Scheduled to Die Today, Inmate Seeks DNA Tests Shunned by His Trial Lawyer
A Texas death row inmate is seeking an 11th-hour reprieve from the governor or the U.S. Supreme Court so he can get DNA tests that had been shunned by his original lawyer.
Hank Skinner is scheduled to be executed today, the Associated Press reports. He admits he was in the house where his girlfriend and two sons were stabbed to death in 1993, but he says the vodka and codeine he ingested that night left him without the physical strength or mental capacity to commit the crime.
Defense lawyers suggest the real murderer is the girlfriend’s now-deceased uncle, described in court documents as a “hot-tempered ex-con.” But prosecutors cite evidence such as the blood of two victims found on Skinner’s clothes and his bloody handprints found in a bedroom.
Skinner’s lawyers are seeking DNA tests on two knives and a bloody towel, among other items. His trial lawyer, Harold Comer, has said he didn’t test the items because he feared the results would be incriminating.
