How Could You? Hall of Shame-Andrew Burd case-Child Death UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Corpus Christi, Texas, foster parent Hannah Overton, convicted in September 2007 of capital murder by omission in the October 2, 2006 death of 4-year-old Andrew Burd has had “an appeals court has ordered the trial court to hear new evidence that may suggest her innocence.”

Andrew had a very high salt content in his blood after he had collapsed at his home and was brought hours later to an urgent care center, dying the next day.

“The ruling came this week from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which decided on an application for a writ of habeas corpus that a new hearing is required.”

“The appeals court handed down a list of specifics concern the evidence, telling the trial court needs to explore “in detail” the discrepancy between the sodium levels found in the child victim’s stomach and that found in his blood. It also needs to assess the “mathematical accuracy of the expert testimony concerning the amount of Zatarain’s seasoning … necessary to raise the victim’s blood sodium level.”

The trial also needs to review what scientific studies “support the state’s theory.”
New hearing in salt-poisoning murder
[WND 2/19/12 by Bob Unruh]

Andrew Burd’s Death

PoundPup Legacy has files up to February 2010 here. A lengthy column was written in January 2012 in Texas Monthly by Pamela Colloff here. Hannah’s supporters have a website called Free Hannah.com.

Here is our summary of the case:

Andrew Burd was born to unwed teenaged parents on July 28, 2002. His sixteen-year-old mother was alleged “to [use]alcohol, methamphetamines, cocaine and crack cocaine, LSD, marijuana, cigarettes, and taking prescription Xanax.” CPS got involved when Andrew was one years old and his mother brought him to a hospital with a broken arm. Between age one and two and a half, there were four investigations involving the biological mother and grandmother and meth use. At two and a half, he was taken into care due to immediate danger.

He was placed with a foster mother Sharon Hamil who had custody of him for 18 months. The biological father, who NEVER was alleged to be a drug user, and paternal grandmother fought to gain custody and lost.

In 2006, Hannah and Larry Overton had four biological children and Hannah was pregnant with a fifth child. Hannah had her own rough history. According to Texas Monthly, Hannah’s father was “Reverend Bennie Saenz, an evangelical preacher in Corpus Christi whose fall from grace profoundly altered the course of her childhood. Hannah was seven when Saenz was arrested in 1984 and charged with a singularly horrific crime: the bludgeoning death of a sixteen-year-old girl whose nude body was discovered at the water’s edge on Padre Island. “He was sentenced to 23 years in prison.

Hannah was a missionary and eventually was a private-duty nurse for a disabled child before she had children.

The Overtons attended the nondenominational church Calvary Chapel of the Coastlands. Sharon Hamil also attended that church with Andrew. According to Texas Monthly, “Larry taught Sunday school, Hannah led a Bible study, and their children, whom Hannah homeschooled, attended youth group and socialized with other members’ kids.” The Overton children and Andrew were in the same Sunday school class. Supposedly each week Andrew’s prayer was “to be adopted.” The three- and four year-old children supposedly begged their parents to adopt him.

“A church elder, who was himself an adoptive parent, invited the Overtons to dinner one night and encouraged them to consider bringing Andrew into their home. Andrew’s foster mother, who had provided refuge to roughly three hundred children over three decades, was also supportive. But others at Calvary Chapel expressed their concern. The church’s pastor, Rod Carver, and his wife, Noreen, had initially considered taking in Andrew but ultimately decided he was more than they could handle. More outspoken was Andrew’s Sunday school teacher, who sat Hannah and Larry down and told them that he was a troubled kid. He hoarded food and sometimes ate from the trash, she warned, and he threw intense temper tantrums, which could be tamed only by holding and rocking him. On several occasions his fits had grown so extreme that she had resorted to asking a male parishioner to physically remove him from the classroom until he could regain self-control. “Think of your other children,” she urged the couple.

Yet if anyone was up to the task, most everyone agreed, it was the Overtons, and Hannah in particular. She was unflappable and unfailingly patient with children. Hannah shrugged off the teacher’s warnings, certain that Andrew would improve once he had the stability of a permanent home. “All he needs is lots of love and attention,” 
she told Larry.”

Spaulding for Children was the agency that arranged this out-of-birth-order placement for Andrew into the Overton home. It remains unclear why the pastor and other church members were able to influence the decision of this placement. The Overtons’ “love is all you need” attitude towards his behavior is a clear signal that they were unprepared.

“The Overtons moved forward with the adoption process, and in the spring of 2006, they received word that Andrew would be coming to live with them for a six-month trial period before the adoption was finalized.” His first night with the Overtons was on Mother’s Day.

The Overtons claim that Andrew had a long list of issues including being very sensitive to sounds, hoarding food, speech-delayed, and developmentally delayed. ” If he was denied a second or third helping, he would routinely throw a tantrum or get down on his hands and knees to scavenge the floor for crumbs. Larry and Hannah caught him trying to eat cat food, crayons, toothpaste, glow sticks, tufts of carpeting—anything he could get his hands on. When they took him along on errands, they had to keep him from eating the old gum and cigarette butts he found on the ground.”

What is clear is that they did not take him to be evaluated for any of these things. They took him “to a pediatrician for an adoption screening shortly before he had come to live with them, and the checkup had raised no red flags. “We truly thought his obsession with food was a behavioral issue, not a medical one,” Larry said. “We thought that he would stop turning to food for comfort when he learned that he could trust us.” To try and curtail Andrew’s compulsive eating, they put him in time-outs, though to little effect.” They clearly were trying to parent him in the same way as their other children.

In September 2006, the family was involved in a serious car accident, injuring Hannah. At the same time of this stress, Larry was trying to purchase the landscape business from his boss. Andrew “picked at mosquito bites on his body incessantly, prompting Larry to put socks on his hands; still, Andrew would not stop scratching and eventually developed a staph infection on his arm. His tantrums grew longer and more extreme, and he often banged his head against the floor. Sometimes he cried inconsolably for hours.” It still appears that they did not try to get him any help nor recognize that he may have PTSD.

Larry decided to do the following to squelch Andrew from getting up in the middle of the night to steal food: He told him he would make as much food as Andrew wanted. That meal consisted of 18 eggs and a plate of sausage. Andrew ate it all and threw up. Again, this clearly shows that the Overtons had no clue on how to deal with Andrew’s issues. They also let him eat 5 bananas at a time and a whole jar of pickles on another occasion according to 20/20 interview.

His strange eating habits were eventually reported to the SW in a postplacement visit on September 25, 2006. On Sunday October 1, 2006 Larry took the bio kids to church and Hannah stayed home with Andrew. Texas Monthly says “Before the family returned home, Andrew asked if he could have lunch, and Hannah told him that he needed to wait; Larry was bringing them something to eat, she explained, and he would be back in a few minutes. Andrew flew into a rage. He defecated on the floor of his bedroom, then smeared feces on the bed, the dresser, and the walls.

Larry attempted to restore order upon his return, putting Andrew’s soiled sheets in the garbage and hosing off the boy and his foam mattress in the backyard. While Larry tried to scrub down the bedroom, Andrew pulled his sheets out of the trash several times, despite repeated warnings not to do so.

The 20/20 interview available at the FreeHannah site shows that the garbage can that the sheets were in was in the kitchen with easy access for Andrew to get at. It is unclear why they disposed of something so smelly inside the house. It also shows the outdoor grill as the place where the sheets were burned (approx. minute 14:33 to 14:35 of video). The Texas Monthly article portrays it as a fire pit. There is no media article or interview that shares or asks what discipline was given to Andrew that night.

The 20/20 interview has caseworker interview of the biological children. One clearly states that they get pepper in the mouth as punishment. Hannah laughs when asked about this and claims that one pastor one time talked about this in a sermon and that they don’t do that.

Calvary Chapel of the Coastlands raised nearly $700,000 for their defense.

The Death as Told by Hannah and Larry Last Month

Their story omits any punishment given to him during the entire incident.

Hannah and Larry in Texas Monthly claim that this is the sequence of events”LARRY LEFT FOR WORK THE follow­ing morning, and Hannah, who was still in considerable pain from the car accident, gave Andrew and Sebastian breakfast before bringing them into bed with her to watch cartoons. Exhausted from the previous night, she briefly dozed off, then awoke to discover that Andrew had slipped out of the room. She found him standing on a stool in the pantry, near the baking ingredients, having pulled something off the shelf. She could not recall later what, exactly, he had been holding in his hand.

According to Hannah, Andrew once again asked for an early lunch, and once again, when she told him that he would have to wait, he defecated and smeared feces across the floor. Hannah managed to clean him up, but when she reiterated that he would have to wait until lunchtime to eat, he defecated on the floor again. Finally she relented, heating up what she had on hand: leftover vegetable-beef soup flavored with Zatarain’s Creole Seasoning. Shortly after noon, Larry picked her and the boys up and took them to a McDonald’s drive-through, and then the chiropractor, before returning to work. (Andrew was told that he could not have any food at McDonald’s, since he had already eaten.) When Andrew complained of being hungry that afternoon, Hannah gave him more of the leftover soup.

