After 27 harrowing years on death row, a Texas woman’s fate takes a dramatic turn as a federal appeals court overturns her murder conviction.
Brittany Marlowe Holberg, who claimed self-defense in the gruesome 1996 slaying of an 80-year-old man, was victimized by a paid informant’s testimony.
A federal appeals court has overturned the conviction of the Texas woman who has been on death row for over a quarter century, finding that her conviction was based on unreliable testimony from a paid jailhouse informant.
A convicted Texas woman’s capital punishment was overturned after 27 years
Brittany Marlowe Holberg, 52, is currently incarcerated at the Patrick L. O’Daniel Unit in Gatesville for the fatal stabbing of A.B. Towery, 80, in Amarillo on November 13, 1996.
Holberg had been engaging in adult work to fund her illegal substance addiction when she had a violent dispute with Towery, her client, at his residence. Towery was later discovered with multiple stab wounds and part of a lamp forced into his throat, according to court documents.
Throughout her trial, Holberg claimed that she acted in self-defense when Towery began attacking her.
However, prosecutors at the trial introduced testimony from Vickie Marie Kirkpatrick, Holberg’s cellmate, who shared that Holberg had admitted to slaying Towery for his money. Holberg has since denied ever discussing the incident with Kirkpatrick.
What was not known by Holberg, her defense team, or the jury was that Kirkpatrick was serving as a confidential informant for the Amarillo police at the time.
This detail was hidden by the prosecution during the trial, instead presenting Kirkpatrick as a neutral party seeking to be honest and thorough, according to Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Brittany Marlowe Holberg claimed she acted in self-defense throughout her trial
The revelation of Kirkpatrick’s role as a paid informant only came after Holberg received her sentence. The limited cross-examination of Kirkpatrick by Holberg’s counsel, which spanned only six pages of the trial transcript, was insufficient given the circumstances, Higginbotham noted.
According to NBC, Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan, in a dissenting opinion, said that Kirkpatrick’s testimony was a minor component of the case. Duncan argued that even if Kirkpatrick’s credibility had been successfully challenged, it would have had little impact on the jury’s rejection of Holberg’s claim of self-defense and would have helped her avoid the death penalty.
The appellate court’s decision will send the case back to the trial court for further proceedings. Randall County District Attorney Robert Love, who was part of the prosecution team, expressed his disappointment with the appeals court ruling.
The informant’s testimony was found to be insufficient to convict Holberg
“This legal action is not over,” Love stated on Wednesday, March 12, noting that the Texas Attorney General’s Office, which has managed the appeal since 2010, is currently evaluating the state’s next legal steps.
Since the United States Supreme Court reaffirmed the legality of capital punishment in 1976, Texas has executed 593 inmates, making it one of the states with the highest number of death penalties in the country.
Lisa Coleman, aged 38, was the most recent woman to face execution in Texas. On September 17, 2014, Coleman received a lethal injection of pentobarbital. She was found guilty of causing the passing of her girlfriend’s 9-year-old son through starvation and torture, a case that drew significant attention and highlighted the harsh realities of child exploitation and the severe consequences of such actions under Texas law.
The state of Texas has executed 593 inmates since 1976
