Supreme Court turns down appeal from Texas death row inmate convicted in 1992 quadruple killing



>>The last words of the men Texas executed in 2018. Arthur Brown was convicted in a quadruple killing.

>>The last words of the men Texas executed in 2018. Arthur Brown was convicted in a quadruple killing. Photo: TDCJ Photo: TDCJ Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Supreme Court turns down appeal from Texas death row inmate convicted in 1992 quadruple killing 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down an appeal from a death row prisoner convicted in a quadruple murder during a drug deal more than 25 years ago in southwest Houston.

Arthur Brown, who was sent to death row in 1993, was appealing his case based on claims of false testimony from a Houston police ballistics expert who identified a pair of revolvers as the murder weapons.

Two years ago, a Harris County judge sided with Brown, but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals disagreed. On Monday, the nation's highest court did, too.

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At the time of the 1992 slayings in southwest Houston, Brown was part of a cocaine smuggling ring, according to records. He and two other men - Marion Dudley and Antonio Dunson - set up a 3-kilogram buy, then showed up at the seller's home and tied up everyone inside and shot them execution-style.

Jose Tovar, Frank Farias, Audrey Brown, and Jessica Quinones - who was pregnant at the time - all died. Two others survived and later identified the attackers.

One of the men, Marion Dudley, was executed in 2006 for one of the slayings. The third man, Antonio Dunson, was sentenced to life in prison.

In 2013, Brown was scheduled for execution but the date was called off to allow time for more testing on the guns prosecutors argued were used in the crime.

Once the results came back, Brown's attorneys filed a new appeal in which they argued that Charles Anderson - the ballistics expert who testified at trial - was misleading when he said he was certain the two guns were the murder weapons.

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In 2015, a state appeals court sent the case back to Harris County to re-examine Anderson's conclusions. Two other ballistics experts retested the guns and failed to reach the same result. After holding a hearing where all three experts testified, the trial court recommended relief.

But when the case went back up to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the jurists there disagreed with the lower court and said that the false testimony wouldn't have made a difference in the outcome anyway. Instead, in a split decision, they pointed to the survivors' testimony and Brown's alleged admission of guilt to a family member - even though she later recanted and said she'd been coerced.

On Monday, the Supreme Court without comment turned down his appeal. His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

Brown is now eligible for an execution date, though one is not currently set.

The Lone Star State has executed 10 men so far this year, and another six are scheduled to die in the coming months.