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Hank Skinner Case at Supreme Court

By Steve Hall

Oral arguments are being made in the case right now.  The SCOTUS Blog case file is here.  A transcript will be available later. Today's Dallas Morning News carries the editorial, "Test all DNA in Skinner case." The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has blocked tests on those items, ruling that Skinner had a decent trial lawyer who made a decent deal on testing, and a deal is a deal. But in light of what is known now about DNA exonerations, could any such deal be reasonably defended today?Critics of Skinner's civil rights lawsuit worry that, should he prevail, federal courts could be flooded with challenges to states' procedures on access to DNA testing. The court system has adjusted before, however, after the emergence of technology and recognition that post-conviction testing corrects grievous mistakes...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on October 13, 2010 (boomark / email).