Island of St. Kitts, is seeking to have her case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court now. Linda previously appealed her case at the state level on the grounds that her trial lawyers were deficient. Carty's appeal at the Texas state level did not produce the desired result though.

Instead, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to hear Carty's case, stating that they rejected her arguments in support of an appeal since they were not valid. The court felt that while her husband did give damaging testimony, the other evidence presented was just as damaging, even if he had been told he didn't have to testify at all.

Carty's only other option now is a U.S. Supreme Court appeal; which her British lawyer is preparing. Carty's lawyer is attempting to curry media favor in the U.S. about his client's case and hopes to put pressure on the higher court to hear Linda Carty's case and stay her future Texas execution.

Linda Carty Kidnapping and Murder Role Motivation in Joana Rodriquez Case

According to police investigative records and court testimony presented, the following events occurred on May 16, 2001 in Texas. Joana Rodriquez, a 20-year-old mother of a four-day-old baby named Ray Cabrera, was home in her Houston apartment with her husband and his cousin.

Linda Carty was also a resident on the same floor of the apartment building as Joana Rodriquez and her husband and child. Linda's husband Jose Corona had left her, according to him, because she was always lying to him about being pregnant.

Linda hired three men--Gerald Anderson, Chris Robinson, and Carlos Williams--to aid her in abducting her young next door neighbor Joana and Joana's infant child. Linda Carty planned to pass off the baby as her own, according to the three men. Carty believed it would get her husband back.

Linda Carty Kidnapping Role Mastermind Plan of Joana Case

According to the three men involved, they--along with Linda--broke into the home of Joana Rodriquez on the false pretenses of stealing drugs and money. Their real intent would be to kidnap Joana and her child for Carty.

Linda, the men said, masterminded the plan to aid her in reconciling with her estranged husband, who would later testify on behalf of the prosecution.Cash money from Joana's husband and cousin were actually taken, and Joana's husband and cousin were both beaten before being tied up.

Carty left the scene with Joana being placed in the trunk of her car, hog tied and with a plastic bag over her head, as well as possession of the infant. Joana's four-day-old baby Ray would later be found in the backseat of the vehicle, and he would be safe. And Linda would claim she had never been at the scene of the crime or in contact with the child or the next door girl Joana Rodriquez.

Linda Carty Takes the Murder Fall; Three Co-Conspirators Also Convicted For Kidnapping

Law enforcement believed the three co-conspirators over Linda Carty about the motivation for the kidnapping crime in spite of the three men having criminal records. Investigation supported their findings and they presented their case to the prosecutor who charged each of the men with aggravated kidnapping, but opted to give them immunity regarding the murder of Joana Rodriquez in exchange for testimony against Linda in that regard.

Linda attempted to claim that her previous work in helping DEA agents nab drug traffickers made her ripe for a 'set up' by these three men for a murder and kidnapping crime she did not commit. However, Carty did not claim she did not know the co-conspirators or that she and her husband were not estranged due to her inability to have a child.

In addition, Linda did not claim that she was not a resident of the same apartment building as the victim Joana Rodriquez--or didn't live on the same apartment floor as Joana and her four-day-old baby Ray. But she did claim she had 'never met' Joana Rodriquez in spite of their close living proximity.

Linda Carty's Claims Now

While Linda Carty never attempted to seek an appeal prior to 2009--eight years after her sentencing and incarceration for the murder crime of Joana--Carty is hoping to avoid lethal injection now. As reported in the Guardian, a United Kingdom news agency, Carty said this about the case:

"When I was first arrested I said to myself it would all be over within 30 minutes - they had clearly made a mistake. I was interviewed for eight hours, six of those with no counsel present. I had a court appointed attorney eventually but wasn't allowed home from the police station."

Carty went on to say, "I didn't really know that I was being viewed as a suspect at first. I had no idea about the crime and didn't even know who the victim was." Linda believes her stint in pretending to be a drug trafficker to help the DEA nab narcotics dealers in Houston was motivation for a 'set up' against her by these three men. Carty did not, however, explain how she knew the men or why these men would choose to make kidnapping Joana's baby, a complete stranger to her, in her own apartment building, an issue of revenge.

Linda Carty Suspects DEA Work In Helping Nab Major Drug Traffickers Motivated Revenge

"It was too difficult just to kill me, so they hatched this plot," Linda Carty is claiming. After the verdict against her was read in court Linda says she said this, "I'm not guilty. I wasn't even there." But Linda goes on to say, 'part of me accepted it because I am a pragmatist'.

She went on to claim to the recent interviewer that there were two people who can provide an alibi but she wouldn't name their names. And Linda Carty did not name her witnesses' names in her 2001 murder trial of Joana either, which is a mystery when you think about it. Usually people want to get off from being convicted of murder.

Carty faces death by lethal injection in Texas for the murder of Joana if the U.S. Supreme Court does not agree to hear her appeal and overturn her verdict. Linda Carty's British attorney recently released voice recorded pleadings by Carty to be played in England publicly.

The media effort abroad and in the U.S. is to aid in creating an awareness of Carty's case, and Linda's attorney's desire to put pressure to bear on the U.S. Supreme Court on Linda Carty's appeal behalf regarding the murder of Joana Rodriquez.

Sources
Dallas News
Guardian
MSN