BEAUMONT, Texas — A Texas appeals court has upheld the conviction of a woman from Orange who received a life sentence for the 2020 death of her young goddaughter.
Brenika Lott, 41, of Orange, was convicted in July 2022 for the murder of her 5-year-old goddaughter, Daviana Landry, of Louisiana.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: The above video first aired in July 2022.)
She was sentenced to life without parole in a Texas prison.
Lott appealed her capital murder conviction to the Texas Court of Appeals for the Ninth District of Texas claiming that the trial court violated her constitutional right to a grand jury indictment by allowing an amendment to be made to her indictment without input from the grand jury.
The appeals court disagreed and upheld her conviction releasing its opinion on Wednesday morning.
The original version of Lott's indictment accused her of striking Landry with her hand, causing the child's death, according to court documents.
About eight months after she was originally indicted the state filed a notice to amend the indictment.
In the amended indictment, Lott was accused of using "her hand or a wooden stick, pipe or metal tube" to cause Landry's death.
In denying Lott's appeal the court noted that she or her trial attorney never objected to the amended indictment. The appeals court also noted that before her trial her defense attorney said "I wanted to be clear on the record that I'm making a strategic decision not to object to the changes."
In upholding her conviction the appeals court said that "not only did Lott fail to raise the objection to the indictment she now raises on appeal, but she affirmatively represented to the trial court she made a 'strategic decision' not to object to the Amended Indictment."
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