Last night, January 26, the State of Texas carried out its first execution of 2012. Rodrigo Hernandez, 38, originally on parole in Michigan, had his DNA linked to the crime for which he was sentenced to death in 2002. The victim, Susan Verstegan, was sexually assaulted and strangled in 1994 in San Antonio. It was [...]
According to an investigation by the Houston Chronicle, 12 of the last 13 defendants sentenced to death in Harris County have been African American. The 13th death sentence was handed down last month (October 2011) to Jaime Cole, who is Hispanic. In her article “Harris death penalties show racial pattern” (November 14, 2011), reporter Lise [...]
More than 60 prominent civil rights leaders, faith leaders, elected officials, and former presidents of the American Bar Association are calling upon Harris County District Attorney Patricia Lykos to provide remedy in the case of Duane Buck, who was scheduled to be executed by the State of Texas on September 15, 2011. Read the [...]
We just received confirmation that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) has issued a stay of execution for Hank Skinner. The order from the CCA states that “the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 64, which provides for DNA testing, has undergone several changes since its creation, but those changes have never been reviewed in [...]
Among the many voices calling for DNA testing for Hank Skinner is Danny Stewart, who served as the jury foreman in the original trial. Read a letter to the editor from Mr. Stewart that appeared on Sunday, November 6, 2011 in the Dallas Morning News: Re: “Skinner Case: Test It All — Refusal of DNA [...]
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