When she refused to give him a second helping, he threw a tantrum and shouted, “I hate you!” Finally, Hannah resorted to sprinkling some Zatarain’s into a sippy cup of water, hoping that the taste alone would appease him. After drinking a little, he threw another tantrum that continued unabated for twenty minutes.

Then, abruptly, Andrew grew quiet and stumbled to the floor. “Mommy, I’m cold,” he said, and threw up. Shortly afterward, at three-thirty, Hannah called Larry and asked him to come home since Andrew was vomiting and she needed his help. The boy’s symptoms that afternoon—vomiting, chills, and lethargy—initially suggested to the Overtons that he had a routine ailment, like a stomach bug. But as the afternoon wore on, his symptoms grew troubling; his breathing became congested, and he became less and less responsive. Just after five o’clock, the Overtons put him in their car and rushed him to a nearby urgent care clinic. A block away from the clinic, as they waited at a red light, Andrew stopped breathing. Frantic, Hannah began administering CPR in the backseat. At the clinic, she continued giving him mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions until paramedics took over, but the four-year-old lay motionless. He soon lapsed into a coma.”

The Death as told during Trial

At the hospital, they were not allowed to visit Andrew and were interviewed by police quickly.

From caller.com 11/21/06 by  Mary Ann Cavazos

“Nueces County Medical Examiner Ray Fernandez said autopsy results showed Andrew Burd had a lethal level of sodium in his system and signs of blunt head trauma that contributed to his death.
Hannah Overton, 29, is charged with capital murder and her 30-year-old husband Larry Overton is charged with injury to a child in connection with the boy’s death. They were attempting to adopt him at the time.

According to arrest affidavits, Hannah Overton fed Andrew a mixture of water and Cajun seasonings as punishment on Oct. 2. After he drank the mixture, vomited and drifted in and out of consciousness, the Overtons waited nearly three hours before taking the boy to a medical clinic, the affidavits said. He later was taken to Christus Spohn Hospital South but died the following day.

Arrest affidavits also stated one of the Overtons’ four biological children told investigators Hannah Overton watched Andrew on a security camera in a bedroom and used food and pepper as a form of punishment.”

From caller.com 8/28/07 by Mary Ann Cavazos

“Ulcerated lesions on one of his hands, bruises to his knee, face, chest and buttocks, along with sores on one of his elbows, were depicted in the photos.”

“”There were so many bruises and scratches it would have been difficult to describe them all,” Rotta said, adding that photos made documenting the injuries easier. ”

“Some of the areas on Andrew’s body with scratches were unlikely to be self-inflicted, Rotta said.

Defense attorneys argued that bruises on his face and chest could have come from performing CPR, bruises on his knee could have been from injecting needles for IV fluids and sores on his elbow were from mosquito bites he had scratched repeatedly.

Rotta, who was the only witness to take the stand Monday, testified it would have taken 23 teaspoons of Zatarain’s Creole Seasoning to reach the toxic level of sodium in Andrew’s system. A 17-ounce container of that same brand was found at the Overtons’ house.

But defense attorneys proposed the high level of sodium may have been caused by fluids injected into Andrew’s body by medical staff. Rotta countered it would have had to have been an enormous amount for that to be possible.

Both Rotta and a hospital social worker have said Overton told them she gave Andrew a glass of water with chili powder in it after he threw a fit.

During Monday’s testimony Rotta recounted the other possibilities he ruled out for the high sodium level, including forms of diabetes, dehydration, an eating disorder and ingestion of soap.

Defense attorneys argued that only a specialist in diagnosing various forms of diabetes or the eating disorder known as pica, where a person eats odd substances, was qualified to rule those out.”

From caller.com 9/8/07 by Mary Ann Cavazos

During the trial, prosecutors questioned why Overton and her husband made several phone calls but none to 911, and delayed taking the boy to a clinic for more than 1 1/2 hours. One of the doctors who treated the boy that day testified their delay in seeking help reduced his chances for survival.

When polled, all 12 jurors said they found her guilty because of her failure to act.

A gag order issued by Longoria prevents prosecutors and Overton’s attorneys from commenting on the verdict until after Overton is sentenced. Some friends and family of Overton did not want to comment following the verdict.

During the trial, Overton, a former licensed vocational nurse, admitted she gave Andrew a cup of water mixed with spices but said it wasn’t to punish or harm him.”

“Sharon Hamil, Andrew’s foster mother for the 18 months before he lived with the Overtons, said she remembered a much different boy.

“When I had Andrew I didn’t have any problems,” Hamil said. “To me he was a happy, typical child.””

From wnd 9/23/07
“Mrs. Overton’s story is quite different.

Andrew had an eating disorder of some kind that left him hungry all the time – even immediately after a meal. If he didn’t get more food, he would become quite agitated. She was told by someone familiar with such symptoms to add something distasteful to the child’s food once he had clearly had enough. First she tried lemon juice, but Andrew liked it. Next she tried Zatarain’s Cajun Seasoning. But he liked that, too. She believes she may have administered in food and drink one-quarter of a teaspoon to Andrew prior to his attack.

The prosecution also focused on delays in getting Andrew emergency medical attention once symptoms began.

She says she treated the symptoms. When Andrew was cold, she wrapped him in blankets and put him in bed. Later, when he was still cold, she gave him a warm bath. He wheezed, she gave him breathing treatment. When he did not respond, she rushed him to the hospital within one hour and 49 minutes of becoming symptomatic.

Prosecutors claim it took her three hours and grilled her about not calling 911. But once Andrew got to the hospital, doctors did not immediately diagnose the problem. In fact, according to Carver, they shot sodium into his veins because they did not recognize the salt intoxication. ”

From KIII 3/11/08 “Hannah Overton was convicted of capital murder in the poisoning death of 4-year old Andrew Burd. She will spend the rest of her life in prison.

Hannah’s husband, Larry Overton, was facing the same charges. Overton’s attorney and the district attorney were able to reach a plea deal.

Larry Overton’s charge of capital murder was reduced to criminally negligent homicide. That means he will not spend any time in prison.”

Hannah Could Have Had Lesser Charges Applied But She Said No

From Texas Monthly “Capital murder carries two possible punishments in Texas—the death penalty or life without parole—and the district attorney’s office had already decided not to seek death. If convicted, Hannah would receive an automatic life sentence. However, Judge Longoria could allow the jury to consider a lesser charge if he felt that the evidence did not support capital murder, and after hearing the state’s case, he did so, telling both the prosecution and the defense that he was willing to let the jury consider manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide. (Both carry shorter sentences and differ from capital murder on the issue of intent; a motorist who hits and kills someone while driving too fast is often deemed to be criminally negligent in that he did not set out to take a life but was aware of the danger of speeding.) Gilmore urged Hannah more than once to agree to have the jury consider a lesser charge, but she was uneasy with what she perceived as an underlying suggestion of wrongdoing. She could not consent to a lesser charge, she told her attorneys, because she felt it would mean she was admitting fault.”

Dr. Moritz

A proponent of Hannah was unable to be deposed for the trial. He was interviewed by 20/20. Texas Monthly says “Moritz is the clinical director of pediatric nephrology at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, where he specializes in children’s kidney diseases. In 2007 he published a seminal paper on salt poisoning, in which he examined, among other things, documented cases of children who had accidentally ingested excessive quantities of salt. He found that they fit a narrow profile: they were between the ages of one and six, they had been in the foster system or were from abusive homes, and they had pica. Moritz, in fact, had been asked to testify as an expert witness for Hannah’s defense at her trial. After examining Andrew’s medical records, he had determined that the boy’s death was likely accidental. Yet the jury had never heard from him. Short on time as the trial drew to a close, the defense had asked Moritz—who needed to return to Pittsburgh—to sit for a videotaped deposition; when the deposition ran long and could not be completed, the defense was unable to enter it as testimony.”

Dr. Moritz may have found similarities in the children in these cases, but that NOTHING to do with the negligence in this case or the others. All it shows is that a bunch of 1 to 6 year old kids in foster care died of salt poisoning. Guess what? A lot of foster parents have been negligent and many have died in foster care. Being in foster care ranks in the top 5 risks for child abuse! It is ridiculous that this data could somehow determine that this was an accidental act.

Hannah was a nurse. It is hard to believe that she was clueless to what was going on that day.

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

It is clear from the media articles that this family was unprepared to handle his issues or even address the issues. I find it hard to believe that this out-of-birth-order-with-a-baby on-the-way family was the best long-term placement for this child.
They let things go on for almost four months before discussing with a social worker and it appears that he was not screened for any condition postplacement.

