"90-DAY REPRIEVE FROM EXECUTION MR. SKINNER REQUESTS TO POSTPONE THE EXECUTION FOR 90 DAYS. HE DESPERATELY WANTS TO TEST VITAL UNTESTED CRIME-SCENE DNA EVIDENCE. HE IS CONFIDENT THAT SUCH DNA TESTING WILL PROVE HIS INNOCENCE. HE REQUESTS 90 DAYS TO HAVE THIS TESTING DONE. ALSO, IF THE COURTS HAVE NOT RESOLVED ALL OF THE PENDING LEGAL ACTIONS IN MR. SKINNER'S CASE, HE WANTS TO GIVE THE COURTS 90 DAYS TO MAKE THEIR FINAL DECISIONS."
FROM SUMMARY OF HANK SKINNER'S PENDING LEGAL ACTIONS;
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BACKGROUND: The editor of the Texas Tribune says in a note that "Hank Skinner is set to be executed for a 1993 murder he's always maintained he didn't commit. He wants the state to test whether his DNA matches evidence found at the crime scene, but prosecutors say the time to contest his conviction has come and gone. Now he has less than a month to change their minds. We told the story of the murders and his conviction and sentencing in the first part of this story." Reporter Brandi Grissom, author of the Tribune series on Hank Skinner, writes: "I interviewed Henry "Hank" Watkins Skinner, 47, at the Polunsky Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice — death row — on January 20, 2010. Skinner was convicted in 1995 of murdering his girlfriends and her two sons; the state has scheduled his execution for February 24. Skinner has always maintained that he's innocent and for 15 years has asked the state to release DNA evidence that he says will prove he was not the killer."
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: It reads like a dry list of legal procedures. But the summary of pending legal actions launched by Hank Skinner represents all that can save him from being executed on February 24, 2010 without having the opportunity to be exonerated if executive clemency is not granted. The law is all that can protect Hank Skinner - and others in his agonizing situation - from arbitrary, self-serving or capricious decisions of the executive powers that be.
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The summary, released on the Texas Death Penalty Blog on February 6, 2010, is provided by Students Against the Death Penalty which "works to end the death penalty in Texas through campaigns of public education and the promotion of youth activism."
0: "Henry W. Skinner vs. Rick Thaler, Director TDCJ-CID
This is an appeal from Mr. Skinner's inital federal habeas claims
U.S. Supreme Court, Case No. 09-7784
Docket information is available online at
http://origin.www.supremecourtus.gov/docket/09-7784.htm
A decision by the Supreme Court is Pending
0: Henry W. Skinner vs. Lynn Switzer, District Attorney
This is a federal lawsuit to compel Ms. Switzer to release previously untested DNA evidence
U.S. District Court Case No. 2:09-CV-281
U.S. District Court dismissed this lawsuit on Jan. 20, 2010.
U.S. District Court dismisses Motion to Stay Execution on Feb. 2, 2010
Click here to see U.S. Distict Court Order Dismissing Stay of Execution
0: Appealed Lynn Switzer lawsuit to 5th Circuit on Jan. 21, 2010
U.S. Court of Appeals for 5th Circuit Case No. 10-70002
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit denied appeal on Jan. 28, 2010.
0: An appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States is forthcoming
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Executive Clemency Applications:
Mr. Skinner filed two Applications for Executive Clemency. One application was for a 90-day Reprieve from Execution. The other application was for a Commutation from Death Sentence to life in prison. Each application went to the Governor of Texas and to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. PDFs of each application, and the associated Appendices, are available below.
90-day Reprieve from Execution Mr. Skinner requests to postpone the execution for 90 days. He desperately wants to test vital untested crime-scene DNA evidence. He is confident that such DNA testing will prove his innocence. He requests 90 days to have this testing done. Also, if the courts have not resolved all of the pending legal actions in Mr. Skinner's case, he wants to give the courts 90 days to make their final decisions.
Commutation of Death Sentence Mr. Skinner requests his death sentence be commuted to life in prison. However, Mr. Skinner has repeatedly and consistently proclaimed his innocence. Thus, a commutation to life imprisonment is not his ultimate goal. A commutation will allow Mr. Skinner the opportunity to prove his innocence without any threat of execution."
This summary -with links - can be found at:
http://texasdeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2010/02/pending-legal-actions-for-hank-skinner.html
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com
