Hank Skinner

Texas Lawman to High Court: DNA Testing "Frivolous" in Death Penalty Case

David Protess | Posted 05.04.2012

David Protess

If the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals grants the motion for DNA testing, a little blood and sweat on a jacket may be the difference between life and death for Hank Skinner. Could anything be less frivolous?

The Texas D.A.s Who Denied Hank Skinner Justice

David Protess | Posted 01.08.2012

David Protess

Yesterday, the Texas high court agreed to decide whether a new state DNA law applies to Skinner's case -- or if he should be executed without the tests. So how did we get to this point?

Texas Death Row Inmate Granted Stay Of Execution

The Huffington Post | Luke Johnson | Posted 01.07.2012

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. ...

What Texas Isn't Telling You About Hank Skinner's Case

David Protess | Posted 01.07.2012

David Protess

Prosecutors swear up and down that they are acting on principle, that Hank Skinner had his chance for DNA testing and blew it, like a guilty man would.

Time Is Not on Texas Condemned Man's Side

David Protess | Posted 01.03.2012

David Protess

Governor Perry seems to have his own problems lately. Why add the execution of Hank Skinner, a possibly innocent man, to the list?

Willful Ignorance In Texas Execution?

Radley Balko | Posted 01.03.2012

Radley Balko

A week from today, Texas death row inmate Henry "Hank" Skinner is scheduled to be executed for the 1995 murders of Twila Busby and her two adult sons....

Test the DNA

Diann Rust-Tierney | Posted 01.02.2012

Diann Rust-Tierney

Hank Skinner has an execution date set for November 9, 2011. But he has cases pending in federal and state courts to compel the State of Texas to conduct DNA tests on all of the untested evidence in his case.

When a Child Vanishes in the Night

David Protess | Posted 01.01.2012

David Protess

As I've watched the drama unfold surrounding 11-month old Lisa Irwin, who vanished overnight on Oct. 3, my thoughts have turned to an eerily similar case.

Texas Must Test DNA Before Carrying Out Skinner Execution

Kirk Bloodsworth | Posted 12.28.2011

Kirk Bloodsworth

I do not know if Mr. Skinner is innocent or guilty -- but I do know firsthand the critical importance of DNA testing. Nearly twenty years ago, I became the first person in the U.S. exonerated from death row when post-conviction DNA testing proved my innocence.

Public Officials Call On Rick Perry To Allow DNA Testing For Questionable Execution

The Huffington Post | Luke Johnson | Posted 12.28.2011

A group of current and former lawmakers, judges and lawyers is calling on Texas Gov. Rick Perry to grant DNA testing for a convicted murderer with an ...

Keeping You Posted: Is Texas About to Kill an Innocent Man? Also, the Subpoena That Keeps on Giving

David Protess | Posted 12.25.2011

David Protess

Even if Perry intervenes simply to prevent Hank Skinner's death from becoming a campaign issue, the most he can do under Texas law at this point is grant a 30-day reprieve.

Texas to Condemned Man: Execution First, DNA Later

David Protess | Posted 12.04.2011

David Protess

Hank Skinner is scheduled to die in a month -- while two judges continue to contemplate whether he can test the evidence that might clear him.

Why Americans Still Support The Death Penalty

Radley Balko | Posted 11.28.2011

Radley Balko

It has long been the conventional wisdom on both sides of the death penalty debate that if a state or the federal government were ever shown to have e...

When Did Convicting the Guilty Become More Important Than Exonerating the Innocent?

Judge H. Lee Sarokin | Posted 05.25.2011

Judge H. Lee Sarokin

To foreclose evidence that might prove innocence is not in keeping with the duty of prosecutors. The same vigor that goes into convicting the guilty should be exerted in exonerating the innocent.

Is the Supreme Court Going "Soft on Crime"?

Judge H. Lee Sarokin | Posted 05.25.2011

Judge H. Lee Sarokin

The Supreme Court has ruled in the case of Hank Skinner that he has the right to pursue DNA testing under federal civil rights laws. This case was a no-brainer to begin with, why did it go all the way to the Supreme Court?

Supreme Court Rules Death Row Inmate Has Right To Seek DNA Testing

AP | MICHAEL GRACZYK | Posted 05.25.2011

HOUSTON — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday for a Texas inmate sentenced to die for killing his girlfriend and her two adult sons nearly two d...

Hank Skinner Death Penalty Case: Texas Jurors Reconsider Verdict

Aol News | Medill Innocence Project | Posted 05.25.2011

In March 1995, a jury left a Fort Worth, Texas, courthouse having unanimously decided that DNA testing and compelling testimony led to an inescapable ...

Texas and Gov. Perry Apparently Indifferent to the Execution of a Possibly Innocent Man

Judge H. Lee Sarokin | Posted 05.25.2011

Judge H. Lee Sarokin

The State of Texas has taken the phrase: "Better that 100 (or 10) men go free than one innocent person be convicted" and turned it on its head.