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Rolando Ruiz

By Steve Hall

Today's San Antonio Express-News reports, "Inmate seeks overthrow of sentence.  It's written by Guillermo Contreras. A San Antonio man on death row who was hired by a member of the Texas 7 to kill his wife for insurance money is seeking a new sentencing hearing. Rolando Ruiz Jr., 38, was sentenced to death in 1995 for his conviction in the murder-for-hire of Theresa Rodriguez, 29. She was shot to death July 14, 1992, in the garage of her North Side home. In a hearing that began Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia, Ruiz argued that Ruiz's trial lawyers were ineffective because they did not pursue mitigating factors that could have saved him from the death penalty. Ruiz does not contest that he was paid $2,000 by brothers Michael and Mark Rodriguez to kill the victim, who was Michael Rodriguez's wife, so the siblings could collect $400,000 in insurance...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on November 03, 2010 (boomark / email).