Condemned British woman in US loses appeal The Associated Press
GATESVILLE, Texas — A 51-year-old British grandmother convicted of murdering a 20-year-old woman and kidnapping her newborn son will soon get a date with the executioner, after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected her last appeal on Monday by declining to review her case.
Linda Carty, who moved to the U.S. from St. Kitts in the British Virgin Islands, insists she played no role in the May 16, 2001, slaying of her neighbor, Joana Rodriguez, and abduction of Rodriguez's 4-day-old son, Ray. In court documents and an interview with The Associated Press, Carty said her court-appointed attorney failed to properly defend her during her murder trial, and contends she deserves a new day in court.
"It is scary," she told the AP recently from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Mountain View Unit near Gatesville. "You're talking about terminating my life for something I know for myself I didn't do. I'm supposed to be this bad criminal."
The high court did not comment on why it declined to formally review her case. Harris County prosecutors will need to seek an execution date from a judge, who then can set the date no sooner than 90 days from the time of that court hearing.