Spaulding did not seem to have any accountability in this situation. It remains to be seen if Hannah’s conviction will be overturned.

Update: “This week the 35-year-old was back in a Texas courthouse to try and get her capital murder conviction overturned and convince a judge she did not intentionally poison the four-year-old but that he did it to himself. ”

“Overton’s legal team are trying to convince a trial judge to either allow her to walk free or give the OK for a retrial after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ordered the judge who originally heard Overton’s case to ‘make findings of fact as to whether the applicant is actually innocent based upon newly discovered evidence’ in February.”

“The court also ruled that evidence regarding claims of ineffective counsel, and whether prosecutors mishandled evidence that would have helped Hannah’s defense could be heard.

The prosecution told the jury Overton lost control with her foster child when he threw a tantrum, so she forced fed him seasoning mix as punishment.”

“Prosecutors said she neglected to get Andrew medical help fast enough knowing that it would kill him.

Lead prosecutor Sandra Eastwood is accused of acting unethically and withholding evidence from the defense.”

“She was terminated in an unrelated matter years after the trial but has since admitted she was taking diet pills at the time and being an alcoholic.

Eastwood’s co-counsel at the time of trial, Anna Jimenez, testified this week saying Eastwood was not ‘truthful’, and that she exhibited bizarre behavior throughout the case.

Ms Jiminez told the court: ‘I was concerned there was a possibility that Sandra may have been withholding this [evidence] intentionally.’ ”
“The judge this week has already heard testimony from pediatrician Edgar Cortes – who treated Andrew the year before he died – and said he told Eastwood the boy had speech and developmental problems, expressing shock he was portrayed as a normal boy in the original trial. [But Dr. Cortes’ son who saw him AFTERWARDS wrote that he did NOT have any delays.]

Overton’s attorney, Cynthia Hujar-Orr, asked Dr Cortes: ‘Do these developmental delays make him younger, make him in danger of accidentally harming himself by eating bad things?’ to which he replied yes.”

“Dr Michael Moritz, a leading expert on salt poisoning at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, told ABC in 2008: ‘I think [Andrew] was in one of his feeding binges. He was having a tantrum, and he was unsupervised for a brief period of time, and I believe that he ingested a large amount of salt.’

He also said even if Overton knew the boy was dying, he wouldn’t have survived.

In court this week, he testified that he still believes this was a case of acute poisoning.

Testimony reached its fifth day today and is expected to continue on Monday.

Last night Later Nueces County Medical Examiner Ray Fernandez took the stand and reaffirmed his conclusions from 2006 that Andrew died from salt poisoning, and was the victim of homicide and child abuse.

‘The bleeding in the brain tissue corresponded to bleeding under the scalp which I believe was caused by blunt false trauma not solely from sodium,’ he testified.”

Mother whose foster son, 4, died of salt poisoning back in court to overturn life sentence on evidence the boy poisoned himself
[Daily Mail 4/27/12 by Rachel Quigley]

“Despite expectations, Overton has not testified in the hearing into allegations raised by her lawyers on appeal, including prosecutorial misconduct, concealed evidence, flawed science and ineffective trial counsel.

The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas ordered the fact-finding hearing and will ultimately rule on whether Overton is freed or gets a new trial.

“It’s been a long four days, and I hope the court will see my innocence. I believe it has been proven,” said Overton, wearing leg shackles and drab prison garb, during a break Thursday in the proceedings.
Her lawyer, Cynthia Orr, likewise expressed optimism.

“I think it’s clear the testimony supports Mrs. Overton’s claims that evidence was withheld that would have resulted in a verdict of innocence,” she said.

Nueces County District Attorney Mark Skurka was not available for comment late Thursday, and the prosecutors who argued the case this week declined to comment.”

Overton’s lawyer said he failed her in salt poisoning trial
[My San Antonio.com 4/26/12 by John MacCormack]

“Jones testified that he is now aware that not all the evidence was given to defense attorneys. He said they were not given the full report that showed where Andrew’s vomit came from, the photographs related to the medical examiner’s samples of stomach contents, all the handwritten notes and Andrew’s vomit.

“(The report) was one of the most important issues in the case that can significantly change how this case was tried,” Jones said. “This would’ve been of great importance to us if we would’ve had this document,” he said.

Jones said the most crucial piece of evidence that was not given to the defense was Andrew’s vomit.

“It seems it was purposely withheld because we kept asking for it and they refused to give it to us,” Jones said.

Overton’s appeal for an overturned conviction includes two key claims: that her trial attorneys failed to properly represent her and that prosecutors withheld test results that showed low levels of sodium in the boy’s stomach contents.

Nueces County Medical Examiner Ray Fernandez, who has performed close to 5,000 autopsies, including Andrew’s, testified that the boy’s cause of death was salt poisoning. He said Andrew also had blunt force head trauma and the nature of death was homicide.

Fernandez said he still holds that opinion.

He said the bruising and bleeding on the brain and scalp was from blunt force trauma and not solely from high levels of sodium that caused swelling in Andrew’s brain.

The first witness for the prosecution was Diego Rivera, a crime scene investigator with the Corpus Christi Police Department, who collected evidence from the Overton home and from the hospital that included a container of bodily fluids.

He said he kept it in a refrigerator for some time, packaged it and then turned it into the property room.

Fernandez later arranged the samples of evidence and Rivera took the photos, he said.

Fernandez said the samples he tested were tap water, tap water with a small amount of salt in it, Wendy’s chili, vomit, water with Cajun seasoning and water with an unknown spice.

One of Overton’s attorneys, John Raley, questioned Fernandez about samples of Andrew’s vomit and gastric contents.

Raley sarcastically asked Fernandez if he didn’t like the sodium test results and switched them.
“I just gotta know,” Raley said.

Fernandez said none of the test results were switched.

Rivera, who said he was with Fernandez when the samples were examined, labeled the stomach contents, bagged them up, labeled the bags and returned them to the property room. He wrote the supplemental reports soon after.

Brad Condit, one of Overton’s trial attorneys, testified that he took photos at the police property room of various pieces of evidence.

One photo had a brown bag labeled “reddish brown liquid” and stated it was from the Overton home.

Condit said he did not open the bag to see the liquid, but if he knew that it was the vomit then he would’ve opened it.

Arnold Arias, the property room supervisor for the Corpus Christi Police Department, said according to the login record, Condit took photos of the paper bag that had the vomit container. Arias said the paper bag was opened and the container also was taken out on at least one occasion because photos also were taken of the container.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ordered Longoria in February to hold the evidentiary hearing to look into the merits of Overton’s claims.

Longoria won’t rule in the case but will make a recommendation and report his findings to the Court of Criminal Appeals. The court then will determine if the evidence are grounds to set Overton free, order a new trial for her or have no merit.Overton’s defense long has argued that the boy had emotional and medical problems and would eat odd food, including the salty seasoning.

Prosecutors say the defense’s claims of Overton’s wrongful conviction are unfounded.

Roger “Rod” Carver, the Overtons’ longtime pastor, briefly took the stand and testified that he never gave Overton legal advice.

John Gilmore, another of Overton’s trial attorneys, said he told Overton that she should take a lesser included charge but believes Overton received inaccurate advice from others who were not her attorneys.

He said he explained to her that if convicted of capital murder she would get a life sentence with no hope of parole and that Overton did not want to plead guilty to a lesser charge because that would be admitting she did something wrong.

Gilmore was the last witness called by Overton’s attorneys.”

One of Hannah Overton’s trial attorneys breaks down in tears on the stand Thursday
[The Caller 4/26/12 by Michelle Villareal]

“Hannah Overton’s capital murder hearing will stretch to next week after the judge’s abrupt departure Friday afternoon.

State District Judge Jose Longoria stopped the hearing at about 3 p.m. because he had a prior court setting. Overton, who at times has smiled, hugged two of her attorneys and cried as she left court Friday.

Nueces County Medical Examiner Ray Fernandez, who returned for a second day of testimony, was one of three witnesses to take the stand on the hearing’s fifth day.

Overton, 35, was convicted of capital murder in 2007 in connection with the death of her 4-year-old foster son, Andrew Burd.

Fernandez, who was on the stand for about six hours over two days, said he ruled Andrew’s 2006 death as a homicide and found the boy died from sodium poisoning and blunt force head trauma.

John Raley, one of Hannah Overton’s attorneys, questioned whether Fernandez already had made up his mind about the boy’s cause of death based on claims of child abuse and police reports he received before performing the autopsy.

Fernandez said it is standard policy to review autopsy, police and medical reports before determining a cause of death.

“I don’t base a determination of cause of death solely on a police report or medical record. I determine it on a combination of reports,” Fernandez said.

Fernandez testified he does not believe that a loving mother would give their child a salty solution. He considers it abuse and torture.

