There is, in many people's opinion, at the very least some reasonable doubt about the conviction of a Texas man, Hank Skinner, for killing his girlfriend. But the state of Texas seems intent on killing him, before the whole truth can be revealed.
From a Change.org email:
Hank Skinner is scheduled to die on November 9. But the state of Texas may execute him without even conducting DNA tests on all of the evidence from his trial, despite a decade of requests from Hank and his lawyers.
Hank has been on death row since 1995 for the murders of his girlfriend and her two adult sons, and has steadfastly professed his innocence. Since his conviction, the star witness against Hank has recanted her testimony, and others have implicated another man as the killer.
Hank has just 8 days to live. His family created an organization called "Justice 4 Hank," and they're fighting for a DNA test for Hank. They started a petition on Change.org asking the Gray County District Attorney and the courts to order full DNA tests to determine if Hank is actually guilty -- and to prevent Texas from possibly executing an innocent man. Click here to add your name to the petition.
At the time of his trial, the prosecution conducted DNA tests on the clothes Hank was wearing -- but declined to test the rest of the physical evidence, including a rape kit, the murder weapons, several hairs clutched in the victim's hand, and a bloody windbreaker that strongly resembles that of the man accused by others of being the true murderer.
Since the year 2000, Hank has been requesting that the office of the District Attorney that prosecuted him order DNA tests on the remaining evidence. But the DA's office has continuously denied those requests, saying Hank should have requested the tests before his trial.
Why would Texas not test ALL the evidence? Is the prosecutor so concerned about possibly being proven wrong? Is blood lust more powerful than justice in Texas?
The supreme court has once stayed Mr. Skinners execution:
...only thirty five minutes before his scheduled execution (second execution date), the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay of execution to consider the question of whether Skinner could request testing of DNA his attorney chose not to have tested at his original trial in 1994.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
It is true that Hank Skinner is no boy scout, not even particularly sympathetic, but being a drunk and a poor husband does not make one a murderer.
After having drunk all evening, poisoned by a near lethal dose of codeine, which Hank is severely allergic to, (it is believed that he was either accidentally or intentionally poisoned by the addition of the pills to his drinks), Hank was comatose during the commission of the murders, as the testimony/evidence clearly shows. Sometime after the attacks, it is believed that Scooter revived Hank and led him out of the house in an effort to find help.
http://www.hankskinner.org/...
What Texas seems to fail to realize is that by executing the wrong person the real killer has a get-out-of-jail free card for life, at least until they commit another crime.
Something is seriously wrong with the "justice" system in Texas, where more prople are killed and quite a few of them under suspicious circumstances. This passion for executions flies in the face of what the founding fathers of this country had in mind, yet Mr. Perry sleeps just fine. I don't know about you but that alone makes me wonder what type of person Mr. Perry is.
Sign the petition to try to make Texas delay the execution and perform DNA tests.
This is not setting Mr. Skinner free, it is about not executing him before all the facts are known.