According to the website of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Henry Skinner is set to be executed Nov. 9, 2011.
In March of this year, the justices ruled that Skinner had the right to sue a Texas district attorney under a federal civil rights law for refusing to allow
him access to evidence for DNA testing. Although the Supreme Court’s ruling meant Skinner’s civil suit could move forward, the court did not rule on whether he should be given access to the evidence. That decision has not yet been made.
Henry Skinner was sentenced to death despite the lack of DNA testing of critical evidence from the crime scene that could lead to his exoneration. Skinner has always maintained his innocence of the 1993 murder of his girlfriend and her two grown sons in Tampa, Texas.
At his trial, the prosecution presented the results of selective DNA testing that showed Skinner’s presence at the crime scene, which was also his place of residence, and a fact he has never disputed. But, the state has repeatedly refused his request to test other DNA evidence, including material found on the victim that is routinely tested in such cases, and that could point to another suspect.
To be continued!