Since 1989, DNA exoneration has freed 248 prisoners, and 17 who were serving on death row (Innocent Project). Just think, what if those people had not been released? What if some, if not all, of the death row inmates had been killed? What about all those that did not have the privilege of DNA testing??
With those two simple statistics above, I cannot believe that there are still people who do not think that Hank Skinner, a inmate on death row in Texas, has the right to have all the evidence from the crime scene tested. The worst part is that he is not even asking to be freed, he simply wants to have the results; he just does not want to be killed. I do not know who would have the right to argue with that, although I guess someone does. I think that people forget that, even though he is a convicted murderer, he is still a human being who deserves some dignity. I know that the Texas D.A. does not think the same way I do.
The main reason that the Texas District Attorney said no to Hank Skinner's request is that he did not entirely meet all of the requirements to get DNA testing done. According to Texas's post-conviction testing law, a convicted criminal can only get the evidence questioned if the inmate had not been at fault for the evidence not having been tested for the trial. Since Skinner's lawyer, not him, by the way, would not allow the evidence to be tested, the Texas D. A. says that he is a fault and cannot receive the testing. The evidence that is in question is DNA found on the knife used to kill to of the victims and from a rape-kit used on the last victim. This evidence seems like it could really possibly help Skinner and that he should have a right, not just a privilege, to it. This is the case that Skinner's present lawyer is making for his case, whose claim is that Skinner's due process right is being violated. I do not see what the harm could possibly be in letting a human being try and save his own life, especially since it could prove that he did not end three other lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment