For any who were not adequately shaken by David Grann's masterful article "Trial by Fire," about a man put to death by the state of Texas for a crime he almost certainly did not commit, Ta-Nehisi Coates points to a Salon article by Alan Berlow that simply beggars belief:
If anyone had any doubt that the Texas justice system operates in a parallel universe, look no further than the latest decision by the state's highest court in the case of death-row inmate Charles Dean Hood. On Wednesday the Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) said it wasn't interested in examining whether there was a conflict of interest in Hood's 1990 trial simply because District Attorney Thomas S. O'Connell Jr., Hood's prosecutor, had had a long-term sexual relationship with presiding Judge Verla Sue Holland, an affair the two tried to hide for 20 years.
In 1989, Hood was convicted of murdering Ronald Williamson and Tracie Lynn Wallace. The Holland-O'Connell affair was first reported by Salon in 2005, quoting anonymous sources. Judge Holland refused to either confirm or deny the affair at the time. A year ago this month, Holland and D.A. O'Connell, both since retired, acknowledged under oath that they had had a long-term sexual relationship, which was never revealed during more than a decade of appeals by Hood's lawyers. In her defense, Judge Holland said the affair ended more than two years before Hood's trial. But O'Connell also testified that the two had discussed marriage, and recalled that the affair continued as late as mid-1989 -- just before Hood's trial. He said the two continued to have a "good relationship," sans sex, during and after the trial. He said the two took a trip together in 1991.
Rather than address the affair directly, the CCA ruled 6-3 on a technical question, concluding that Hood should have raised the issue at his original trial. But Hood's lawyers couldn't prove the widespread rumors of the affair before Hood's trial. The CCA had earlier criticized Hood for failing to present any "personal knowledge" of the affair, a virtually impossible hurdle given that, as far as we know, there were no witnesses to the lovemaking other than the two principals, no Paris Hilton-style video, and the judge and her boyfriend weren't talking. The CCA also said Hood's claims were based on "rumor," not fact. But when Hood's lawyers were able to present the detailed facts of the affair, based on the confessions of the principals, the CCA said it was not interested in these facts.
Nor does it end there. Among other conflicts, Holland herself served on the CCA for four years, but not one of the 8 current judges (out of 9 total) with whom she served saw fit to recuse him- or herself from the case. Read the whole thing here, and witness, again, the profound and systemic depravity with which the state of Texas pursues capital punishment.
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COMMENTS (7)
This is what happens when you elect judges.
This is what happens when you elect judges.
Many states elect judges CSMiller but they don't have this kind of sadistic, evil justice system. Here in NC we elect judges but there have been many innocent people who were let go after judicial review in the last few years. No, it wasn't right they were railroaded the first time but we didn't execute them. I don't think any state sinks to the cruel and miserable level of Texas.
Is there any way that the federal gov't can do anything about such issues? I mean the frakin' state murdered an innocent man for crying out loud. This is one case where the Nazi labels are completely justified.
Or better still give the whole place what their elected officials want, jettison them from the republi ... view full comment
Many states elect judges CSMiller but they don't have this kind of sadistic, evil justice system. Here in NC we elect judges but there have been many innocent people who were let go after judicial review in the last few years. No, it wasn't right they were railroaded the first time but we didn't execute them. I don't think any state sinks to the cruel and miserable level of Texas.
Is there any way that the federal gov't can do anything about such issues? I mean the frakin' state murdered an innocent man for crying out loud. This is one case where the Nazi labels are completely justified.
Or better still give the whole place what their elected officials want, jettison them from the republic. And to think that place had Ann Richards as governor once...
Yes, I know many states elect judges and few, if any, have the abominable criminal justice system that Texas has. I should qualify my above statement by saying that Texas, being a state with a "kill em all and let God sort them out" attitude, elects judges whose outlook closely mirrors that of the people who vote in judicial elections (which are typically law and order types who follow judicial elections). My guess is that if Hood were granted a new trial because the prosecutor had been screwing the judge for years, the CCA would have been fired by the voters. Faced with that possibility, the craven members of the CCA would simply rather railroad the defendant than uphold his constitutiona ... view full comment
Yes, I know many states elect judges and few, if any, have the abominable criminal justice system that Texas has. I should qualify my above statement by saying that Texas, being a state with a "kill em all and let God sort them out" attitude, elects judges whose outlook closely mirrors that of the people who vote in judicial elections (which are typically law and order types who follow judicial elections). My guess is that if Hood were granted a new trial because the prosecutor had been screwing the judge for years, the CCA would have been fired by the voters. Faced with that possibility, the craven members of the CCA would simply rather railroad the defendant than uphold his constitutional rights. It's better to kill an innocent man, or deny him due process, than let a criminal go free.
