Henry "Hank" Skinner: URGENT ACTION APPEAL from Amnesty International USA

Henry Skinner’s execution has been postponed by a month and rescheduled for 24 March. He was convicted of the 1993 murder of his girlfriend and her two sons in the house all four shared. He maintains his innocence and is seeking DNA testing of evidence that could support his claim.

Henry Skinner (pictured) was scheduled to be put to death on 24 February. On 16 February, the presiding judge of the court where Henry Skinner was convicted in 1995 withdrew the death warrant because of a technical legal error with the way it had been issued. In the same order, the judge set a new execution date:

“It is the Order of the Court that the Defendant, Henry Watkins Skinner, who has been adjudged to be guilty of capital murder, and whose punishment has been assessed at death, at any time after the hour of 6:00pm on the 24th day of March, 2010, shall be executed by intravenous injection of a substance or substances in a lethal quantity sufficient to cause death and until the said Henry Watkins Skinner is dead…”

Henry Skinner’s lawyers, who were informed of the judge’s order on 17 February, expressed their dismay at the decision to set this new date despite the ongoing legal efforts to have the prosecution release items from the crime scene for DNA testing. In a statement, the lawyers said that “this unseemly haste to execute Mr. Skinner ignores the growing public concern and outcry over the unanswered questions about Mr. Skinner’s guilt.” They said that delaying the execution by only a month would mean that the lawsuit seeking DNA testing, pending before the US Supreme Court, “must now be resolved under needless and entirely artificial time pressures”.

Henry Skinner was convicted of the murder of his girlfriend Twila Busby and her sons, 22-year-old Elwin Caler and 20-year-old Randy Busby. Henry Skinner pleaded not guilty at his trial, with his lawyers presenting the theory that he had been physically unable to commit the crimes and that the police had ignored a plausible alternative suspect. The defense presented a toxicologist who said that it was improbable that Henry Skinner could have committed the murders because of his level of intoxication with alcohol and codeine that night. The state presented no expert evidence to rebut this testimony, merely suggesting instead that his history of drug and alcohol abuse made him tolerant to such substances. The defense also presented expert testimony that a previous hand injury had left Henry Skinner without the strength required to have inflicted Twila Busby’s injuries. Nevertheless, the jury voted to convict Henry Skinner and sentence him to death. The case against him remains circumstantial, showing only that he was present at the scene of the murders, which he does not dispute. Further evidence has since emerged pointing to the possible alternative suspect, and a key prosecution witness has recanted parts of her trial testimony.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:

- Explaining that you are not seeking to excuse the killing of Twila Busby and her two sons;

- Noting the serious doubts that remain about Henry Skinner’s guilt;

- Calling for clemency for Henry Skinner and for commutation of his death sentence;

- Calling on the state to grant Henry Skinner’s request for DNA testing of crime scene evidence.

APPEALS TO:

Note: include Inmate No: #999143

Rissie L. Owens

Presiding Officer

Board of Pardons and Paroles

Executive Clemency Section

8610 Shoal Creek Boulevard

Austin, TX 78757

Fax: 1 512 467 0945

Salutation: Dear Ms Owens

Governor Rick Perry

Office of the Governor

P.O. Box 12428

Austin, Texas 78711-2428

Fax: 1 512 463 1849

Salutation: Dear Governor

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.

Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 24 March 2010.

Source: Amnesty International, Feb. 20, 2010

Actions for Hank Skinner:

Sign and send this online petition/email to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Write, call, fax or email your own letter to the Board of Pardons and Paroles and Texas Governor Rick Perry. Urge them to stay the execution to allow testing of DNA. In the subject line of your emails or in any letters to the Board of Pardons and Paroles, write "Attention Case of Hank Skinner #999143".

Hank Skinner is scheduled to be executed in Texas on March 24 for three murders he maintains he didn't commit. Several key pieces of biological evidence from the crime scene have not been tested. DNA testing could prove Skinner's innocence or confirm his guilt, but prosecutors are opposing Skinner's appeals and seeking to execute him.