“That is a form of abuse and if the child died in that time of abuse then it’s considered a homicide,” he said.

The hearing, which will help the judge make a recommendation to a higher court, will resume at 8 a.m. Monday. Attorney Lisa Harris, who represented Overton’s husband, Larry, is expected to take the stand. She could be the last witness.

Fernandez said Friday the cause of death is based on information he reviewed. If new information becomes available down the road then he said he would review it and change the cause of death if appropriate.

Fernandez agreed to read transcripts of testimony from Dr. Edgar Cortes, a pediatrician, and Dr. Michael Moritz, an expert witness in sodium poisoning.

Overton’s appeal for an overturned conviction includes two key claims: that her trial attorneys failed to properly represent her and that prosecutors withheld test results that showed low levels of sodium in the boy’s stomach contents.

Overton’s defense long has argued that the boy had emotional and medical problems and would eat odd food, including the salty seasoning.

Prosecutors say the defense’s claims of Overton’s wrongful conviction are unfounded.

Fernandez challenged defense attorney’s claims that the boy would eat odd items pointing out that he checked Andrew’s digestive tract to look for paper, plastic, rocks and dirt and did not see anything like that.

Fernandez said those items can be found days later in the digestive tract or longer because they could be stuck to the tissue.

He also talked about claims that the boy had excessive hunger and would eat all the time.

Fernandez said if a child has an eating disorder like that then they would become obese, which Andrew was not.

Raley brought up a Texas Department of Family and Protective Services investigation report in which Sharon Hamil, Andrew’s prior foster mother, stated he always wanted fast food [Yet she did NOT give him McDonald’s as punishment according to her OWN WORDS. She ADMITTED to giving him Zatarain’s seasoning in water. Wanting something doesn’t mean he was BEING FED IT!], had unsteady balance and verbal problems when he first arrived in her care.

Hamil, who cared for the boy for the 18 months before he lived with the Overtons, gave a different description of the boy at the 2007 trial.

She testified that she had no problems with him and that he was a happy, typical child.

Prosecutors brought up a medical record from Dr. Richard Cortes, Dr. Edgar Cortes’ son, who examined Andrew in June 2006. That report states the boy was healthy and didn’t have issues.

“Andrew does not have any behavior of psychological issues at this time. He has not been diagnosed with any behavior or psychological disorders,” the evaluation states. “The patient is developed mentally appropriate for age.”

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ordered Longoria in February to hold the evidentiary hearing to look into the merits of Overton’s claims.

Longoria won’t rule in the case but will make a recommendation and report his findings to the Court of Criminal Appeals. The court will then determine if the evidence are grounds to set Overton free, order a new trial for her or have no merit.

Larry Overton pleaded no contest in 2008 to the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide and received five years deferred adjudication probation and a $5,000 fine. That type of probation allowed him to avoid a conviction.”
Hannah Overton hearing to stretch to next week
[The Caller 4/27/12 by Michelle Villareal]

“Attorneys in the Hannah Overton evidentiary hearing gave their closing arguments today to a judge, who will recommend whether Overton’s capital murder conviction should be overturned or withheld.
Overton, 35, was convicted of capital murder in 2007 in connection with the death of her 4-year-old foster child, Andrew Burd. The boy died at a Corpus Christi hospital in 2006 of elevated sodium levels.

The Nueces County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide and cited sodium poisoning and blunt force head trauma as factors.

Judge Jose Longoria won’t rule in the case but will make a recommendation and report his findings to the Court of Criminal Appeals. The court will then determine if the evidence are grounds to set Overton free, order a new trial for her or have no merit.

Attorney Lisa Harris, who represented Overton’s husband, Larry, was expected to take the stand today.

But Cynthia Orr, one Overton’s lawyers, said she changed her mind about calling another witness.
Overton’s attorneys submitted an affidavit from an elementary school teacher to refute Sharon Hamil’s trial testimony.

Hamil was Andrew’s foster mother before Hannah Overton. The school teacher’s affidavit states that Andrew was not a healthy child as Hamil testified during Overton’s trial.

Her attorneys also brought up an explanation from Dr. Edgar Cortes which explains Dr. Richard Cortes’ evaluation of Andrew that states Andrew was a healthy child. Dr. Richard Cortes is Dr. Edgar Cortes’ son.

Orr argued that Dr. Edgar Cortes was withheld from the defense during the 2007 trial.

His testimony the hearing proved that Andrew had developmental and cognitive delays, which are linked to neurological and eating disorders.

A member of prosecution also had material evidence that was important and they did not disclose that information, Orr said.

Items that were not turned over to the defense included the vomit collected from Driscoll Urgent Care on October 4, 2006 along with photographs of the boy’s stomach contents that were mislabeled.

John Gilmore and David Jones, two of Overton’s trial attorneys, said they made a mistake to not call Dr. Michael Moritz as a witness at trial. Moritz believes death would’ve occurred no matter how soon Andrew was taken to the hospital. There was no strategic reason Mortiz’s video was not used during trial. It was a terrible mistake and it was ineffective counsel, Orr said.

Orr said Overton didn’t knowingly kill the boy.

John Raley, another Overton attorney said there is always a chronic pattern of child abuse and that isn’t the case with Overton, who he described as a loving mother and wife. She has years of caring for children and no one has ever accused of abusing children, he said.

“We know that Andrew ate cat food, licked food off the floor and he loved salty food. He also ate five pieces of pizza and asked for more. He ate a dozen eggs one time, threw it up and then asked for more,” Raley said. “He had an eating disorder.”[Actually his dad admitted to purposely serving him 18 eggs.]

He said there is overwhelming evidence that Overton is innocent.

“We pray that your honor consider this scientific evidence and that Hannah is actually innocent and released from prison and returned to her husband and family,” Raley said to the judge.

Prosecutor Doug Norman said most of the newly discovered claims were actually discussed heavily at trial: undiagnosed diabetes, underlying gastric disorder, Pica, emotional disorders, possible tumor, eating disorder, birth records showing addiction to drugs and unspecified additional proof that Andrew ingested salt on his own.

They all had a common thread: no evidence to prove those claims.

“There is nothing that we are hearing today that we haven’t heard at the motion for a new trial,” Norman said.

Norman said a deposition from the medical examiner is significant because it showed the defense team knew there was vomit and they even refer to it as vomit in the questioning.

Prosecutor Bill Ainsworth argued that the stomach contents weren’t a critical piece of evidence because the medical examiner said the sodium level in the blood was what was key.

Ainworth said the science in the case also hasn’t changed.

“None of the science does anything to change the length of time that Hannah Overton delayed in providing Andrew treatment that he needed to possibly survive. The jury considered that omission and nothing changes that,” Ainsworth said.

The claim that Overton’s trial attorneys were ineffective also is baseless, he asserted.

He pointed out that Overton was represented by at least six attorneys at trial and they were all well experienced. He said there is no testimony that she didn’t understand the option of having lesser charges presented a jury.

“She took a gamble by not including lesser charges. She lost that gamble. Hannah Overton is the only eye witness to what happened to Andrew and that is often the case in a murder case where you only have one person who witnessed it,” he said.

Ainsworth said it was vital that the justice and memory for Andrew be considered. .

“I hope this court will consider that and that the Court of Criminal Appeals will do that,” he said.
Orr countered that the prosecution withheld favorable and material evidence that would have changed the verdict.

She said the gastric contents were important to this case because when you intend to kill a child you don’t let them have access to water as Overton did. The gastric contents show exactly what Overton gave Andrew before he died, she said.

Raley, who is one of several attorneys representing Overton pro bono, said the only scenario that makes sense is Andrew poured the seasoning in his soup, stirred it up and ate it.

Gerry Goldstein, another Overton attorney, said Overton has not had a fair trial.

“She is entitled. Her children are entitled. This is not about laying a blame but correcting a wrong that will stand the test of time,” he said.

Overton’s appeal for an overturned conviction includes two key claims: that her trial attorneys failed to properly represent her and that prosecutors withheld test results that showed low levels of sodium in the boy’s stomach contents.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ordered State District Judge Jose Longoria in February to hold the evidentiary hearing to look into the merits of Overton’s claims.”

Hannah Overton capital murder hearing ends
[The Caller 4/30/12 by Michelle Villareal]

Update/April 24, 2013

Since it has been almost a years since we updated this case, I searched for more updates and found the following:

“A month after the conclusion of the dramatic, six-day evidentiary hearing held in the capital murder case of Hannah Overton, state district judge Jose Longoria has issued his recommendations to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. In a fourteen-page opinion issued late in the day on Thursday, Longoria stated that he saw no new evidence that would have altered the outcome of Hannah’s trial. “The Court concludes that all of the supposedly newly-discovered evidence actually mentioned in Overton’s application for writ was clearly known and discussed at the time of trial,” he wrote (PDF).

