Charles Flores: Texas: Controversial eyewitness identification obtained through police hypnosis - a method now banned in Texas criminal trials: The state attorney general's office wants to set an execution date for this man who has maintained his innocence for more than 25 years; But, as Davis Vanguard Editor David Greenwald points out, Charles Flores' conviction rested almost entirely on a controversial eyewitness identification obtained through police hypnosis—a method now banned in Texas criminal trials…"The identification of Mr. Flores was made for the first time, in court, 13 months after the witness had been subjected to a host of suggestive procedures—including ‘investigative hypnosis,’” the motion states. “The belated, post-hypnosis identification was also inconsistent with all descriptions this witness had given to law enforcement. She repeatedly described seeing two white males with long hair who looked similar. Mr. Flores is Hispanic, has always had short, shaved hair, and looks nothing like Richard Childs,” a co-defendant in the case."

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "“Even though Texas law no longer allows criminal convictions based on testimony obtained from ‘hypnotized’ witnesses, the Texas Attorney General is endeavoring to push a trial court to set an execution date for Mr. Flores,” said Gretchen Sween, one of Flores’s attorneys. “The very injustice in Mr. Flores’s case inspired that legislative reform."

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SECOND QUOTE OF THE DAY: "His legal team emphasized that he should not be subjected to harsher confinement conditions that accompany a pending execution date while legitimate questions about the legality of his conviction remain unresolved. “Instead of a long-overdue new trial, the Attorney General seems to believe it would be more convenient to kill Charles Flores,” said Sween. “Texans cannot stand by while their government willfully abuses its power like this. No Texan benefits from our state being known as a leader in executing individuals with substantial innocence claims.”

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STORY: "Texas death row inmate's innocence claim prompts execution date halt," by David Greenwald, published by The Davis Vanguard, on May 14, 2025. (David Greenwald is the founder, editor, and executive director of the Davis Vanguard. He founded the Vanguard in 2006. David Greenwald moved to Davis in 1996 to attend Graduate School at UC Davis in Political Science. He lives in South Davis with his wife Cecilia Escamilla Greenwald and three children.)

GIST: "DALLAS, Texas — Attorneys for Charles Flores, a Texas death row prisoner who has maintained his innocence for more than 25 years, filed a motion Tuesday asking a Dallas County court not to set an execution date, citing serious concerns over the integrity of his 1999 conviction. Flores was sentenced to death for the murder of Betty Black during a home robbery in Farmers Branch, but his conviction rested almost entirely on a controversial eyewitness identification obtained through police hypnosis—a method now banned in Texas criminal trials.

In a filing submitted to the 195th District Court, Flores’s attorneys argued that the Texas Attorney General’s Office is improperly seeking to bypass both the law and due process by requesting an execution date. The Dallas County District Attorney, who has sole authority to initiate such a request under Texas law, has not asked for an execution date.

“The identification of Mr. Flores was made for the first time, in court, 13 months after the witness had been subjected to a host of suggestive procedures—including ‘investigative hypnosis,’” the motion states. “The belated, post-hypnosis identification was also inconsistent with all descriptions this witness had given to law enforcement. She repeatedly described seeing two white males with long hair who looked similar. Mr. Flores is Hispanic, has always had short, shaved hair, and looks nothing like Richard Childs,” a co-defendant in the case.

Attorneys for Flores argue that his case is emblematic of why the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 338 in 2023, banning the use of hypnotically induced testimony in criminal trials. The law, now codified in Article 38.24 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, makes inadmissible any statements made during or after hypnosis conducted by law enforcement for investigative purposes. No court has yet reviewed Flores’s conviction in light of this law, though his attorneys say litigation on that front is imminent.

Flores was convicted based on testimony from a neighbor who claimed to have seen two men enter the Black residence on the morning of the murder. Initially, the neighbor told police she saw two white men with long hair, both tall and slim. Flores is Hispanic, with a stockier build and a shaved head. She failed to identify him in photo lineups and only claimed he was involved during his trial, after being placed under hypnosis by a police officer with no prior experience in the procedure.

A videotape of the hypnosis session, conducted by an officer who was already aware Flores was a suspect, shows the witness being prompted to consider someone with short, shaved hair. Even after that, she did not identify Flores until she saw him in court—where he was the only Hispanic person in the room.

There was no DNA, fingerprint, ballistic or other forensic evidence linking Flores to the crime. Richard Childs, a known drug dealer who was later revealed to be the actual shooter, matched the neighbor’s initial description and was easily identified by her in a photo array the day of the murder. Childs pled guilty to the killing and was released on parole in 2016 after serving roughly 15 years.

The motion also asserts that the Attorney General’s Office has no legal authority to request an execution date, a power reserved solely for local prosecutors. “The Attorney General has simply acted ultra vires, moving to usurp authority that has not been granted to it under Texas law,” the filing argues. The Dallas County District Attorney, John Creuzot, has not requested an execution date and has publicly opposed seeking new death sentences during his tenure.

Flores’s attorneys further warn that any execution date set at the request of the Attorney General’s Office would violate due process and trigger immediate additional litigation. “There is nothing to be gained by setting a date in response to an unlawful request. There are only costs. There is the cost of a demoralizing effect on the rule of law. And there is the pronounced humanitarian cost,” the motion states.

Flores, now 54, has spent over two decades in solitary confinement on death row. His legal team emphasized that he should not be subjected to harsher confinement conditions that accompany a pending execution date while legitimate questions about the legality of his conviction remain unresolved.

“Instead of a long-overdue new trial, the Attorney General seems to believe it would be more convenient to kill Charles Flores,” said Sween. “Texans cannot stand by while their government willfully abuses its power like this. No Texan benefits from our state being known as a leader in executing individuals with substantial innocence claims.”

The court has not yet said whether it will hold a hearing on the motion. Flores has requested to be present if one is scheduled."

The entire story can be read at:

https://davisvanguard.org/2025/05/texas-death-row-prisoner-innocence-claim/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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 found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.

SEE BREAKDOWN OF  SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG,  AT THE LINK BELOW:  HL:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985

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FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!

Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;