Legal News

High Court Grants Eleventh-Hour Execution Stay For Texas Man

By Ashby Jones

It doesn’t happen often, so when it does, it’s the stuff of news: With just an hour to spare, the Supreme Court on Wednesday night blocked the execution in Texas of a convicted murderer, Henry Skinner.

The justices issued a stay of execution, saying they wanted more time to consider the appeal of Henry Skinner, who was sentenced to death for the 1993 murders of his girlfriend and her two sons. Click here for the Houston Chronicle story; here for the LA Times story.

Skinner has always maintained his innocence, claiming the girlfriend’s uncle was the killer. Since his conviction, he’s asked for DNA testing of the crime-scene evidence that he thinks would prove his innocence. Those requests have been repeatedly denied by Texas and federal courts, which have mostly ruled that Skinner had no right to go back and test evidence that he could have tested at the time of trial. Skinner’s trial lawyer, a former county prosecutor, did not seek DNA testing of the crime-scene evidence.

The case gained wide-spread attention shortly after the Northwestern’s Medill Innocence Project raised doubts about Skinner’s guilt. (If it hadn’t been for those meddling kids!)

According to the Chron, the stay will remain in effect until the high court rules on a second petition filed by Skinner’s attorneys asking for a review of an appellate court decision denying a request for DNA testing. Skinner’s request for testing was denied because it was filed as a civil rights claim.

Wednesday evening, Skinner expressed surprise at the Supreme Court’s ruling.

"I had made up my mind that I was going to die," Skinner reportedly told prison officials. He said he was eager for DNA testing to take place to "prove my innocence so I can get the hell out of here."

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on March 25, 2010 (boomark / email).