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| Hank Skinner |
Source: Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, November 7, 2011
Stay of Execution Granted for Hank Skinner Pending a DNA Test
Stay of Execution Granted for Hank Skinner Pending a DNA Test
A spokesperson in Texas Gov. Rick Perry's office has confirmed that a stay of execution has been granted for Hank Skinner, the Texas man convicted in 1995 for the murder of his girlfriend and her two adult sons two years earlier. The stay comes from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, not Perry himself.
Skinner was set to be executed on November 9, despite the fact that much of the physical evidence related to his case had not been tested for DNA. That evidence will now be tested. I asked Perry's office which tests will be performed, and when, and was told they'd get back to me with that information this afternoon.
The Texas Tribune's Brandi Grissom confirmed with Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that the court, not Perry, issued the stay. Radley Balko, whose reporting on Skinner is top-notch, confirmed the same thing with Skinner's legal team, and adds that not all of the evidence that Skinner wants tested still exists.
UPDATE: Radley has more on the court order for the stay. First and foremost, he notes that the order isn't for DNA testing, it's "a stay to determine if he should get DNA testing."
Source: Reason, Mike Riggs, November 7, 2011
Skinner was set to be executed on November 9, despite the fact that much of the physical evidence related to his case had not been tested for DNA. That evidence will now be tested. I asked Perry's office which tests will be performed, and when, and was told they'd get back to me with that information this afternoon.
The Texas Tribune's Brandi Grissom confirmed with Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that the court, not Perry, issued the stay. Radley Balko, whose reporting on Skinner is top-notch, confirmed the same thing with Skinner's legal team, and adds that not all of the evidence that Skinner wants tested still exists.
UPDATE: Radley has more on the court order for the stay. First and foremost, he notes that the order isn't for DNA testing, it's "a stay to determine if he should get DNA testing."
Source: Reason, Mike Riggs, November 7, 2011
Court of Criminal Appeals Grants Hank Skinner Stay
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals today granted a stay of execution for Hank Skinner.
Skinner was set to be executed on Wednesday for the 1993 New Year's Eve murders of his live-in girlfriend and her two sons in Pampa. For more than a decade, Skinner has been seeking DNA testing in an effort to prove that he is innocent of the crimes.
The court in its order today said it wanted time to consider Skinner's requests for DNA testing in light of the most recent changes to post-conviction DNA testing law that legislators approved during the legislative session this year. Lawmakers repealed provisions of the law the state previously argued prohibited testing in Skinner's case.
"Because the DNA statute has changed, and because some of those changes were because of this case, we find that it would be prudent for this Court to take time to fully review the changes in the statute as they pertain to this case," the court's order states.
Source: The Texas Tribune, November 7, 2011
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