Death row inmate entitled to delay for DNA tests?

According to the Austin American Statesman Editorial Board, Henrey W. Skinner is a man sitting on death row for the brutal murder of his girlfriend and her two sons. These crimes took place on New Years Eve of 1993. His sentence is scheduled to be carried out Wednesday, March the 23^rd at 6:00 p.m.

Evidently, when this case was originally tried, there were large stacks of evidence pointing directly at Skinner. This was so damaging to his case that Skinners lawyer advised him to stop further testing because it would only further incriminate himself. To this day, according to the editorial, “There are seven untested items that contain DNA that could be dispositive of Skinner's claim that he was falsely convicted.”

The State has blocked this evidence since the trial in 1995. Skinner, who has pleaded innocent from the beginning, is now asking Governor Rick Perry for a for a 30-day reprieve so the evidence may be tested.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, in a 7-0 vote, on Monday recommended against a commutation or reprieve. Now it is in the hands of our Governor to do the right thing. Do I believe Skinner is innocent? No, I do not and by the way this editorial was written I don’t believe they think he is either.

The real issue to me is that it should be Skinners human right, as much of a scum ball he may be, to test the untried evidence and see what happens. You can’t kill a man twice but it only takes one mistake to take the life of an innocent man forever. Governor Perry recently visited the family of an innocent man named Tim Cole. He was in prison for rape charges and died after being in prison for thirteen years. Nine years later DNA evidence proved Cole’s innocence. Hopefully Perry won’t ever have to make that kind of apology again.

I agree with the Editorial Board on this one. I don’t believe that the evidence will prove that Skinner is innocent; however, it is his right to have that looked into before he is killed by lethal injection. For all we know this is a ploy to get 30 more days to live, but what is this State coming to when we willingly kill a man before ALL evidence has been tested?

Former Defense Lawyer Avoids Jail For Forging Judges’ Signatures

According to the Austin American Statesman, a former criminal defense lawyer has avoided jail time for foraging judges’ signatures and using methamphetamines. Bruce Garrison, 39 years old, got into some pretty serious trouble that began with an addiction to controlled substances. He soon found himself associated with a local drug kingpin by the name of Noe Perez which led to even more questionable activity. At Garrison’s recent trial, Perez testified to smoking methamphetamines with the defendant. Perez had several drug dealers in jail at the time and wanted information on the arrests and the extent to which his former associates were cooperating with the authorities. Garrison agreed to give him this information in exchange for drugs and forged judges' signatures to obtion the documents.

I hate to say it, but this is not shocking news to me. I have always viewed most, but not all, defense lawyers to have questionable ethical standards. I personally would never be able to protect the guilty and if I did, I know that it would require me to enter a mind state that I am not familiar with. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that innocent people are accused and charged with crimes which they did not commit. I also believe that people with connections are not treated equally in a court of law.

Although prosecutors were seeking at least one year in jail for his actions, Garrison received two years of deferred adjudication which is a form of probation, otherwise known as a slap on the wrist. About five years ago one of my best friends received this same sentence for having under a gram of a controlled substance in his pocket downtown. Should he have had the drugs? No. Is it fair that a college kid experimenting with drugs receives the same sentence as Garrison? I’ll let you form your own opionion about that.

The bottom line is that I am sick and tired of hearing about well connected, over paid, “good ole boys” getting off easy and the average citizen being punished to the full extent of the law. Garrisons lawyer, Josh Saegert said, “Bruce is not defeated. He is now using his experience to help others overcome their own drug addiction through his work as a program director at Mark Houston Recovery.” Good for him. Now that he has experience as a lawyer, been involved in public scandal, and now born again all under the age of 40 we will probably see him running for office in the next ten years.