Charles Mamou was sent to death row in 1999, based on a case with no eye witnesses, no DNA, and now weapon. The state needed to present something though, and here is an excerpt from the testimony of the prosecution’s first witness in the case that sent Mamou to death row in Texas:
Q. But at some point, you’re clear thinking; you’re able to tell the police what took place, right?
A. Not as I can recall.
Q. You recall –
A. I could not talk.
Q. That’s why you used the notes to write to the police?
A. I guess.
Q. Then you would know. Were you aware of what you were writing when you wrote to the police?
A. No.
Q. So, you weren’t aware. When is the first time you told them about the good samaritan story?
A. I don’t remember saying that.
Q. You don’t recall telling the police that some guys looked like they were broke down and ya’ll stopped to help them?
A. No.
Q. Are you saying you never told the police that?
A. I’m not saying that either.
Q. Now, was there a point in time when you decided that it was okay to tell the police what had happened once you realized you weren’t going to be prosecuted for anything, correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Is that what caused you to then come forward and say, Here’s how – what I was going to do. Once some police detective shows you, tells you about how we’re not worried about you and this dope case; we’re interested in prosecuting this guy, and that’s the first time you’ve come forward with information, and you had basically explained what you testified to on direct examination?
A. Right.
THE COURT: Approach the bench for a second, please.
That was part of the testimony of the State’s very first witness, Kevin Walter. According to his own testimony, which contradicts itself throughout, Kevin Walter was a participant in a drug deal in which he planned to take money from Charles Mamou and his associates by force if necessary.
Many of the details of the drug deal gone wrong will vary throughout the trial, but everyone agrees that Kevin Walter was involved because he was selling drugs he didn’t have, and planned to take the money in a variety of ways – according to which part of his testimony you choose to believe. Within his testimony, there are so many variations of that night it is hard to know exactly what he testified to.
Ultimately, Kevin Walter got shot during the mutual attempted robbery. None of the parties involved has been charged in that shooting.
As to how the ‘plan’ to rob Charles Mamou began, Kevin Walter testified about a conversation he had with Dion Holley, an associate of his:
Q. How was it that you just came to just hook up with Mr. Holley in November of 1998?
A. Well, when he was shooting basketball, I just asked him did he want to make some money.
Q. Okay. And I take it that Dion was not surprised that you came and asked him if he wanted to make some money?
A. No.
Q. And so, you presented to him what you referred to as the plan, correct?
A. Yes.
So it was in November of 1998, the beginning of a plan was put into motion. The details of the plan are very unclear during the testimony with the most consistency being in the contradictions themselves.
For example:
Q. Tell me what you thought. Did you think Mr. Mamou was a snitch right then?
A. Yes.
Q. Yes or no?
A. Yes.
A few questions later:
Q. You’ve already described why that didn’t happen because you thought he was a snitch, right?
A. No, not really.
Regarding his intent, Mr. Walter stated:
A. Whether he was a snitch or not, I take this money.
Q. So, even if he was working for the police department, you would be willing to take his money from him?
A. Oh, no.
Q. Whatever it takes?
A. Oh, no.
Q. If you knew he was a police officer, you wouldn’t take his money from him?
A. No.
Q. I thought you said even if he was a snitch, you would take his money from him?
A. That don’t mean the police was there.
Q. So if the police weren’t there, you would do whatever it takes to take the money? Fair statement? This is all about you getting twenty grand, right?
A. Right.
Q. How were you going to divide it between you and Holley and Gibson?
A. I don’t know. Once we took the money, we would divide it.
Q. You worry about that later on; get the money first?
A. The main thing was to see the money, count the money.
Q. Take the money. There was a third part to it, right? Right? See the money, count the money, take the money?
A. Yeah.
Q. I believe your testimony when Mr. McClellan was talking to you was the plan was to rob the defendant, Charles Mamou, correct?
A. Correct.
Throughout his time on the stand Mr. Walter’s restates his plan to rob Mr. Mamou. At one point he goes into more detail about the plan:
Q. And when he asks to see the dope, it’s part of your plan to do what? How do you respond? What’s your plan?
A. It’s down the street.
Q. And that was not true, you had no dope, right?
A. Right.
Q. You never had any intention of giving him any dope?
A. Right.
Q. From start to finish, your plan is to rip him off?
A. Right.
Q. At some point, when it’s obvious to you that twenty thousand is no longer an issue, according to your testimony, and it’s only forty-five hundred, you’re still wanting to rip him off even for the forty-five hundred?
A. Yeah.
At one point Mr. Martin seems a little off balance after the defense attorney refers to him, using the word ‘afraid’.
Q. Now through this entire time, you indicated to the jury earlier that you were afraid that this man is going to rip you off, right?
A. Right.
Q. That’s running through your mind the entire time?
A. No.
Q. What?
A. I’m listening.
Q. Is that true?
A. Yes.
Q. And would it be a fair statement that the places where the meetings were taking place up to that point were public locations, open to the public? People could drive by, walk by, see what was going on? Do you understand my question?
A. No, but I was just listening to you say afraid. I never said I was scared.
Q. You weren’t afraid of Mr. Mamou?
A. What you mean by afraid?
Q. Well, what do you mean by afraid?
A. I wasn’t really scared.
Q. You were just going to rip him off?
A. That’s what – yeah.
During the States’ questioning, Mr. Martin continued to contradict his testimony. He had already testified that he never had a gun, but when describing an earlier part of the evening when it was just him and his friend Dion Holley, he testified:
Q. Was part of the plan to rob Charles Mamou at gunpoint?
A. No.
Q. What was the plan?
A. To take his money and—
Q. How were you going to get him to give you the money?
A. Once we count the money, then we take the money.
Q. Just going to jump in the car and run?
A. No. It was at gunpoint, of course; but it wasn’t no plan.
Q. Pardon?
A. If it was going to be gunpoint, yes, of course, once we count the money.
Q. But Terrence Gibson wasn’t there?
A. No, no, he wasn’t. I didn’t see him.
Q. Did you have a gun?
A. No.
Q. Did Dion Holley have a gun?
A No.
Q. How are you going to do it at gunpoint?
A. I don’t know. I was going to see can I walk away with the money.
Upon recross examination, he was asked about that again.
Q. Your testimony was that if it was necessary at some point to have a gunpoint to force the money, you said that was okay, isn’t it?
A. Yes.
Again, later in the testimony:
Q. And you knew that if it came to gunpoint, then so be it, in terms of getting the $20,000 from Chucky Mamou?
A. Yes.
After the conclusion of Kevin Walter’s testimony, one is left knowing there is nothing certain about what Mr. Martin testified to regarding the night of the drug deal gone wrong. And, the drug deal is all that he was questioned about, not the murder of Mary Carmouche.
It appears that Kevin Martin was not charged for his involvement in any of the events that took place.
TO CONTACT CHARLES MAMOU:
Charles Mamou #999333
Polunsky Unit 12-CD-53
3872 South FM 350
Livingston, TX 77351
Related Articles: What Does It Take To Get On Texas Death Row;
Texas Death Sentence Clouded By Irrefutable Doubt;
Awaiting Execution – “Have You Ever Felt Like You Can Taste The Future?”;
Because They Can – Execution In Texas;
Letter From Key Mamou Witness Contradicting Testimony
REFERENCES:
Harris County, Texas. Charles Mamou, Jr. Vs. The State Of Texas. Sept. 1999.