And speaking of killing innocent people, given the sheer number of people executed by the State of Texas, it's certain that many, many innocent people have been murdered.
Can we give Texas back to the Mexicans and get Baja California in return?
I also watched on CNN how police pull over minorities for petty road violations and who are passing through, take all of their cash because surely it must have come from a crime, threatening to lock them up until their trial unless they agreed to turn the money over, and it is all legal.
Can we give Texas back to the Mexicans and get Baja California in return?
I also watched on CNN how police pull over minorities for petty road violations and who are passing through, take all of their cash because surely it must have come from a crime, threatening to lock them up until their trial unless they agreed to turn the money over, and it is all legal.
I can understand the anger that fuels arguments for capital punishment. I really do. A friend or a loved one is dead, and rage (and sympathy for rage) says that the sonofabitch that did it has to die.
I can't understand accepting utter contempt for the rule of law. How can someone look at a case like this and not be outraged? How much clearer can it get? This isn't some tricky technicality, a signature in the wrong place on paperwork or a cop not saying the right words after he tackled a violent criminal. The prosecutor was banging the judge! A middle schooler would recognize it as blatantly unfair.
Sigh. This is the same state that gave us the legal opinion that a lawyer doesn't have to be co ... view full comment
I can understand the anger that fuels arguments for capital punishment. I really do. A friend or a loved one is dead, and rage (and sympathy for rage) says that the sonofabitch that did it has to die.
I can't understand accepting utter contempt for the rule of law. How can someone look at a case like this and not be outraged? How much clearer can it get? This isn't some tricky technicality, a signature in the wrong place on paperwork or a cop not saying the right words after he tackled a violent criminal. The prosecutor was banging the judge! A middle schooler would recognize it as blatantly unfair.
Sigh. This is the same state that gave us the legal opinion that a lawyer doesn't have to be conscious to be competent. Eventually, I suppose, my cynicism will outweigh my outrage. Someday.
I lived in Dallas for a few years during which some poor legal immigrant was condemned to death for raping and killing a little girl.
The only evidence against him was a carpet fiber found in the trunk of his work car was "similar" to that found on the dead girl. Considering that there are only about six kinds of carpet fiber, and that he was a carpet cleaner, chances are every kind of carpet fiber would be found in his work trunk, which was exactly what happened - every kind of fiber was found. Yet he was convicted.
He was not only convicted, but sentenced to death. This in spite of the fact that his two roommates testified in court they were all watching a game on TV together during the tim ... view full comment
I lived in Dallas for a few years during which some poor legal immigrant was condemned to death for raping and killing a little girl.
The only evidence against him was a carpet fiber found in the trunk of his work car was "similar" to that found on the dead girl. Considering that there are only about six kinds of carpet fiber, and that he was a carpet cleaner, chances are every kind of carpet fiber would be found in his work trunk, which was exactly what happened - every kind of fiber was found. Yet he was convicted.
He was not only convicted, but sentenced to death. This in spite of the fact that his two roommates testified in court they were all watching a game on TV together during the time the little girl was snatched into a van. And, oh, he never owned a van in his life.
Why was he arrested? He was in the crowd that gathered where the body was found. He made the mistake of asking a cop if the body was the same girl everybody had been searching for. The cop found that suspicious and arrested him right there. He had no money for a lawyer, so he got a public defender and a trial that lasted only three days. Yes, three days. Texas justice alright: kill them all and let God sort them out.
Texas is just practicing to secede from the union. It's all posturing for the folks in China and Iran; the ones who want to invite them into their union. And let's face it, you have to kill a lot of people to enter these prestigious ranks.
The state government is thus considering the following offenses to add to the list of capital crimes:
1] littering with intent to commit an act of terrorism
2] being a democrat who watches Bill Moyers
3] criticising George Bush [or urinating on Crawford Ranch]
4] being innocent while black
5] googling Cindy Sheehan
gw
Texas is just practicing to secede from the union. It's all posturing for the folks in China and Iran; the ones who want to invite them into their union. And let's face it, you have to kill a lot of people to enter these prestigious ranks.
The state government is thus considering the following offenses to add to the list of capital crimes:
1] littering with intent to commit an act of terrorism
2] being a democrat who watches Bill Moyers
3] criticising George Bush [or urinating on Crawford Ranch]
4] being innocent while black
5] googling Cindy Sheehan
gw