Texas Appeals Court Denies Habeas to Hood, Despite Judge’s Claimed Affair

Constitutional Law

Texas Appeals Court Denies Habeas to Hood, Despite Judge’s Claimed Affair

Posted Jun 16, 2008, 06:13 pm CST
By Martha Neil

Updated: As 10 legal ethics experts today protested the planned execution of a murderer convicted in a trial in which the judge allegedly was having a secret affair with a prosecutor, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has denied his habeas petition.

In an order issued late in the day, the court dismissed Charles Dean Hood's appeal on procedural grounds. Convicted of shooting a Dallas area couple to death in 1989, he says he is innocent.

Since this post was written, a Texas judge has halted Hood's execution, signing an order to withdraw his death warrant barely an hour before his scheduled execution on Tuesday, June 17. But, a few hours later, a state appeals court overruled the judge's decision, and it appeared that the execution might still take place before midnight the same day. Details are discussed in another ABAJournal.com post.

Additional coverage:

Texas Defender Service: "Nation's Leading Legal Ethicists: Court Must Stay Hood's Execution"

Associated Press: "Inmate facing lethal injection for double slaying"

Houston Chronicle: "Blind justice, or blind love?"

Updated at 11:10 p.m., central time, on June 17, 2008, to link to new post about judge's withdrawal of execution warrant and appeals court's reversal of his action.

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