The Supreme Court has just ordered that the state of Texas to grant the request of Henry ("Hank") Skinner, a condemned inmate, for additional DNA testing. To me, the only issue is why there was any resistance at all from the State.
I can understand the immediate visceral reaction by the Texas Attorney General, since there is an exasperating 'have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too' aspect to the matter. Evidently some DNA evidence was used in Skinner's 1995 trial. It wasn't terribly important, because this was not a rape-murder situation, but a type of rage killing. At that time, the defense did not request additional samples tested, from objects found around the house, fearing (I surmise) that at best they'd prove nothing and at worst, they'd provide additional evidence of guilt. But now, with nothing to lose, Skinner wants them tested.
It's an ugly case - the murder of a woman (Skinner's girl friend) and her two children. Skinner profiles as a typical sociopath whose theory of innocence - it is undisputed that he was in the house at the time - can fairly be dismised as preposterous. (Here's the Wikipedia account.) His suggestion of an alternative killer, who conveniently died in 1997, was heard and decisively rejected in an evidentiary hearing in 2005. In an ordinary case, a defendant who had waived the right in the first place, then had his theory discredited in a collateral habeas hearing, would be hard pressed to show why he had a right to still another bite at the apple.
But hey! This is a capital case, and the Great State of Texas should know better. It would have been far better to accede to the request, simply test them on request, and duke it out. I don't doubt that there is such a thing as a capital offense - an crime that is so heinous that it deserves death - but the practicalities of imposing such a sentence have become insurmountable. It would be far better to use the funds to build Aurora-type prisons, to house offenders who have forfeited all right to remain in ordinary human society, even the limited type available in ordinary penitentiaries.
Comments