Henry "Hank" Skinner - Texas Execution - Stayed

[Heidi]

Hank Skinner Asks Gov. Perry for 30-Day Execution Reprieve

Today, lawyers for Skinner, whose execution is set for November 9, asked Texas Gov. Rick Perry to issue a 30-day reprieve in the case.

Prosecutors argue that Skinner–who came within hours of death last year– is trying to delay justice. They say that Skinner’s lawyers made the conscious decision at trial to forgo the DNA testing because they feared it would further implicate their client. Texas officials say that Skinner shouldn’t be able to demand the testing post-conviction.

read full article here http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics...tion-reprieve/

[Heidi]

Hank Skinner, Texas Death Row Inmate, Granted Stay Of Execution By Court Of Criminal Appeals

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay of execution to death row inmate Hank Skinner Monday, who was scheduled to be executed Nov. 9.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/1...n_1080422.html

[TheKindExecutioner]

Hank Skinner, Texas Death Row Inmate, Granted Stay Of Execution By Court Of Criminal Appeals

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay of execution to death row inmate Hank Skinner Monday, who was scheduled to be executed Nov. 9.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/1...n_1080422.html

I'm shocked. How long is the stay for? Is it true the stay is not for the actual testing but just to see IF he gets to get tested?

[Heidi]

I'm shocked. How long is the stay for? Is it true the stay is not for the actual testing but just to see IF he gets to get tested?

The TCCA issued the stay so it can be decided if there should be more DNA tests on evidence taken from the crime scene.

"Because the DNA statute has changed, and because some of those changes were because of this case, we find that it would be prudent for this court to take time to fully review the changes in the statute as they pertain to this case," the judge said on Monday.

I have no idea how long this is going to take. Skinner was denied the DNA testing in Gray County Court. He still has an appeal for DNA testing in the federal district court. The TCCA issued a stay of execution which leads me to believe he has or is going to file an appeal in the TCCA based on the Gray County court's denial of the DNA testing. The federal district court can sit on his appeal and wait for the TCCA opinion. If the TCCA denies testing and the federal district court grants testing the State of Texas can appeal to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Skinner can do the same if the ruling doesn't go his way. If the 5th doesn't give the outcome that either side wants it will go back to the US Supreme Court. That is worse case scenario.

Now if the TCCA grants the DNA testing more than likely the DNA will be tested. That will be a whole other can of worms, aside from the reasons given by Dudley Sharp in post 61 and the ones Rob had given prior to Sharp's post. If the DNA is tested ...who is going to test it? Will the lab be under a time constraint? If only Skinner's DNA is found his attorneys will argue the DNA has been tainted. If someone else's DNA is found they are going to argue for a new trial.

So again I say there is no telling how long this is going to take.

[Heidi]

HENRY WATKINS SKINNER, v THE STATE OF TEXAS

Per Curiam.

O R D E R

This is a direct appeal of the trial court’s ruling on a motion for DNA testing filed in the 31st Judicial District Court of Gray County, Cause No. 5216, styled The State of Texas v. Henry Watkins Skinner. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 64.05. Appellant’s
execution is stayed pending the resolution of this appeal.

Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 64, which provides for DNA testing, has undergone several changes since its creation, but those changes have never been reviewed in the particular context of this case. Because the DNA statute has changed,
and because some of those changes were because of this case, we find that it would be prudent for this Court to take time to fully review the changes in the statute as they pertain to this case.

Furthermore, in denying the motion for DNA testing, the convicting court has failed to enter determinations under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure article 64.03. The convicting court shall enter an order containing the relevant Article 64.03 determinations within 15 days of the date of this order. That order shall then be included within a supplemental clerk’s record, which record shall be forwarded to this Court within 30 days of the date of this order.

IT IS SO ORDERED THIS THE 7 DAY th OF NOVEMBER, 2011.

[TheKindExecutioner]

I just find it hard to believe the testing will be in his favor. It could have his and others but that would not exonerate him. Just shows he's messy.

I mean they found him hiding from police COVERED in blood! If that's not guilt then what is??

[dudleysharp]

So, I was in error.

The one deemed inadmissable by the DA, was later approved by a judge.

