Seven of the jurors who sent Hank Skinner to death row for the murders of his girlfriend, Twila Busby, and her two sons now say they want the state to test all the DNA available in the case.
Texas death row
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Watkins Plays Self-Defense
Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins, under fire at home for his handling of an investigation into Democratic county constables, played defense before an Austin crowd this morning in a TribLive interview with the Tribune’s Evan Smith.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Justice Delayed
Death row inmate Hank Skinner bought himself some time Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to address whether he can bring a federal civil rights lawsuit instead of making a habeas corpus claim. But legal experts say he’s unlikely to escape his ultimate punishment.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Supremes Will Hear Hank Skinner DNA Case
The U.S. Supreme Court announced this morning that it will take up Texas death row inmate Hank Skinner’s case.
Posted in
State Government
On the Records: Prisons App 1.1
We’ve updated our Texas prisons app to include data and visualizations about inmates from each of the state’s 254 counties.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
David Oshinsky: The TT Interview
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author and University of Texas professor, whose latest book is a modern history of capital punishment in America, says he doesn’t oppose the death penalty — but he believes it’s scandalously implemented in Texas.
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Criminal Justice
The Big Stall
Since his appointment, the alternately amiable and peevish, typically cowboy-boot-shod chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission has comported himself as a virtuoso of the bureaucratic dawdle. With the commission’s investigation of the now-notorious Cameron Todd Willingham case “still in its infancy,” John Bradley has this to say about when it might conclude its review: “However long it takes, that’s however long it takes.”
Posted in
State Government
TribBlog: More Time for Willingham
Forensic Science Commission says consideration of Willingham case “still in its infancy.”
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Access Denied
“Sad and tawdry” affair between judge and prosecutor or not, the U.S. Supreme Court will not hear Charles Dean Hood’s case.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
The Inquisition
Ninety minutes of back-and-forth on Wednesday between a House committee and representatives of the Texas Forensic Science Commission — but not its chairman — covered the besieged agency’s nonexistent enforcement power, lack of written procedural guidelines, and public records policy. Oh, and the late Cameron Todd Willingham.
