Court TV Host: Mauriceo Brown is scheduled to be executed this evening, just hours from now. Chat with Brown's lawyer, David Sergi. Brown was sentenced to death for gunning down a prominent lawyers son during a botched robbery in San Antonio, Texas in 1997. He still denies he was the gunman and claims he only confessed because his co-defendants threatened to hurt his family. Last week, before a judge rejected his penultimate appeal, he spoke to CourtTVnews.com.

Court TV Host: Read about the case - and watch our death row interview with Brown. 

Court TV Host: David Sergi is here. Welcome, thanks for being our guest today. With two hours away, any news?

David Sergi: Quite unexpectedly the fifth circuit court of appeals had a divided opinion on our lethal injection challenge, and one of the judges voted to grant us a stay, and we are now in front of the U.S. Supreme Court asking for a stay, and usually, you have a better chance at a stay when one of the court of appeals judges has voted to give you a stay. We're quietly optimistic that we hope to get a stay. I had a phone call earlier today from a woman who heard about this case in the media, who claims that she talked to a bailiff who will confirm that the LaHood family was getting confidential information from one of the other district court judges. Whether that's true or not I don't know, but all the media attention has brought us new information which might reflect on Mauriceo's actual innocence.

Question from tara: David, have you spoken to Brown today, and what is his demeanor?

David Sergi: I spoke to him yesterday and it was positive and upbeat. Another lawyer on our team, Anne Burnham, visited with him today at three o'clock and just got out, and said that he's peaceful, calm and putting his trust in the Lord.

Question from tara: David, since Dillard is serving life for a different murder, why would Brown's claim of Dillard being the gunman not be considered or investigated further?

David Sergi: That is a good question that we have. Before you kill somebody you might just want to investigate whether someone else did it, especially when there's a rational reason to pursue that. I mean, here you have a man of acknowledged limited intellectual means, who confesses, but he would have confessed to almost anything. He's of limited intellectual means, and he's being interrogated by some very good police officers, he is in fear of his life from Dillard -- best I see it, he would have confessed to killing the man in the moon.

Question from Cindy: When Mauriceo Brown made the decision to willingly participate in the crime of robbery he also took on the equal responsibility for whatever happened, in this case the death of an innocent man. The innocent man is dead because of their greed - why does he believe he shouldn't be executed?

David Sergi: What's interesting is that Dillard, who we've accusing of killing LaHood, tells us that there was no robbery planned. So as far as we can see, three of the four participants agree there was no robbery, and now even Foster agrees there was no robbery. And there is nothing in it for any of the other three to lie about this or to change their stories. There's nothing in it for them.

Question from tara: David, is there a last minute appeal sitting on a judges desk right now?

David Sergi: Everything is sitting at the Supreme Court in Washington DC. We have three separate writs and appeals pending. One that says the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals was wrong in denying our pleading. One asking the U.S. Supreme Court to issue an original writ of habeas corpus to look at the case. And one arguing that the method of execution is torture and cruel and unusual punishment.

Question from dockette9: How long to you anticipate the stay will be...what are your plans?

David Sergi: If we get the stay, we would hope to get a new trial. And at a new trial, to exonerate Mauriceo.

Question from Wingit: How many times previously has a date been set for this execution??

David Sergi: This is the first time.

Court TV Host: Hold on a moment, everyone...The Supreme Court is calling Mr. Sergi.

David Sergi: The Supreme Court had a procedural question, which would indicate to me that someone is seriously looking at this. There's not much more I can say about that conversation - that would be inappropriate.

Question from JERRY: Mr. Sergi, I read the article on this case and it doesn't say if Mary Patrick testified at the trial. Did she name the shooter?

David Sergi: She did, and she identified Dwayne Dillard. What I am gathering out of all this, was that this was precipitated by Mary Patrick running down the driveway, screaming expletives and using the n-word, and screaming racial epithets, and we think Dillard just snapped. It's one of those things where, you know, some badly chosen words resulted in an innocent guy dying.

Question from rider: Did he ever think about taking his own life

David Sergi: No. Not as far as I know.

Question from tara: David, why did the state disallow DNA tests on the clothing, if it could possibly change the case and outcome for Brown?

David Sergi: That is a question only the judge can answer. The cost of a DNA test is so minimal and could have been done prior to today that it boggles my mind why it wasn't. And I can only think politics were involved, in my opinion.

Question from eag: When will you find out from the Supreme Court?

David Sergi: Good question. Hopefully soon, but I have been involved in cases where it was close to midnight.

Question from eag: But if he is supposed to be executed at 6?

David Sergi: After six - and they always wait until they get the final clearances from the Supreme Court.

Question from rider: Has he requested anything for his last meal?

David Sergi: I believe he requested, if memory serves me correctly, pizza, fried chicken, hamburgers, milk shake and, I think, a candy bar. I think they serve it at 4:30, if I'm not mistaken. In the death chamber itself, there are finger sandwiches available for all the guests - which is really bizarre.

Question from Sailor: If the appeals are denied, will you be a witness at the execution?

David Sergi: No, I will not, because I have been working in my office on the last minute filings. I have witnessed three executions, and I hope that's all I ever have to witness.

Question from rider: Will he see his little boy before the execution.

David Sergi: No, he visited with him about a week ago, and that was the last time.

Question from KatieInNO: Is he worried about people harming his family, now? Because he has spoken out?

David Sergi: No, and his family is not worried about the harm. Mauriceo is very slow and tends to believe everything you tell him. So even the family thinks there was no real danger to begin with.

Question from lisa: Where are the others that were in the car that night?

David Sergi: Foster is on death row, but a federal judge says he should get a new trial. Dillard and Steen are in prison on north Texas somewhere, for a different murder, that Mauriceo was not involved in.

Question from EAB1980: Why is Foster getting a new trial?

David Sergi: Because a federal judge thought that his sentence was disproportionate to his involvement, and of course the state is appealing that decision.

Question from gibby: Is he remorseful?

David Sergi: He's not remorseful because he didn't do it, but he is empathetic to the family and he is remorseful for the lifestyle that led him to where he is now. He addressed that in Courttv.com's interview.

Question from tara: David, if I read correctly, only two of the four were charged with murder, Were the others charged at all?

David Sergi: No. And I can give you a reason for it: Dillard in his affidavit tells us that he and Steen were not charged with the murder because they contradicted Foster's statement that it was a robbery - and without a robbery, at worst, it was simple murder rather than capital murder.

Court TV Host: The affidavit can be seen at http://www.courttv.com/facing_death/mauriceo_brown/docs/codefendantsaffidavit.html?page=2

Court TV Host: Thank you very much for your time at this crucial moment....any closing thoughts?

David Sergi: A lot of hard work went into our defense of Mauriceo. We were only asked to join his defense three weeks ago. I would like to publicly thank Tony Fusco, Viki Kewell, and Robert Up De Grove, who work with me, and an anonymous pro bono investigator who has spent countless hours beating the bushes, as well as Anne Burnham, one of his prior lawyers, who is in Huntsville right now. They took a monumental task and made it manageable, and we hope it will save Mauriceo's life.