30-Day Execution Reprieve for Hood, But Judge's Claimed Affair Not the Reason
It reportedly never has happened before in this state known for its many executions. But time was on Charles Dean Hood’s side last night as Texas officials waiting through an appeal-filled evening eventually decided to call off his lethal injection because of a lack of time to complete the execution according to protocol.
Starting at roughly 5 p.m., a Texas judge rescinded his execution warrant. But then at around 10 p.m., a state appeals court overruled that decision. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected three federal appeals at about 11 p.m., reports the Associated Press.
Even his lawyers thought there might still be time to put Hood to death before midnight, when the execution warrant expired, for a double murder in a Dallas suburb nearly 20 years ago.
But prison officials, conferring with Gov. Rick Perry, decided there was not. As the clock ticked toward midnight, they decided to let the execution warrant expire. That means Hood, 38, now has another month or so to live before another execution date—his sixth—can be set, explains the Associated Press in another article.
His planned execution has been controversial, because of claims that the trial judge in his murder case was having an affair with a prosecutor.
Additional coverage:
Houston Chronicle (editorial): “Local judge overrules high court in execution case”
