"THIS WASN'T ALL THAT SURPRISING. FOR ONE, THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS—WHICH TURNED DOWN HIS REQUEST FOR MORE DNA TESTING BEFORE THE STATE EXECUTES HIM—IS NOTORIOUSLY HOSTILE TO DEFENDANTS, ESPECIALLY THOSE ON DEATH ROW. SECOND, SWEARINGEN HAS LOST MANY APPEALS. IN FACT, HE'S NEARLY BEEN EXECUTED TWICE. HIS CASE RECEIVED QUITE A BIT OF ATTENTION IN JANUARY 2009, WHEN A FEDERAL COURT STAYED HIS EXECUTION JUST ONE DAY BEFORE HE WAS SCHEDULED TO DIE. AND, THIRD, SWEARINGEN ISN'T AN ANGEL. HE HAS A CRIMINAL HISTORY, INCLUDING A CONVICTION FOR RAPE, ACCORDING TO NEWS REPORTS. STILL, THERE'S SOME COMPELLING EVIDENCE THAT SWEARINGEN MAY BE INNOCENT."
DAVE MANN: TEXAS OBSERVER CONTRARIAN BLOG;
(Wikipedia observes that: "The Texas Observer (also known as the Observer) is an American political newsmagazine published bi-weekly and based in Austin, Texas. Though nonpartisan, the publication has historically been an advocate for liberal political policies. The Observer was founded by Frankie Randolph and founding editor Ronnie Dugger in Austin in 1954 to address topics ignored by daily newspapers in the state — such as issues affecting working people and concerning class and race.Upon its founding, Dugger declared the paper's manifesto as "We will serve no group or party but will hew hard to the truth as we find it and the right as we see it." The publication continues this mission through today by focusing on covering what the mainstream press does not.)
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BACKGROUND: Larry Swearingen was sentenced to death in 2000 for the murder of Melissa Trotter in 1998. Melissa Trotter went missing on 8 December 1998. Larry Swearingen was arrested three days later, and has been incarcerated ever since. The body of Melissa Trotter was found in a forest on 2 January 1999. Larry Swearingen was tried for her murder, and sentenced to death. He maintains his innocence of the murder. Several forensic experts have provided statements and testimony that support his claim. One of these experts, Dr Joyce Carter, is the former Chief Medical Examiner of Harris County in Texas who performed the autopsy of Melissa Trotter and testified at Larry Swearingen’s trial that in her opinion, Melissa Trotter had died 25 days before her body was found. In an affidavit signed in 2007, Dr Carter stated that she had looked again at the case and changed her opinion. She concluded that Melissa Trotter’s body had been left in the forest within two weeks of it being found. If accurate, this would mean that the body was dumped at a time when Larry Swearingen was already in custody.
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"Larry Swearingen lost another appeal yesterday," Dave Mann's Texas Observer "Contrarian" Blog begins, under the heading,"Possibly Innocent Man Loses Another Appeal."
"This wasn't all that surprising," the post, published earlier today, continues.
"For one, The Court of Criminal Appeals—which turned down his request for more DNA testing before the state executes him—is notoriously hostile to defendants, especially those on death row.
Second, Swearingen has lost many appeals. In fact, he's nearly been executed twice. His case received quite a bit of attention in January 2009, when a federal court stayed his execution just one day before he was scheduled to die.
And, third, Swearingen isn't an angel. He has a criminal history, including a conviction for rape, according to news reports.
Still, there's some compelling evidence that Swearingen may be innocent.
He was sentenced to death for murdering Melissa Trotter, a 19-year-old college student, in Conroe in December 1998.
Swearingen's defense team, which includes the New York-based Innocence Project, has contended that Swearingen couldn't have killed Trotter because, at the time of the murder, he was sitting in jail for outstanding traffic tickets.
Six forensic experts have now studied the evidence in the case and concluded that Trotter's body was dumped in the woods a good while after Dec. 11, when Swearingen was put in jail.
Mann also points to earlier coverage of the case by the Houston Chronicle:
For more on this case, read Lisa Falkenberg's two excellent columns on Swearingen a year ago in the Houston Chronicle. (You can read them here and here.)
Earlier coverage linked at StandDown begins with this post yesterday. Mann has done first-class enterprise reporting for the Observer on arson cases."
The post can be found at:
http://standdown.typepad.com/weblog/2010/02/more-on-the-case-of-larry-swearingen.html
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
