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Biden Has 65 Days Left in Office. Here’s What He Can Do on Criminal Justice.

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Judicial appointments and the death penalty are among areas where a lame-duck administration can still leave a mark. Donald Trump’s second presidential term will begin on Jan. 20, bringing with it promises to dramatically reshape many aspects of the criminal justice system. The U.S. Senate — with its authority over confirming judicial nominees — will also shift from Democratic to Republican control.
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Texas: Court of Criminal Appeals stays execution of Larry Swearingen

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The Court of Criminal Appeals today stayed the execution of Larry Swearingen, sending the case back to the trial court for further review.

Swearingen was convicted of the 1998 kidnap-rape-murder of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter in Montgomery County. Prosecutors have said – and the CCA has previously agreed – that a "mountain" of evidence links Swearingen to the college student's death.

Trotter disappeared on December 8, 1998 from the Montgomery College campus; Swearingen was seen with her at the college shortly before she disappeared. He was arrested, on outstanding warrants, three days later and has remained behind bars since then. Trotter's body was not found until January 2, 1999, off a dirt road near Lake Conroe in the Sam Houston National Forest. The theory was that Swearingen killed Trotter on Dec. 8, after she rebuffed his sexual advances, and he then dumped her body, that same day, in the forest.

But much of the evidence linking Swearingen to the case was circumstantial and since his conviction in 2000, science has stepped in: scientists now agree that Trotter was not in the woods for three weeks; moreover, they argue that biological evidence demonstrates that she wasn't killed until after Swearingen was arrested – meaning that Swearingen could not have been Trotter's killer.

Swearingen's latest appeal, based on new microscopic tissue evidence, was granted by the CCA today and his execution, scheduled for August 18, was stayed. You can find the order here.

More about the Swearingen case can be found here.

Source: The Austin Chronicle, July 28, 2011

Related articles:

Jan 27, 2009
Larry Swearingen, 37, faced lethal injection Tuesday evening for the death of Melissa Trotter, whose body was found Jan. 2, 1999, in the Sam Houston National Forest south of Huntsville. The discovery came 25 days after ...
Jan 26, 2009
Larry Swearingen, 37, faced lethal injection Tuesday evening for the death of Melissa Trotter, whose body was found Jan. 2, 1999, in the Sam Houston National Forest south of Huntsville. The discovery came 25 days after ...
Jan 23, 2009
Swearingen, a convicted rapist from Willis, became an obvious suspect. The married electrician had been spotted with Trotter. Some of his co-workers said she had angered him a couple of days before her disappearance when she stood him ...
Location: Texas, États-Unis
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