A combination of the two statements:

Texas Death Row inmate Hank Skinner's statements to police, Jan 1st and 4th, 1994
The murders were committed Dec 31, 1993
Dudley Sharp, contact info below

Texas death row inmate Henry "Hank" Skinner and his supporters claim that additional DNA testing will prove his innocence. It can't.

"If I thought for a minute that I killed them two boys (Twila's sons) then whatever I get I guess I deserve it you know. But I just cant see it happening. I can see me arguing with Twila. I can might even see maybe I might have killed her. But I cant see killing them boys."

"By the next morning it was dawning on me that you know that they had been killed. But it still didn't dawn on me that I was the one that done it."

After finding Twila in bed with another man, Skinner said: "I dont remember much what happened after that. I remember we was arguing and fighting and I cant remember."

"I think I remember seeing blood on her and on me."

"I thought we were just fighting and she just passed out or something. "

"And I dont remember if I throwed her off or if she got up off of me or -- or what happened but the fight ended for a minute and she went . . .". "We were fighting and arguing at first and I pushed her down and then the fight ended and she went in the back room and then came back with the stick and hit me in the back with the stick and then she had me down and knocked -- it knocked the breath out of me and then knocked me down on the ground. And then she was on top of me and she had the stick across my shoulders. See she was real real drunk real drunk." "At some point the fight kind of let up for a minute and I asked her where she had been. She told me she had been over at Howard Mitchells house and shes forbidden to go over there by me . . .". "And so we started arguing and fighting about that. She kept saying Howard was her friend Howard was her friend and we got into a shoving match. And then the stick got brought back into play somewhere along the line." "I remember she was swinging the stick at me and I was trying -- I rolled up under the coffee table so she couldn't hit me and I think she turned the coffee table over or I did getting out from under it. I got the stick away from her again and I think I hit her with it. Im not sure." "There was other stuff that happened in between and I dont I cant remember what it was."


"The next thing I remember after that sometime while we was fighting I -- I think Scooter (Twila's murdered son) run up behind me and grabbed me by the neck. He had me you know lik a chokehold. and I got away from him and I dont remember what happened to him after that. And when it seemed like the fight was over I -- I guess it was over I got up and left. I put my clothes on and I walked over to Andrea Medleys house."

"I dont even remember Scooter being there except for it seems like when me and his mama was fighting I -- it seems like he come up and grabbed me behind the neck and got me off of her and that's how I got throwed in the floor. But I -- I aint -- I aint sure if he done it or not or if I just fell."


NOTE: Skinner's only defense, since these statements, has been that he was passed out during the murders and that someone else committed the 3 murders, as he lay passed out in the middle of the crimes scene, getting blood all over him, in patterns inconsistent with that newer story and much more consistent with him being the murderer, as consistent with these two statements. The defense is, obviously, gone, with these statements.

Skinner wanted to plea guilty to one murder, in exchange for a reduced sentence. No surprise. The plea was rejected.

Sincerely, Dudley Sharp
e-mail sharpjfa@aol.com, 713-622-5491,
Houston, Texas

Mr. Sharp has appeared on ABC, BBC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, FOX, NBC, NPR, PBS , VOA and many other TV and radio networks, on such programs as Nightline, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, The O'Reilly Factor, etc., has been quoted in newspapers throughout the world and is a published author.

A former opponent of capital punishment, he has written and granted interviews about, testified on and debated the subject of the death penalty, extensively and internationally.

[TheKindExecutioner]

This will give Hank time to petition for a last meal! :glee:

[PATRICK5]

http://www.cca.courts.state.tx.us/op...ilingID=284308

Both sides have filed their briefs. I'm not sure if the defense gets the last word or not.
The defense brief is posted on his website but I have noticed that she no longer posts the state responses. Too damaging??
I'd love to read the state's response.

[PATRICK5]

Hahahaha! I knew that reprehensible woman trolled the pro forums! She's posted the state response. http://hankskinner.org/hs/hs.php?en,legal

I'm skim reading it at the moment. One of the state's arguments is that Skinner claimed that he caught Twila in bed that night with another man, therefore, any DNA results are irrelevant, an invasion of a victim's privacy, and if he had requested it at trial, it would have been evidence of motive for killing her. They also take several shots at "his propagandists."

The confession could not be used at trial but it was read partially into the evidence at the habeas corpus hearing. The brief contains even more details of what he said. pp.1-7