Texas Attorney General Calls for Review of Hood Case

"As Texas Execution Nears, Hearing Is Set on a Claim That Judge and Prosecutor Had Affair," is James McKinley're report in today's New York Times.

With less than a week to go before the scheduled execution of a man who contends his murder trial was tainted by a love affair between the judge and the prosecutor, a state judge on Thursday ordered a hearing into the accusation and the Texas attorney general called for a review of the fairness of the trial.

The judge’s order and the attorney general’s request are the latest twists in a complicated legal drama that has prompted criticism from prosecutors, judges and experts on legal ethics across the nation. They argue that if the love affair occurred, the condemned man did not receive a fair trial.

On Wednesday, 22 prominent former judges and prosecutors — among them the former F.B.I. director William S. Sessions — urged Gov. Rick Perry to put off the execution to allow more time for a hearing to determine if the claim of an affair is true.

“It is an irrevocable wrong to send a man to his death without ever hearing this critical evidence,” the group said in a letter to Governor Perry, a Republican.

Late on Thursday, the attorney general, Greg Abbott, said he agreed. In a letter to local prosecutors, Mr. Abbott said the state would ask the district court to “thoroughly review the defendant’s claims before the execution proceeds” in order to “protect the integrity of the Texas legal system.”

“The impartiality of a defendant’s trial and conviction must be beyond reproach,” Mr. Abbott said. “Thus, before the state carries out the ultimate, irreversible punishment, the appropriate trial court should thoroughly review this matter.”

The convicted murderer, Charles D. Hood, 39, is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday for the murder and robbery in 1989 of a couple he lived with in Plano, just north of Dallas.

"Texas attorney general backs inquiry on district attorney, judge in execution case," is Diane Jennings report in the Dallas Morning News.

The Texas attorney general's office on Thursday took the unusual step of joining the defense in saying that death row inmate Charles Dean Hood should not die until after an investigation into an alleged romantic relationship at the time of his trial between the prosecutor and judge.

Although noting that the facts of the murders of Ronald Williamson and Tracie Lynn Wallace are not in question, Attorney General Greg Abbott wrote in a letter to Collin County District Attorney John Roach, "The impartiality of a defendant's trial and conviction must be beyond reproach."

The letter said that the attorney general's office would file a legal brief today asking that the trial court fully review the matter, even if it means delaying the execution.

"Because of the unique nature of the issues in this matter – and to protect the integrity of the Texas legal system – we will ask the court to thoroughly review the defendant's claims before the execution proceeds," the letter said.

The Hood case has drawn intense scrutiny from legal ethicists, as well as death penalty advocates and opponents who keep a close eye on the nation's busiest death chamber.

The case drew national attention in June when Mr. Hood came within hours of execution as attorneys wrangled over final appeals, including one related to the alleged romance. Though Mr. Hood was cleared for execution, his death warrant expired before the sentence could be carried out.

Defense attorneys for Mr. Hood, who have been hammering at the wall of silence surrounding the alleged relationship, were stunned by the attorney general's action.

"I had no idea this was coming," said Greg Wiercioch. "I'm just pleased that the attorney general's office is doing the right thing in this case. I'm astounded."

Whether the unusual move will save Mr. Hood, who is set for execution Wednesday for the 1989 slayings, is unclear. The attorney general's office does not have jurisdiction in the case, but Mr. Wiercioch said the move should make it easier to obtain a stay of execution from either the governor or the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

AP's Mike Graczyk writes, ",Abbott: Look at romance allegations in Hood's case " via the Houston Chronicle.

In an unusual alliance, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said Thursday he was joining lawyers for a condemned prisoner in urging allegations of an unethical romantic relationship between the trial judge and prosecutor in the case be reviewed even if it means inmate Charles Dean Hood is not executed as scheduled next week.    

"I believe that the unique issues in this case, which involve the impartiality and fairness of his trial, warrant thorough review before his sentence is carried out," Abbott said in a letter to Collin County District Attorney John Roach. "A death sentence is the most serious and solemn act of any state. The impartiality of a defendant's trial and conviction must be beyond reproach."

Hood's lawyers contend the secret relationship they allege between retired trial judge Verla Sue Holland and Roach's predecessor, former District Attorney Tom O'Connell, tainted the 1990 trial where Hood was convicted and condemned for killing a couple at a Plano home.

Holland, who in the mid-1990s served as a judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and O'Connell, now in private practice, have declined to address the allegations of engaging in a secret affair.

A state district judge earlier Thursday moved a hearing date to Monday for Hood so that it's no longer scheduled after his execution date Wednesday. And State District Judge Greg Brewer in suburban Dallas, in moving the date, ordered Holland and O'Connell to be ready to be interviewed by lawyers if Brewer agreed the pair should be deposed.

Brewer's decision reversed a decision by another judge, Robert Dry, who had set a similar hearing for two days after the scheduled execution. Dry took himself off the case Wednesday, citing a "previous business relationship" with Holland ex-husband as the reason.

Abbott said his office, although it does not have jurisdiction in the matter at the local court level, would be filing a friend of the court brief with Brewer seeking a review of the allegations.

"Because of the unique nature of the issues in this matter — and to protect the integrity of the Texas legal system — we will ask the court to thoroughly review this matter," Abbott said.

StandDown's earlier coverage of the Hood case begins here.

The ABA Journal reports, "Death-Row Inmate Gets Quicker Hearing on Alleged Judge-Prosecutor Affair," by Debra Cassens Weiss.

A new judge has scheduled a hearing for Monday to consider a Texas death-row inmate’s request for more information about an alleged affair between the judge and prosecutor in his case.

Lawyers for Charles Dean Hood want to compel testimony about the allegations from the former judge, Verla Sue Holland, and the former district attorney, Thomas O’Connell.

The former judge in the case, Robert Dry, had set a hearing on the issue for Sept. 12, two days after Hood’s scheduled execution. But the judge later recused himself and the new judge, Greg Brewer, quickly ordered the hearing, report the New York Times and the Austin American-Statesman.

Brewer’s notice of hearing says the parties should be prepared to take the depositions of Holland and O’Connell immediately after the hearing, if the court grants Hood’s request. The notice also directs the parties to bring letters, cards, gifts and receipts for gifts that Holland and O’Connell exchanged; photographs and videotapes depicting the two together; and text messages and e-mails from Holland and O’Connell commenting on the recent allegations.

Siding with calls for a probe into the affair is Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. He told prosecutors in a letter that the state will seek a thorough review of Hood’s claims before execution to “protect the integrity of the Texas legal system,” the Times story says.

Abbott’s decision comes just one day after a group of 22 former judges and prosecutors sent a letter to the governor of Texas seeking a delay of execution to allow time to probe allegations of the affair. Among those who signed the letter are former FBI director William Sessions and two former federal appeals judges, John Gibbons and Patricia Wald.