Prison Break Leader Testifies in Trial

The leader of a Texas prison breakout that triggered a nationwide manhunt last winter took the stand Tuesday in a bid to avoid the death penalty and said the escape could have been bloody if his gang had not shown restraint.

“Quite honestly, if we wanted to be brutal, we had sledgehammers,” said George Rivas, who was convicted of murdering a police officer while on the run. “We had axes. We had huge pieces of steel rebar and pipes. The reason every single one is alive is because we didn’t want to hurt them.”

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Rivas for the slaying of Officer Aubrey Hawkins. Hawkins was shot 11 times during a holdup at a Dallas-area sporting goods store on Christmas Eve, nearly two weeks after Rivas and six other convicts broke out of a maximum-security prison without serious injury to any of their hostages.

The escaped convicts were tracked down in Colorado the next month. One committed suicide rather than be taken alive.

At the time of the escape, Rivas was serving 18 life sentences.

Rivas, 31, said he broke out because he did not want to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

“I wasn’t going to die an old man in prison,” he said. “I’m a convict. I robbed and I’m wrong for it, but I’m still a human being.”

Rivas said hostages were bound with plastic ties, not rope, so they could escape.

On cross-examination, prosecutor Toby Shook dismissed Rivas’ attempts to gain leniency.

“Aubrey Hawkins was shown no mercy this last Christmas Eve, was he?” Shook asked. “You could have given up.”

“And go back to prison? No,” Rivas responded.

“Were you trying to kill Aubrey Hawkins?” Shook asked.

“God, no. No,” Rivas said.