A Corpus Christi homemaker and mother of five, Hannah was arrested after Andrew Burd—a four-year-old foster child whom she and her husband were in the process of adopting—mysteriously died in 2006 of a rare case of “salt poisoning.” Hannah, who had no history with CPS, no previous arrests, and no history of violence, was charged with capital murder. Prosecutors painted a macabre portrait, arguing that she snapped under the demands of parenting and forced Andrew to eat 23 teaspoons of salt. After a sensational trial, she was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In an article I wrote for TEXAS MONTHLYin January, I explored the many inconsistencies in the state’s case. Prosecutors had never been able to explain, for example, how Hannah—who was six months pregnant and recovering from whiplash at the time of Andrew’s death—had managed to overpower him and force him to eat a large quantity of salt. They had also discounted evidence suggesting that Andrew had an undiagnosed eating disorder called “pica,” which is characterized by a desire to consume inappropriate things, like salt. And they were never able to establish a plausible motive.

In February, after San Antonio attorney Cynthia Orr filed a writ of habeas corpus, arguing that newly-discovered evidence showed that Andrew had likely died after consuming an excessive amount of salt on his own, the Court of Criminal Appeals took the dramatic step of ordering that Hannah’s claims of actual innocence be examined. Judge Longoria, who oversaw Hannah’s 2006 trial, was tasked with holding the hearing and subsequently presenting his recommendations to the high court.

Hannah’s attorneys spent much of the April hearing—describedin depth in our June issue—putting on compelling testimony which suggested that the science upon which Hannah’s conviction rested was faulty, and that critical evidence had been withheld from the defense at trial. But in yesterday’s opinion, Longoria rejected those claims one by one, siding with the state, arguing that much of this evidence was, or should have been, known to the defense at trial and that Hannah had been capably represented by her attorneys.

Longoria made national headlines last year when he sentenced a mother to five years’ probation for spanking her two-year-old. In that case, he admonished defendant Rosalina Gonzales, saying, “You don’t spank children today. In the old days, maybe we got spanked, but there was a different quarrel. You don’t spank children. You understand?”

The Court of Criminal Appeals must now render a ruling in Hannah’s case, though there is no deadline for the high court to do so. The judges will take Longoria’s recommendations into consideration and will also evaluate the evidence presented at the hearing. It may do one of three things: allow Hannah’s conviction to stand, order a new trial, or overturn her conviction, which would bring about her release.”

Overton Judge Finds No New Evidence of Innocence

[Texas Monthly 6/1/12 by  Pamela Colloff]

“Any day now, Hannah Overton could hear the news that could change her life. After five long years in jail, a Texas court could overturn her murder conviction, allowing her to finally be reunited with her five children.

“Being children, they don’t understand the length of how long this all can take … and they ask me, ‘Are you going to be home for this birthday?’ … and it’s very hard to not know [when] I will be,” she said. “We’re praying that this is the last birthday that I’m not there.”

In 2007, Overton, now 35, was handed a sentence of life in prison for the 2006 salt poisoning death of a 4-year-old she was trying to adopt, Andrew Burd. But in the years since her conviction, questions have been raised about whether prosecutors were overzealous in their efforts to convict Overton, failing to present the jury with expert testimony and evidence that might have made a difference in the outcome of the trial.

Former prosecutor Sandra Eastwood, “at best, jumped to conclusions and didn’t take the time and energy to find the truth,” Overton told “20/20” in a recent interview.

At worst, Overton added, Eastwood “went along with a lie to win the case.”

Eastwood, who spoke to “20/20” in 2008 and stood by her handling of the Overton case, declined a request for a new interview through her attorney. Overton also was interviewed in 2008, in prison, for an episode of “20/20.”

After an appeals hearing earlier this year, Overton’s fate now rests in the hands of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which could decide either to free Hannah, order a new trial, or reject her appeal.

At Overton’s original trial in 2007, the prosecution portrayed her as a mother who had lost control.  Frustrated with a naughty child, prosecutors said, she tried to punish him with seasoning mixed in water.

The defense presented the jury with a medical mystery. They suggested that Andrew might have had pica, an eating disorder characterized by an obsessive appetite and that Andrew accidentally poisoned himself by consuming a fatal amount of sodium.

Teachers and babysitters said they had seen Andrew’s bizarre habits too. The day Andrew died, Overton said she found him in the kitchen pantry but could not determine what he had consumed, if anything.

To find Overton guilty, jurors had to believe either of two scenarios — that Overton force-fed Andrew salt knowing it would kill him or that she neglected to get medical help fast enough knowing that it would kill him.

At Overton’s appeals hearing this past February, the judge heard testimony from two witnesses who appeared on “20/20’s” original report saying they believed Andrew’s death was accidental, not murder. Neither the prosecution nor the defense  called either of the doctors to the stand during Hannah’s trial in 2007.

Dr. Edgar Cortes, a pediatrician, had seen Andrew as a patient back in 2005, before he went to live with the Overton family. He told “20/20” that he informed the prosecutor, Eastwood, that he saw speech and developmental problems and was surprised to learn that prosecutors described him at trial as being “normal.”  During February’s hearing, he reiterated that position in response to questions from Hannah’s attorney, Cynthia Hujar-Orr.

 

“Do these developmental delays make him younger, make him in danger of accidentally harming himself by eating bad things?” Hujar-Orr asked.

“Yes,” Cortes said.

“And was [Eastwood] aware of that link to the cognitive and developmental?” Hujar-Orr asked.

“I hope so,” Cortes said. “I think that if we’re going to be fair, if we’re going to be just, we have to take all of the circumstances into consideration.”

Trying to determine exactly what happened to Andrew that day has been a challenge for Overton’s defense teams now and then. Based on limited health records presented at trial, it appeared Andrew’s status within the foster care system meant that he was never under one doctor’s care for long. Any serious underlying conditions that could have made him susceptible to the salt intoxication that day remain unknown.

But one witness for the defense, Dr. Michael Moritz, a leading expert on salt poisoning at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, believes that, based on similar cases of children in foster care exhibiting behavioral issues and evidence of pica, he knows what happened to Andrew that day.

In his 2008 interview with ABC News, Moritz said, “I think [Andrew] was in one of his feeding binges. He was having a tantrum, and he was unsupervised for a brief period of time, and I believe that he ingested a large amount of salt.”

In court, Moritz testified that he still believed it was a case of acute poisoning.

Furthermore, Moritz said he didn’t believe Overton knew that Andrew was dying and that even if she had rushed to the hospital immediately, the child may not have survived.

“There is literature showing that even with today’s medical technology, under the best medical care, even when it happens in the hospital, you die,” Moritz told the court. “This is not necessarily preventable.”

Prosecution experts, however, disagreed.

Heated Testimony at Hearing

Perhaps the most surprising testimony at the hearing came when the former prosecutor, Eastwood, admitted that by January 2011, she had concluded that she is an alcoholic and got sober. She also admitted taking diet pills while a prosecutor, but denied that her judgment was affected by use of alcohol or diet pills during Overton’s trial.  She also testified that she could not recall some specifics from the trial and she denied withholding evidence from defense attorneys at the time.

Eastwood’s fragile and often soft-spoken presentation was in stark contrast to her demeanor when she spoke to “20/20” in 2008.

“I feel very confident that I did the right thing in presenting the evidence and having her convicted,” Eastwood said.

At the time, she remained convinced that Hannah Overton knew or should have known that withholding medical treatment would kill Andrew.

“I think she was angry, enraged, with wanting to punish him and hurt him and then realized, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve really hurt him.'” she said.

Eastwood’s co-counsel at the time of trial, Anna Jimenez, later became her supervisor and fired Eastwood for her alleged actions in an unrelated case. At the hearing for a new trial for Hannah Overton, Jimenez testified that she felt Eastwood was dishonest in disclosing evidence to the defense.

The defense has argued that evidence pertaining to Andrew’s gastric content was deliberately kept from Overton’s trial attorneys.

In her testimony, Jimenez said she feared that Eastwood had, in fact, withheld evidence. She said she raised her concerns about Eastwood’s behavior to Eastwood’s superiors but nothing was done.

“I was concerned there was possibility that Sandra may have been withholding this intentionally,” she told the court.

The judge at the February hearing — who was the same judge who presided over the original 2007 case — ultimately concluded that Overton did not deserve a new trial based on the arguments presented at the hearing, but the final decision lies with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Overton said she is confident the higher court will make the right call.

“I do believe that the Court of Criminal Appeals, when they look at the record, they will see that the record does not support [the judge’s] decision,” she said.

