Officials ask Perry to allow DNA tests for death row inmate

Hank Skinner

With convicted killer Henry Skinner's execution less than two weeks away, a group of legislators and former prosecutors and judges on Thursday called on Gov. Rick Perry for prompt DNA testing of items that could help clear the one-time paralegal of the triple murder that sent him to death row.

Skinner, 49, consistently has contended he was too impaired by alcohol and codeine to have fatally bludgeoned his girlfriend and fatally stabbed her two adult sons in a 1993 New Year's Eve rampage at the couple's Pampa home.

Execution set Nov. 9

Skinner, who came within an hour of execution in March 2010, before the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay, has petitions to obtain the DNA testing before state and federal courts. He is scheduled to be executed on Nov. 9.

In the letter to Perry, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Gray County District Attorney Lynn Switzer, the current and former officials expressed "grave and growing concerns about the state's stubborn refusal to date to test all the evidence in the Skinner case."

Among untested items are the female victim's fingernail clippings, swabs from a rape kit, two knives, a blood-stained windbreaker and a bloody towel found at the crime scene.

The letter says there is "simply no justifiable reason" for the state to resist granting DNA testing.

No state response

"We believe that the death penalty is an appropriate punishment for certain crimes and we understand that the DNA testing might well show that Mr. Skinner is deserving of that punishment," the authors write. "But we are also steadfast in our belief that when it comes to the ultimate penalty, we must do everything in our power to ensure certainty before taking the irreversible step of carrying out an execution. ... We implore you to take the lead in the search for the truth in this case."

Among those signing the letter were former Gov. Mark White; state Sens. Rodney Ellis and Juan Hinojosa, Democrats from Houston and McAllen, respectively; state Reps. Pete Gallego and Eddie Rodriguez, Democrats from Alpine and Austin; former Harris County assistant district attorneys Wendell Odom Jr., Earl Musick and Joanne Musick; and former Harris County state District Judge Norman Lanford.

Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed referred requests for comment to Abbott and Switzer, saying the governor would not comment on a case in the courts. Abbott's office did not respond to inquiries.

Source: chron.com, October 27, 2011

Please sign and share widely this online petition to Lynn Switzer, Gray County District Attorney, to urge her to grant Hank Skinner the DNA testing.

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