Attorneys: 3 of ‘San Antonio 4’ to soon go free

November 18, 2013 at 10:21p.m.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Three of four San Antonio women imprisoned for sexually assaulting two girls in 1994 were expected to walk free today after a judge agreed that their convictions were tainted by faulty witness testimony, their defense attorney said.

Attorney Mike Ware said in a San Antonio courtroom today that the three women still behind bars would be released under bond on their own recognizance later in the day. Prosecutor Rico Valdez confirmed that an agreement he and Ware previously reached had been approved by a judge.

However, Ware and other attorneys later told reporters that paperwork issues on one of the three would delay the process into the night. They had no estimate of a release time.

Elizabeth Ramirez, Kristie Mayhugh and Cassandra Rivera were convicted in 1998 of assaulting two of Ramirez’s nieces, ages 7 and 9, of successive attacks during a week in 1994. The girls testified that the women held them by their wrists and ankles, attacked them and threatened to kill them.

A fourth woman, Anna Vasquez, has already been paroled, but under strict conditions.

“It’s a breath of fresh air,” Vasquez told reporters after Ware made the announcement. “It’s an awesome feeling. It’s like a dream come true.”

While the women were not formally declared innocent of the crimes, prosecutors in Bexar County have said they do not intend to retry them if the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals vacates the convictions. Ramirez was given a 37-year prison sentence. Mayhugh, Vasquez and Rivera were given 15-year sentences.

More than a decade after the women were convicted, their case came to the attention of attorneys affiliated with the nonprofit Innocence Project of Texas, which investigates potential wrongful conviction cases. Ware, who has worked on the case for two years, filed petitions on their behalf last month with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

They were convicted in 1998 based on an expert’s testimony that a vaginal injury sustained by the 9-year-old girl could have been caused by an assault. According to a petition filed by Ware, Dr. Nancy Kellogg testified that the injury in question happened around the time of the alleged assaults. But her conclusions have since been discredited by current findings on science, attorneys have said. Kellogg declined an interview request last week.