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?