Texas governor and Republican White House hopeful Rick Perry has overseen more executions than any other US governor and is proud of it - but his decision on one case will likely spark controversy.
Convicted triple murderer Hank Skinner is scheduled to be put to death in Texas on November 9 but Skinner has steadfastly maintained his innocence and says DNA testing - so far refused by the state - will exonerate him.
Of the nation-leading 476 executions carried out in Texas since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, roughly half have taken place on Perry's watch, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
While the centre's director Richard Dieter admits that the death penalty has not emerged as an "electoral issue" ahead of next year's presidential election, Perry has repeatedly trumpeted his support for capital punishment.
When asked in September if he lost sleep over the idea that an executed inmate could have been innocent, Perry replied: "No, sir. I've never struggled with that at all."
"If you come into our state and you kill one of our children, you kill a police officer, you're involved with another crime and you kill one of our citizens, you will face the ultimate justice in the state of Texas," he said.
"You will be executed."
Perry has granted clemency only once since taking over the governorship when George W Bush was elected president in 2000 - in 2007, three hours before the scheduled execution of a man who had been the driver of a murderer.
Under Texas law, the governor has the authority to grant clemency upon the written recommendation of a majority of the state Board of Pardons and Paroles. He can order a one-time 30-day stay of execution without a recommendation.
Perry "has not lost sleep over this issue," said Kristin Houle, director of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
"We have seen numerous cases of individuals that have been exonerated from death row with evidence of wrongful convictions. Five of the 12 exonerated have occurred during his 11 years" in office, she said.
Perry endured sharp criticism in 2004 for allowing the execution of Cameron Willingham, convicted for the death of his three children in a fire which experts later said might not have been criminal in nature.
The execution in Georgia in September of murder convict Troy Davis, who proclaimed his innocence to the end, sparked condemnation at home and abroad, and again shone a light on the flaws of the death penalty system.
Skinner, who is married to a Frenchwoman, has repeatedly asked for DNA tests on evidence that was never processed.
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| Hank Skinner |
Last week, a group of current and former judges and elected officials urged Perry to delay the execution until such tests can be performed.
"Executing Mr Skinner without testing all the relevant evidence would suggest official indifference to the possibility of error in this case and needlessly undermine public confidence in Texas's criminal justice system," they wrote.
Rob Owen, director of the capital punishment clinic at the University of Texas School of Law, said the Skinner case was "very political" and could "generate the same kind of public outrage as the Troy Davis case."
"It's quite possible that this case will attract public attention and become a national controversy largely because of the fact that our governor is running for president," Owen told AFP.
But Steve Hall, head of the StandDown Texas project, which advocates a moratorium on the death penalty and a review of the state's use of capital punishment, said Perry would likely not lose support over the issue.
"The death penalty is not much of a political issue. It's more popular among Republican voters," Hall said.
Source: Agence France-Presse, November 1, 2011
Please sign and share widely this online petition to Lynn Switzer, Gray County District Attorney, to urge her to grant Hank Skinner the DNA testing.
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