A Near Fatal Mistake?

There are those who support the death penalty, saying that once it’s implemented, they know for a fact that the person who was killed will never hurt someone else again. But what if he didn’t hurt someone else to begin with?

The Innocence Project has exonerated more than 250 people serving time in jail for crimes that DNA evidence shows they did not commit. Seventeen of those people were on death row and there is at least one case in which the state of Texas quite possibly executed an innocent man. Cameron Todd Willingham maintained his innocence up to the day he was executed in 1994 and forensics tests performed after his death demonstrated that his version of what happened could have been true but an arson “expert” said it couldn’t have happened that way. And no one questioned the arson “expert”.

Now the case of Hank Skinner is on the front burner. The US Supreme Court granted Skinner an indefinite stay of execution just minutes before he was scheduled to die— again in Texas. (Texas sure does love to execute their prisoners on time!) The Innocence Project is not saying that Skinner is innocent. What they’re saying is that there is a lot of DNA evidence that was never tested— because Skinner’s own attorneys way back when were afraid it would implicate him despite his claims of innocence. Now, even to prevent a miscarriage of justice from being done, the state of Texas is refusing to test the DNA.

The stay of execution by the SCOTUS is no guarantee that they’ll reopen the case and test the DNA. But it is a sizable amount of DNA to test. According to the ABC News story, “Items not tested included Busby’s rape kit, material found under her fingernails, hair and sweat found on the windbreaker, a bloody towel, and knives found at the scene.” The state relied on the fact that Skinner’s DNA was found at the crime scene, but since the crime scene was the house he shared with his live-in girlfriend and her two sons, is it any wonder that his DNA was there?

Like the Innocence Project, I am making no claims as to the innocence of Hank Skinner. But how in God’s name can a state— any state— deny someone the opportunity to test DNA that might prove them innocent? Especially if that denial is based on a technicality like they didn’t file the paperwork in time— which may not be the reason here (I didn’t see one given in this story) but it has been the reason in others I’ve read about.

The State of Texas seems to be a perfect example of the attitude that so many have in this country: someone has to pay, guilty or innocent doesn’t matter. Our legal system is seriously flawed and needs a major overhaul. And cases like those taken on by the Innocence Project are prime examples of what’s wrong and why it has to be fixed.