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Collin County prosecutors could let CCA off the hook for ethical morass in Charles Hood case

National CBS News last evening covered the Charles Dean Hood case, in which a Collin County prosecutor and judge conducted a secret romantic affair during Hood's capital murder trial. (The judge was later appointed by then-Governor Bush to serve on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals with 8 of the 9 current members who now must decide whether to give Hood a retrial because of her misconduct.) CBS legal reporter Andrew Cohen offered this suggestion how prosecutors could help the CCA save face:Now that Judge Brewer has found facts that establish the affair, and the efforts of two sworn public servants to hide it, it?s hard to identify a legal theory upon which Texas or its appellate courts could rely in denying Hood a new trial. Is there a more direct conflict of interest, negating the duty of impartiality and integrity in the criminal justice system, than what Holland and O?Connell did? Would you want to be a defendant in those circumstances? Would you trust the judge?s rulings, or the prosecution?s conduct, or the interaction between the two knowing that your adversary and tribune had been shacking up?It?s possible, I suppose, that the appellate court could reject Judge Brewer?s legal conclusion that Hood?s attorneys can push this matter further even though all of the relevant events took place 19 years ago...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on May 04, 2009 (boomark / email).