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CCA Rejects Hank Skinner Habeas Petition

By Steve Hall

The Court of Criminal Appeals Order is here.Rob Owen of the University Of Texas School of Law Capital Punishment Center issued the following statement:"Today, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused to intervene in Mr. Skinner?s case (see attached Order). As a result, because state officials continue to refuse to conduct readily available DNA testing on evidence from the crime scene that could clear him, there remains a serious risk that Texas, one week from today, will execute an innocent man.  "We remain hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court, which has often found it necessary to correct egregious injustices in Texas capital cases, will intervene to protect Mr. Skinner?s right to pursue that DNA testing in federal court. We also trust that Governor Perry, having heard the voices of Texans insisting that the death penalty not be carried out while there are unresolved doubts about a defendant?s guilt, will do the right thing and postpone Mr...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on March 17, 2010 (boomark / email).