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 […]
Capital Punishment
Penn State CSI Students on the Zeigler Case
Penn State CSI Students on the Zeigler Case: a review of Zeigler Project. During their final spring semester twenty five (25) undergraduate and five (5) graduate students from Penn State University (PSU) reviewed documents pertaining to the trial and conviction of William Thomas Zeigler. Mr. Zeigler was convicted in 1976 of murdering his wife Eunice Zeigler, […]
Blood Spatter Expert appointed in Zeigler case
Blood Spatter Expert appointed in Zeigler case: The Zeigler Defense Team has told me that this morning, Judge Whitehead has approved state-funding to engage Mr Paul Kish as blood spatter expert in connection with William Thomas Zeigler‘s requests for new DNA testing. Mr. Kish is a forensic consultant in Corning, New York. He will testify at a future hearing […]
Update Zeigler
There is a string of news paper articles about the DNA hearing for William Thomas Zeigler that took place at 8am this morning in Orange County, Florida. Some are correct and others are not. According to ABC Action News, Private Investigator Lynn-Marie Carty of Reunite People says the evidence she has uncovered will point the […]
Illinois abolishes capital punishment
He finally did it. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn abolished capital punishment. Quinn also commuted the sentences of all 15 inmates remaining on Illinois’ death row. They will now serve life in prison. From the Washington Post: “State lawmakers voted in January to abandon capital punishment, and Quinn spent two months reflecting on the issue, speaking […]
Hope for Skinner!
Good news for Hank Skinner: USSC Justice Ginsburg, writing for the majority, said prison inmates may use a federal civil rights law to seek DNA testing that was not performed before their conviction. Lower federal courts had dismissed Skinner’s claims at an early stage, although other federal judges have allowed similar lawsuits to go forward […]
Update Zeigler DNA hearing
The Orlando Sentinel reports that Zeigler’s lawyers, arguing for more DNA testing, asked the court for a continuance of the scheduled February 3rd hearing. A former forensic expert is no longer available. “The new expert, Timothy Palmbach, works with blood spatter evidence an does forensic analysis work. But Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton, another veteran […]
Zeigler: The significance of the Jellison Tape
Zeigler: The significance of the Jellison Tape (part XVIII) Is it evidence? Is it exonerating? Is it implicating? The tape’s conversation has been posted in full so I refer you to the previous post to read it. As you know, it was suppressed by the state for about twelve years. Why? Because of what Jon Jellison […]
Zeigler, Part XVII
In my previous post “Zeigler, Part XVI“, I referred to the Jellison tape that was conveniently kept from the defense team. It was only recovered in April of 1987, when Zeigler’s lawyers made a Florida Public Records Act request for the files of the State Attorney in Orlando. That’s when they discovered (aside from the “Buried Thompson report”) […]
Zeigler, Part XVI
Zeigler, Part XVI: On misplaced pride, loyalty, and sacrifice On Nov 4, 2010, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley (a.k.a. the Memphis Three) will get their cases reviewed in a lower court hearing to see whether they should be granted a new trial. This means that they will […]