Monday, May 24, 2010
When you are faced with the death penalty
Have you the right to examine evidence that may prove your innocence if it was not a part of your trial? The Supreme Court will examine that and get back to us.
The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a Texas death row inmate should have access to evidence for DNA testing that he says could clear him of three murders.Given the severity of his sentence, it seems only right to examine all the evidence, but appeals can be funny that way.
The justices said Monday they will use the case of Hank Skinner to decide whether prison inmates may use a federal civil rights law to do DNA testing that was not performed prior to their conviction.
Federal appeals courts around the country have decided the issue differently. The high court previously blocked Skinner's execution while it considered his appeal.
Skinner, 47, faced lethal injection for the bludgeoning and strangling of his girlfriend, Twila Jean Busby, 40, and the stabbing of her two adult sons. The slayings occurred at their home in the Texas Panhandle town of Pampa on New Year's Eve in 1993.
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