In a statement to “20/20,” Eastwood’s lawyer pointed out that every court that has considered Overton’s claims of prosecutorial misconduct has found insufficient evidence to prove the allegations. Eastwood filed a motion for sanctions against Hannah Overton’s attorneys for what she says are false allegations and false testimony, and it was denied by the trial court judge. Additionally, the state bar and the state attorney general declined to pursue any disciplinary actions against Eastwood after their own investigations. The exact nature of those investigations, and whether they have anything to do with the Overton case, are unclear, because they are not released publicly.

Overton’s husband, Larry, has been a single father of five children while his wife has been incarcerated. Once a month, he packs them into the family van and travels 300 miles to the Texas prison where she is being held. There, Overton’s contact with her children is limited. Because she was convicted of a capital offense, she’s not allowed to touch them.

Overton said she tries to stay involved in her children’s lives as much as possible, organizing their birthday parties and helping them plan how to redecorate their rooms.

Her youngest, Emma, was just an infant when Overton was jailed. Overton says family and friends put up photos of Overton in their homes so that Emma and her siblings are constantly surrounded by reminders of their mother. Today, Emma is 5.

Andrew would have celebrated his 10th birthday this past summer.

Overton told “20/20” in 2008 that she did not regret trying to adopt Andrew.

“I wouldn’t take that away,” she said. “He had brothers and sisters and a mommy and daddy, what he called his forever family, [You are one sick, twisted woman!] because we had to go through a lot of pain since then. It’s not fair to him. Or to us.””

 

Mom Convicted of Salt Poisoning Death Accuses Prosecutor of Misconduct, Awaits New Court Decision

[ABC News 9/7/12 by Juju Chang and Shana Druckerman]

“A mother, convicted of intentionally  poisoning her foster child with salt, is insisting that she is innocent and  holding onto hope that the Texas appeal’s court will soon overturn her  conviction.

 

Hannah Overton, from Corpus Christi, Texas,  has spent five years behind bars, after she was given a life sentence for the  2006 death of a four-year-old boy, Andrew Burd, whom she was trying to adopt.

 

Overton is speaking out about her wish for  justice to be served and her husband,  Larry, is sharing the struggle of trying to raise their five children while his  wife is incarcerated.”

 

On a fateful day in October 2006, Burd, whose  biological teenage mother was a Meth addict, started acting up and then vomited,  telling Overton that he didn’t feel well.

 

When he said he felt cold, he took a warm  bath but as his symptoms worsened, the Overtons took him to the Corpus Christi  hospital for treatment. He died a day later from salt poisoning.

A week after his death, murder charges were  brought against the mother. The lead prosecutor in the case, Sandra  Eastwood, portrayed Overton as a frazzled  care giver that had force fed Andrew cajun seasoning as a form of punishment,  which caused the sodium poisoning.

But during the trial, the defense said the  boy’s death was accidental and was likely due to a medical condition, pica, that  can cause a person to crave non-edible salty items like clay, sand or dirt.

But in 2007, Overton was convicted of murder  and sentenced to life in prison

The mother has been behind bars for five  years, separated from her husband and five children, aged five to 13, who are  being cared for by their father and home schooled by a supportive church  community that still believes in Overton’s innocence.

Overton was interviewed for Katie Couric’s  daytime talk show, sharing her heartbreak at being in prison while her children  grow up.

‘I was falsely accused of the murder of my  son,’ she said from prison.

‘We knew there were a lot of kids out there  that didn’t have mommies and daddies that loved them,’ she explained about why  they decided to proceed with the adoption of Andrew, even though he had some  behavioral issues.

‘We had a home we could share with him,’ she  said.

She explained how he would try to eat soap  and shampoo, behavior which she shared with the adoption supervisor. The  supervisor was going to arrange for medical treatment

Overton’s husband also appeared on Katie,  with four of their children, and described his struggle raising a family without  the woman he fell in love with as a teenager.

‘There’s not a day that I think about those  things and wonder, could I have done something different?’ Larry Overton said on  Katie on Monday about that day in October when Andrew died.

Every month, Larry takes his five children,  Isaac, Isabel, Allie, Sebastian and  Emma, to see their mom at the state  prison in Texas, 300 miles away.

Because she was convicted of a capital crime,  she is not allowed to touch the children when they come to visit her and can  only see them through a glass partition.

Isaac, who is 13, said he still grieves for  his brother and even keeps a picture of Andrew by his bed.

11-year-old Isabel, who just started middle  school, said it is hard that her mom isn’t able to be with her and help her  through some of the changes she is experiencing.

Her sister, Allie, said that even though her  mom is in prison she will still help the kids with their homework and try to  help talk through things they are learning in school. She said their mom even  helps give them ideas for Halloween costumes and tries to stay involved as much  as possible.

Overton has appealed her conviction and the  Texas State Court of Appeals will decide if it will be overturned.

New details have emerged that allege the  prosecutor in the case withheld evidence, like providing details on the boy’s  stomach content at the time of his death.

The defense said that the prosecution claimed  that samples from the boy’s vomit were unavailable but Overton’s lawyers claimed  Eastwood withheld evidence so the sample could not be tested.

The pediatrician that had treated Andrew  before he was placed in Overton’s care has also said that the child’s medical  state was not properly explained at the trial.

Dr Edgar Cortes said the boy had development  issues that contributed to his eating disorder.

‘I think that if we’re going to be fair, if  we’re going to be just, we have to take all of the circumstances into  consideration,’ he testified at a February hearing, part of Overton’s appeal.

Teachers and friends who knew the boy have  agreed that he had unusual eating habits and even tried to each trash on one  occasion.

The boy’s Sunday School teacher had actually  tried to persuade the Overtons not to take Andrew into their care because of his  development issues, saying that the parents should think of the welfare of their  other children.

But the Overtons have said that even knowing  what they do now, they would still have welcomed Andrew into their hearts and  their home.

Eastwood’s professional abilities have also  been called into question. After the trial she was fired by the district  attorney’s office in Nueces County in 2010.

In 2011, she admitted she struggled with  alcohol dependency issues and was also taking diet pills during her tenure as a  prosecutor, though she has denied those issues tainted her ability during the  Overton trial.

The Texas state bar has not pursued  disciplinary action against the former prosecutor and Eastwood says Overton’s  attorneys are spreading false allegations about her.

But her co-counsel at the time, Anna Jimenez,  testified at a hearing regarding Overton’s request for a new trial, saying that  she believed Eastwood was not forthcoming with the evidence in the 2007 trial.

‘Her entire behavior during the course of  this trial was so far out. She had other issues going on that were causing  problems in her judgment,’ said Jimenez, adding ‘In my opinion, she is not  truthful.’

In May, District Judge Jose Longoria, who had  overseen Overton’s original trial, ruled that there was not sufficient evidence  for Overton to receive a new trial.

Overton’s fate is now in the hands of the  appellate court, who could decide that she deserves a new trial or that her  conviction should be overturned.

In the meantime, Overton’s husband and  children say they have faith that she will soon return home and they will live  as a family once again.”

 

Killer mom or victim of injustice? Mother-of-five convicted of salt poisoning her foster son insists she is INNOCENT – and is backed by her husband

[Daily Mail 10/15/12 by Leslie Larson]

 

The strange case of Hannah Overton and Andrew Burd just got even stranger. We’ve reported on this case since 2008.

 

Just last night, I listened to an audio recording that appears to be a meeting between Overton’s pastors and two attorneys associated with the prosecutor in Overton’s 2007 trial. San Antonio defense attorney Cynthia Orr, who is trying to get Overton’s conviction overturned, filed the recording with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

 

In 2007 Overton was convicted of murder in the salt-poisoning death of Burd, a four-year-old boy she was trying to adopt, and sentenced to life in prison. In September, I reported for “20/20″ about her current appeal, in which she alleges that former prosecutor Sandra Eastwood withheld critical evidence that could have changed the outcome of her case.

 

The recording and transcript of the meeting seem to reveal Eastwood’s own attorney, Ruth Kollman, and Eastwood’s current employer, Jerry Trevino — both Corpus Christi attorneys — making an unusual suggestion to Overton’s two pastors. On the recording, Kollman asks that Overton sign a “conflicts waiver” that would allow Kollman and Trevino to represent her, despite their obvious connection to the woman who put Overton behind bars. On the audio tape, Kollman even agrees with Overton’s pastor, at one point, that “[Overton] should not be in prison right now.” Kollman also appears to suggest that Overton drop her claims of prosecutorial misconduct against Eastwood.

 

We left a message for Trevino and emailed with Kollman last night. Kollman responded on behalf of both of them and confirmed that she still represents Eastwood. When we asked her about the meeting and what took place, she did not respond.

 

Two Texas courts have rejected Overton’s appeals, but her legal team is hopeful the higher court will rule in her favor. Additionally, Eastwood has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and neither the state bar nor the state attorney general has pursued any disciplinary actions against Eastwood.

 

Just the latest twist in the case that keeps me up at night. More to come as we report this out.”

