"Although the Supreme Court’s ruling meant Skinner’s civil suit could move forward, the court did not rule on whether he should be given access to the evidence. That decision has not yet been made.
According to one of Skinner’s attorneys, Washington, D.C.-based Douglas Robinson, the civil case still is pending in federal court in the Northern District of Texas Amarillo Division. Robinson said Switzer has asked the court to dismiss the case on different grounds, but the court has not yet ruled on that request.
Robinson said he believes the new execution date is “an effort to put pressure on the federal court to act quickly.”
REPORTER AMANDA BUCK: MARTINSVILLE BULLETIN;
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BACKGROUND: "Hank Skinner faces execution 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......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; 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." Texas Tribune;
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"A new execution date has been set for a former Henry County man who is on death row in Texas," the Martinsville Bulletin story by reporter Amanda Buck published earlier today under the heading, "Death date is set: Former county man on death row in Texas," begins.
"Henry Watkins “Hank” Skinner, 49, was sentenced to the death penalty in 1995 for the murder of his girlfriend and her two adult sons in their home in Pampa, Texas. According to the website of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Skinner is set to be executed Nov. 9 for those crimes," the story continues.
"This is not the first execution date for Skinner, who attended Fieldale-Collinsville High School. He was less than an hour away from execution in March 2010 when the U.S. Supreme Court halted the sentence and agreed to hear a matter in Skinner’s case.
In March of this year, the justices ruled that Skinner had the right to sue a Texas district attorney under a federal civil rights law for refusing to allow him access to evidence for DNA testing.
Skinner has sought to have several items that were gathered at the scene of the crime tested for DNA evidence, which his attorneys say could exonerate him. The district attorney, Lynn Switzer, has refused.
Skinner’s trial attorney decided not to test the evidence because he feared it would further incriminate Skinner, according to Associated Press reports.
Although the Supreme Court’s ruling meant Skinner’s civil suit could move forward, the court did not rule on whether he should be given access to the evidence. That decision has not yet been made.
According to one of Skinner’s attorneys, Washington, D.C.-based Douglas Robinson, the civil case still is pending in federal court in the Northern District of Texas Amarillo Division. Robinson said Switzer has asked the court to dismiss the case on different grounds, but the court has not yet ruled on that request.
Robinson said he believes the new execution date is “an effort to put pressure on the federal court to act quickly.”
Skinner was convicted in the New Year’s Eve 1993 slaying of Twila Jean Busby, who was choked and struck in the head with an ax handle, according to information on the Texas criminal justice department’s website. Busby’s two sons, Elwin Caler, 22, and Randy Busby, 20, were stabbed with a kitchen knife, the document says."
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The story can be found at:
http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=29556
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be accessed at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
