June 17 TEXAS: Bid to halt execution rejected----Allegations of relationship between judge, prosecutor raised too late, court rules. Allegations that Charles Dean Hood was sentenced to death while his judge and prosecutor secretly dated should not halt tonight's scheduled execution of the convicted double murderer, Texas' highest criminal court ruled Monday. Hood raised the accusation of a secret relationship too late in the appeals process to be considered, a unanimous Court of Criminal Appeals ruled. "The Legislature has made it clear that we are not at liberty to entertain the merits of the claim," Judge Tom Price wrote in a concurring statement joined by 3 judges. Last week, Hood filed two nearly identical appeals saying that then-state DistrictJudge Verla Sue Holland, now retired, could not have provided Hood with a fair trial while involved in a long-term intimate relationship with then-Collin County District Attorney Tom O'Connell. O'Connell, now a private lawyer, played an active role in prosecuting Hood at his 1990 trial. In his latest appeals, Hood argued that Holland had a duty to step aside or inform defense lawyers about the potential conflict of interest. The Court of Criminal Appeals rejected 1 appeal, known as a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, citing problems with the appellate lawyers' signatures. The second appeal was rejected because Texas law limits death row inmates to one habeas petition unless lawyers uncover new information that was not previously available. Gregory Wiercioch, Hood's appellate lawyer, criticized the court for dismissing the claims "on 2 very hyper-technical procedural grounds." "The court is not grappling with the merits of the claim. They are not discussing whether or not the relationship existed, and if it did exist, what the impact of it was in Judge Holland's ability to remain impartial," Wiercioch said. Holland was on the Court of Criminal Appeals from 1997 to 2001 and served with 8 of the 9 current judges. All 9 judges took part in Monday's decision. The court's unsigned opinion did not elaborate on reasons for denying the appeals, but Price's concurring statement said Hood should have raised allegations of the relationship in his first habeas petition, filed in 1997. Hood's lawyers hired a private investigator who tried, unsuccessfully, to track down rumors of the Holland-O'Connell relationship in the mid-1990s. Hood's latest appeals said lawyers did not want to repeat unsubstantiated rumors in court documents and only raised the issue after obtaining an affidavit from a former assistant district attorney, Matthew Goeller, on June 3. Goeller's sworn statement said the Holland-O'Connell relationship was "common knowledge" in the prosecutor's office when Hood was convicted and sentenced to death. But Price said Goeller's statement did not qualify as new information because lawyers knew about the relationship rumors in the 1990s. Price's statement was joined by Judges Cathy Cochran, Charles Holcomb and Cheryl Johnson. Wiercioch said he will refile one appeal today with the lawyers' signatures corrected in hopes that the court will consider the merits of its relationship argument. But he also will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to halt tonight's execution based on allegations of the Holland-O'Connell relationship. Hood was sentenced to die in the 1989 shooting deaths of his boss, Ronald Williamson, and Williamson's girlfriend Tracie Wallace in their Plano home. Hood's bloody fingerprints were found inside the home. When he was arrested a day after the killings, in Indiana, Hood had the victims' car, clothes, jewelry, camera and credit cards. (source: Austin American-Statesman)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS
Rick Halperin Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:10:36 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS Rick Halperin