Death Penalty
First the Execution, then the Hearing; Ex-Judges, Prosecutors Criticize Schedule
Posted Sep 4, 2008, 06:01 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A group of 22 former judges and prosecutors have sent a letter to the governor of Texas seeking a delay of the execution of Charles Dean Hood to allow time for an investigation into an alleged affair between a prosecutor and the judge in the case.
Among those who signed the letter (PDF) are former FBI director William Sessions and two former federal appeals judges, John Gibbons and Patricia Wald.
Texas Judge Robert Dry had scheduled a hearing on Hood’s request for depositions of the judge and prosecutor for Sept. 12, two days after the scheduled execution. “It is an irrevocable wrong to send a man to his death without ever hearing this critical evidence,” the letter says. “If Mr. Hood's claim is proven, we believe that his right to an impartial judge and a fair trial was violated and his conviction and sentence were unconstitutionally obtained.”
In a new twist in the case, Dry announced yesterday that he will recuse himself from the case because of prior business dealings with the ex-husband of Verla Sue Holland, the judge accused of having the romantic relationship with prosecutor Tom O'Connell Jr., the Austin American-Statesman reports. Neither was married at the time.
It is unclear how the recusal will affect the hearing date, the newspaper says.