A Texas death-row inmate facing execution next year has sued a Panhandle prosecutor, alleging she is denying him access to DNA evidence that has never been tested and could prove he is innocent of murdering three people in 1993.
Henry Watkins Skinner alleges in his original complaint in Skinner v. Switzer that the refusal by Lynn Switzer, district attorney for the 31st and 223rd Judicial Districts, to release the biological evidence for testing violates Skinner's 14th Amendment right to due process and his Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. Skinner sued Switzer on Nov. 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Amarillo.
In the complaint, Skinner asks the court to declare that continued withholding of the DNA evidence violates his constitutional rights. He seeks an injunction requiring Switzer to release certain biological evidence to him — including vaginal swabs and fingernail clippings from the female victim, any biological material on two knives found at the murder scene, and blood and hairs on a jacket found next to the female victim's body — so Skinner can test it at his own expense.
University of Texas School of Law clinical professor Rob Owen, Skinner's lead counsel, says Skinner needs to have the evidence tested to file a meaningful application for clemency.
"I think if the testing is allowed, it will give rise to a new habeas claim in the state courts," says Owen, co-director of the UT law school's capital punishment clinic.
As an example, Owen points out that testing of the vaginal swabs from the female victim's rape kit might show that another person besides Skinner had sexual contact with her.
Switzer, DA since February 2005, did not return two telephone calls seeking comment before presstime Dec. 3.
According to TDCJ, Skinner has a February 24, 2010 execution date. Texas lawmakers provided a means for post-conviction access to DNA testing in 2001. It is detailed in Chapter 64 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.
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