A death row inmate in Texas does not deserve a new trial even though the judge in his case was having an affair with the prosecutor, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.
Charles Dean Hood was granted a last-minute reprieve in June 2008 when a former district attorney came forward to confirm long-rumored reports of the affair. The judge and prosecutor later admitted to the secret affair under oath.
In a 6-3 opinion, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Hood's request on the basis that his defense team did not raise the issue in their initial appeal despite the fact that they were aware of the rumors.
"Accordingly, the application is dismissed as an abuse of the writ," the court ruled.
Hood's defense team called the decision an "outrage" and vowed to appeal.
"This decision by a court where 8 of the 9 judges once shared the bench with Judge (Verla Sue) Holland will only add to the perception that justice is skewed in Texas, that obvious and outrageous violations of the Constitution are acceptable in death penalty cases," said Andrea Keilen, executive director of Texas Defender Service.
"No one would want to be prosecuted for a parking violation -- let alone for capital murder -- by a district attorney who is sleeping with the judge," added senior staff attorney Greg Wiercioch.
John Rolater, assistant district attorney for Collin County, told the Dallas Morning News that the latest ruling was "a significant procedural victory."
Hood, 40, is on death row for the 1989 murder of Ronald Williamson and his girlfriend Traci Lynn Wallace. Hood was living with Williamson at the time of the murder and was arrested in Indiana while driving his roommate's Cadillac.
Source: Agence France-Presse, Sept. 17, 2009