 

Tape Adds Bizarre Twist to Salt Poisoning Mom’s Bid for Freedom

[ABC News 12/19/12 by Juju Chang]

“In February 2012, Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Cathy Cochran wrote an order for a hearing on the appeal of Hannah Overton, who was convicted of poisoning her foster son in 2007 with salt. Doctors testifying for the defense later found it was more likely that the foster son had overdosed on the salt himself.

“This disconnect between changing science and reliable verdicts that can stand the test of time has grown in recent years,” Cochran wrote, “as the speed with which new science and revised scientific methodologies debunk what had formerly been thought of as reliable forensic science has increased.” The Court of Criminal Appeals has not yet decided whether Overton is entitled to a new trial, though the state district judge who oversaw the hearing said that the new scientific evidence would not have changed the trial’s result.”

Bill Addresses Changing Science in Criminal Appeals

[Texas Tribune 2/4/13 by Maurice Chammah]

Update 2: Court Reverses Hannah’s Conviction! 

“A state appeals court Wednesday overturned the conviction of a South Texas woman imprisoned for capital murder in the 2006 salt poisoning death of her 4-year-old foster son.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a new trial for Hannah Overton of Corpus Christi. She was sentenced to life in prison without parole in the death of Andrew Burd.

Overton has argued she had ineffective counsel during her 2007 trial, and the state’s highest appeals court agreed.

The court in its ruling noted Overton’s defense attorneys opted not to present the testimony of an expert medical witness. The court said it “was not a reasonable decision” to withhold testimony by the physician that could have benefited Overton.

She also argued that prosecutors had withheld evidence in her trial, but the appeals court did not address that claim.

Overton contended Andrew had emotional and medical problems, including an eating disorder in which he’d consume odd food items. The boy had elevated sodium levels when he died at a Corpus Christi hospital. Tests also showed he had bleeding on the brain and swelling. A doctor who examined the child testified at Overton’s trial that he could have survived if taken to the hospital earlier.

The appeals court in 2012 had ordered an evidentiary hearing but a state district judge in Corpus Christi subsequently recommended against a new trial for Overton.

A phone message left for Overton’s San Antonio attorney, Cynthia Orr, was not immediately returned.

Nueces County District Attorney Mark Skurka told the Caller-Times about an hour after learning the court’s decision that his office has not made a decision about whether to retry the case.

“We’ll review the case with our appellate lawyers and our supervisors and make a decision after we revisit all the evidence in the courts opinion,” Skurka said.

He said there’s no deadline to decide. His office can try her on a lesser charge, dismiss the case or retry her on the capital murder charge.

“All options are open,” Skurka told the newspaper.”

Court Reverses Woman’s Conviction in Child’s Death[NBC DFW 9/17/14 by Associated Press]

Update 3:Prosecutors will retry Hannah!

“Prosecutors say they’ll retry a South Texas woman whose capital murder conviction in the 2006 salt poisoning death of her 4-year-old foster son was overturned.

Nueces County District Attorney Mark Skurka said Friday that he has ordered a new trial for Hannah Overton of Corpus Christi, who had served seven years of a prison sentence of life without parole.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Overton’s conviction in September, citing ineffective trial counsel at her 2007 trial for the death of Andrew Burd. Her present attorney seeks a bench warrant to return Overton from state prison to Nueces County Jail.

Overton contended Andrew had emotional and medical problems, including an eating disorder in which he’d consume odd food items. An autopsy showed elevated sodium levels in his body”

TexDigest: Prosecutors to retry woman in foster child’s death[Statesman 10/17/14]

Update 4:”The bond hearing for Hannah Overton that was planned for Thursday has been canceled.

 

Nueces County District Attorney Mark Skurka confirmed Wednesday the hearing planned for Judge Jose Longoria’s court was canceled.

 

Overton spent seven years in prison in connection with the death of her 4-year-old foster son, but her conviction was recently overturned.

 

Overton remains in the Nueces County jail.”

 

Bond Hearing For Hannah Overton Canceled[Kris tv 10/29/14 by Kristen Schaffer]

“Hannah Overton’s children say that they have just one question on their mind: Will their mom be home for Thanksgiving?
In late September, an appellate court in Texas overturned their mother’s 2007 conviction in the salt poisoning death of Andrew Burd, a 4-year-old boy that Hannah Overton and her husband Larry were trying to adopt. After six years in prison, Overton and her family rejoiced at the prospect of finally being reunited. Now, eight weeks since the higher court ruling and no reunion, family and friends of 37-year-old mother are left wondering why she is still behind bars?

“Now well into November we still wait once again for someone with authority to act rationally,” said Rod Carver, the Overton family’s pastor, “I put our people on red alert more than five times preparing to receive Hannah out of incarceration. It’s my opinion that this is not about Hannah or Andrew, it’s about a power struggle and an image issue with the forces that be.”

The district attorney of Nueces County, Mark Skurka, has already announced his intention to try Overton a second time on capital murder charges, but that statement came a month after the higher court’s ruling. Then, a week later, Judge Jose Longoria (who was also the judge in her original trial) ordered a hearing for her bond to be set.

As required by state law, Overton was finally transferred from a state prison to the county jail just miles from her Corpus Christi home. It seemed as though, after almost a month and a half, she would finally appear in court and her release on bond would be considered.

But the case hit another standstill when her defense attorneys filed a motion to recuse Longoria, citing financial and familial relationships with the Overton family that might give “the appearance that there would be either favoritism to Overton as a relative, or that the Court may at more harshly to appear not overly favorable to Overton.” Because the judge has already ruled against Overton on a number of occasions, her lawyers may have been more concerned with the latter argument. As evidence of the familial relationship, they included a video of Longoria dancing on a conga line at the wedding of his step-daughter and Hannah’s first cousin in 2005. At the end of the dance line, are Hannah Overton and her children.

“Once the recusal motion is filed, they hit the pause button,” says Brian Wice, a criminal defense attorney and legal analyst who specializes in appellate and post-conviction matters. “Recusal is really DEFCON 1. It’s the course of last resort.”

Now, Overton must wait for an administrative judge to hear arguments on whether Longoria should stay on the case. That hearing is currently set for November 12th. Whether that administrative judge or a temporary judge will step in to consider her request for bond remains to be seen.

Wice, who is not involved in the Overton case, says these delays are unusual. In his experience with post-conviction cases outside of Nueces County, he says that “Ultimately, the parties want to do the right thing and while you want to be expeditious, you also want to get it right. I’m not sure why the state has dragged his feet or why the judge has dragged his feet. That, to me, is unconscionable. And I can’t think of a reason why bond hasn’t been set or wasn’t set even before they came in to try to recuse Judge Longoria,” says Wice “This is a bad place to be for anyone caught in the criminal justice system.”

Wice, who has worked on such high profile cases as Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, says Hannah Overton may see more delays ahead.

The original prosecutor in the Overton case, Sandra Eastwood, was terminated for reasons unrelated to this case years after the trial concluded. Overton has accused Eastwood of acting unethically in her case, something Eastwood has denied repeatedly.

The appellate court did not rule specifically on Overton’s claims of prosecutorial misconduct, saying that she deserved a new trial on claims of ineffective counsel.

However, three of the judges issued a concurring opinion saying the proceedings in the case were “problematic from the beginning”. It cited issues involving Eastwood, who admitted to being an alcoholic and using diet pills at a hearing in 2012, as well as concerns that evidence that could have benefited Overton’s case was not presented at trial. It also cited issues with Overton’s trial attorneys, who failed to call a salt poisoning expert to the stand.

At Overton’s original trial in 2007, the prosecution portrayed her as a mother who had lost control. Frustrated with a naughty child, prosecutors said, she tried to punish him with seasoning mixed in water.

The defense presented the jury with a medical mystery. They speculated Burd might have had pica, an eating disorder characterized by an obsessive appetite, and that he accidentally poisoned himself by consuming a fatal amount of sodium.

Witnesses outside the home said they had seen Burd’s bizarre habits, too. The day he died, Overton said she found him in the kitchen pantry but could not determine what he had consumed, if anything.

To find Overton guilty, jurors had to believe either of two scenarios: that she force-fed Burd salt knowing it would kill him or that she neglected to get medical help fast enough. They convicted her based on the latter argument, that she did not seek help quickly enough.

Overton told “20/20” in 2008 that she did not regret trying to adopt Burd.

“I wouldn’t take that away,” she said at the time. “He had brothers and sisters and a mommy and daddy, what he called his forever family, because we had to go through a lot of pain since then. It’s not fair to him. Or to us.””

MOM OF 5 WAITS BEHIND BARS AFTER CONVICTION IS OVERTURNED[ABC 7 11/7/14 by Juju Chang]

“Update December 8, 2014

 

Hopefully, Hannah will get bail on the 16th, and be able to go home for Christmas. She is still in the Corpus Christi jail in solitary confinement, even though the Justices declared her to be relieved of the Murder, life in Prison, charge. Please pray she will be able to go home to her husband Larry and their five children. It has been over 5 years since she was unjustly charged. Much has been accomplished for the kingdom of God, through Hannah’s witness while in prison. “It is not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God. 2 Corinthians 3:5. ”

 

http://www.inamanlypainter.com/5.html[In  manly Painter blog]

Update 5: Now this article as well as most do not tell the REAL Reason for her to be convicted–MEDICAL NEGLECT. She waited for 3 HOURS Before calling 911.!

“A Texas mom who has already spent seven years in prison for the murder of her four-year-old adopted son, will spend Christmas with her family after a judge freed her while she waits for her re-trial.

Hannah Overton, 37, will spend the holidays with her husband and five children for the first time since her 2007 conviction and life sentence for poisoning her son, Andrew Burd, with an overdose of salt.

Throughout her incarceration, her family have stood by her and protested her innocence, but Nueces County district attorney Mark Skurk has said that he will push again for capital murder charges, although a date has not yet been set.

An appellate court’s majority opinion to overturn Overton’s conviction wrote that her trial was ‘problematic from the beginning,’ according to ABC News.

Original prosecutor Sandra Eastwood was terminated for reasons unrelated to the original case years after Overton was convicted, and Overton has accused her of unprofessional conduct several times since.

On a fateful day in October 2006, Burd, whose biological teenage mother was a Meth addict, started acting up and then vomited, telling Overton that he didn’t feel well.

When he said he felt cold, he took a warm bath but as his symptoms worsened, the Overtons took him to the Corpus Christi hospital for treatment. He died a day later from salt poisoning.

A week after his death, murder charges were brought against the mother. The lead prosecutor in the case, Sandra Eastwood, portrayed Overton as a frazzled care giver that had force fed Andrew cajun seasoning as a form of punishment, which caused the sodium poisoning.

But during the trial, the defense said the boy’s death was accidental and was likely due to a medical condition, pica, that can cause a person to crave non-edible salty items like clay, sand or dirt.

The mother has been behind bars for seven years, separated from her husband and five children who are being cared for by their father and home schooled by a supportive church community that still believes in Overton’s innocence.

New details have emerged that allege the prosecutor in the case withheld evidence, like providing details on the boy’s stomach content at the time of his death.

The defense said that the prosecution claimed that samples from the boy’s vomit were unavailable but Overton’s lawyers claimed Eastwood withheld evidence so the sample could not be tested.

The pediatrician that had treated Andrew before he was placed in Overton’s care has also said that the child’s medical state was not properly explained at the trial.

Dr Edgar Cortes said the boy had development issues that contributed to his eating disorder.

‘I think that if we’re going to be fair, if we’re going to be just, we have to take all of the circumstances into consideration,’ he testified at a February hearing, part of Overton’s appeal.

Teachers and friends who knew the boy have agreed that he had unusual eating habits and even tried to each trash on one occasion.

he boy’s Sunday School teacher had actually tried to persuade the Overtons not to take Andrew into their care because of his development issues, saying that the parents should think of the welfare of their other children.

But the Overtons have said that even knowing what they do now, they would still have welcomed Andrew into their hearts and their home.

‘He had brothers and sisters and a mommy and daddy, what he called his forever family, because we had to go through a lot of pain since then,’ Hannah Overton told 20/20 in 2008.

Eastwood’s professional abilities have also been called into question. After the trial she was fired by the district attorney’s office in Nueces County in 2010.

In 2011, she admitted she struggled with alcohol dependency issues and was also taking diet pills during her tenure as a prosecutor, though she has denied those issues tainted her ability during the Overton trial.”

 

Texas mother who was jailed for life for poisoning her adopted son, 4, by ‘force feeding him salt’ is freed – after she argued he ate it himself

[Daily Mail 12/16/14 by Josh Gardner]

Update 6: Grr! 

 

“A Texas mom who has already spent seven years in prison for the murder of her four-year-old adopted son, and was released shortly before Christmas, will not face new murder charges.

Hannah Overton, 37, wiped back tears as she, along with her husband Larry and five children, celebrated news that after having her conviction overturned for poisoning her son, Andrew Burd, with an overdose of salt, prosecutors have dropped all charges against her and will no longer be looking into her case.

Throughout her incarceration, her family stood by her and protested her innocence, but Nueces County district attorney Mark Skurka had said shortly after she was released that he would push again for capital murder charges.

He could do this as her conviction was overturned because of ineffective counsel, meaning this would not be a case of double jeopardy.

In a news release however, Skura said that he would not be trying the case again due to ‘a myriad of factors which came about after a careful review of the previous trial, re-interviewing some of the key witnesses, consulting with some of the medical experts involved in the case, reviewing evidence adduced at recent hearings and staffing the case with the current prosecutors assigned to the case.’

A judge then granted Skura’s motion to dismiss.

‘Wow, we don’t even know where to begin,’ Overton said after hearing this news.

‘We are so excited about all God has done in and through all of this. He has carried us through.‘[God? ]

An appellate court’s majority opinion to overturn Overton’s conviction last year wrote that her trial was ‘problematic from the beginning,’ according to ABC News.

Original prosecutor Sandra Eastwood was terminated for reasons unrelated to the original case years after Overton was convicted, and Overton has accused her of unprofessional conduct several times since.

On a fateful day in October 2006, Burd, whose biological teenage mother was a Meth addict, started acting up and then vomited, telling Overton that he didn’t feel well.

When he said he felt cold, he took a warm bath but as his symptoms worsened, the Overtons took him to the Corpus Christi hospital for treatment. He died a day later from salt poisoning.

A week after his death, murder charges were brought against the mother. The lead prosecutor in the case, Eastwood, portrayed Overton as a frazzled care giver that had force fed Andrew cajun seasoning as a form of punishment, which caused the sodium poisoning.

But during the trial, the defense said the boy’s death was accidental and was likely due to a medical condition, pica, that can cause a person to crave non-edible salty items like clay, sand or dirt.

The mother has been behind bars for seven years, separated from her husband and five children who are being cared for by their father and home schooled by a supportive church community that still believes in Overton’s innocence.

New details have emerged that allege the prosecutor in the case withheld evidence, like providing details on the boy’s stomach content at the time of his death.

The defense said that the prosecution claimed that samples from the boy’s vomit were unavailable but Overton’s lawyers claimed Eastwood withheld evidence so the sample could not be tested.

The pediatrician that had treated Andrew before he was placed in Overton’s care has also said that the child’s medical state was not properly explained at the trial.

Dr Edgar Cortes said the boy had development issues that contributed to his eating disorder.

‘I think that if we’re going to be fair, if we’re going to be just, we have to take all of the circumstances into consideration,’ he testified at a February hearing, part of Overton’s appeal.

Teachers and friends who knew the boy have agreed that he had unusual eating habits and even tried to eat trash on one occasion.

 

The boy’s Sunday School teacher had actually tried to persuade the Overtons not to take Andrew into their care because of his development issues, saying that the parents should think of the welfare of their other children.

But the Overtons have said that even knowing what they do now, they would still have welcomed Andrew into their hearts and their home.

‘He had brothers and sisters and a mommy and daddy, what he called his forever family, because we had to go through a lot of pain since then,’ Hannah Overton told 20/20 in 2008.

Eastwood’s professional abilities have also been called into question. After the trial she was fired by the district attorney’s office in Nueces County in 2010.

In 2011, she admitted she struggled with alcohol dependency issues and was also taking diet pills during her tenure as a prosecutor, though she has denied those issues tainted her ability during the Overton trial. ”

Texas mother jailed for life for poisoning her adopted son, 4, with salt breaks down and her family celebrates as murder charges are dropped after serving seven years in prison

[Daily Mail 4/10/15 by Josh Gardner]
Update 7:

“A Texas mom who was wrongfully convicted of murdering her foster son will now receive nearly $600,000 in compensation from the state for the seven years she spent in jail.

In May 2017, the Nueces County District Attorney’s office officially declared that Hannah Overton, of Corpus Christi, Texas, was innocent in the death of Andrew Burd, the four-year-old foster son she hoped to adopt.

This gave her access to state funds earmarked for the wrongfully convicted, ABC News reported.

Hannah — who had four other children and was pregnant with a fifth at the time — was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison after prosecutors accused her of forcing Burd to drink cajun seasoning mixed with water as punishment, an act which they said resulted in his death by sodium poisoning in 2006.

MEDICAL NEGLECT (3 …HOURS …before calling 911) and Blunt Force Head Trauma= GUILT!!!!!

Texas mom who served seven years in prison after being wrongly convicted of killing her four-year-old foster son by poisoning him with salt will receive almost $600,000 in compensation

 

[Daily Mail 3/8/18 by Daily Mail Reporter]