In case you missed this post over the weekend, Larry Swearingen is scheduled to be executed tomorrow for the 1998 murder of Melissa Trotter. But forensic pathologists — including the one that originally helped convict Swearingen — have concluded that the physical evidence shows Swearingen could not have been the killer.
(UPDATED BELOW – federal court intervenes)
Although prosecutors theorized that Trotter was killed and her body dumped in the forest the day of her disappearance, the corpse was amazingly well preserved when discovered. Six physicians and forensic scientists who reviewed the evidence concluded that the victim died well after Swearingen’s arrest.
Former Harris County Chief Medical Examiner Joye Carter, who testified against Swearingen in his trial, reexamined the physical evidence and has concluded that Trotter’s death occurred at least a week after Swearingen was taken into custody.
In a nutshell:
Dr. Glenn Larkin, a retired forensic pathologist who reviewed the case, told Texas Monthly that “no rational and intellectually honest person can look at the evidence and conclude Larry Swearingen is guilty of this horrible crime.”
The Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle, and Texas Monthly all agree that there’s serious doubt about Swearingen’s guilt.
Tell Governor Rick "Culture of Life" Perry to stay the execution. Amnesty International has a petition.
Find out more here.
UPDATE
A federal court has stopped the scheduled execution.
A federal appeals court on Monday stopped this week’s scheduled execution of a man condemned for abducting, raping and strangling a 19-year-old suburban Houston woman 10 years ago.
Larry Swearingen, 37, faced lethal injection Tuesday evening for the death of Melissa Trotter, whose body was found Jan. 2, 1999, in the Sam Houston National Forest south of Huntsville. The discovery came 25 days after she was last seen leaving the library at Montgomery College near Conroe.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reprieve came in response to questions from Swearingen’s attorneys about the timing of Trotter’s death. Swearingen insisted he couldn’t have killed the woman because he was in jail for outstanding traffic warrants when newly evaluated forensic evidence indicates her body was dumped in the woods not far from his home.
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OMG, Not another!
TX has a rather checkered history caring enough about justice, no?
I hope someone stops it.
We, Molly Ivins’ friends, are watching you, Gov. Rick Goodhair Perry.
Hey, Texas! It’s not 1830 anymore.
Oh, I signed the petition first time round.
Just showing how “pro-life” they are…
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Sent: Sat 1/24/09 5:00 PM
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Thank you for contacting the Office of the Governor. Your request has been submitted to the appropriate staff member.
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Newspapers across the world will devote pages to the horror of US practice of the death penalty and all the details of this travesty of justice…….. US media…. not so much……
HELLO….. we are THE only industrialized country who practices the death penalty with a huge number of the population who are “for” it.
Why does this country embrace torture and the death penalty?
Unfortunately, the gov is probably one of those people that cannot be reasoned with and will become more obsessed with killing this poor man. Even if people are innocent in Texas they kill them anyway cause no one gets a do over. The theory is that innocent people get “fair” trials and no matter what evidence is found later they have no right to justice.
Thanks for the prompt update, PW.
I fail to understand why Perry could not have acted in his capacity as Governor. Is there ANYTHING going on in his noggin under all that perfect coif? Would it have been grounds for impeachment if it were left to him and he failed to act on such clear evidence? What is WRONG with such people?!
The governor would appear not to understand the meaning of “pro-life”.
So a federal appeals court does his job so he won’t have to. How convenient.
I suppose there is a universe somewhere in which Gov Goodhair is a rational and intellectually honest individual.
But it ain’t the one we’re in at the moment.
There’s a reason “Texas justice” is an oxymoron, one established long before competent Bush and compassionate conservativism joined it.
I wonder how many innocent people were put to death during Dubya’s tenure, when he granted zero clemency requests from death row inmates. As the Illinois study showed, over 8% of the people on their death row were innocent, not just not guilty! It’s pretty hard to re-gain your freedom after they throw the switch, however.
Well, it’s not like this would be the first time something like this has happened in Texas.
After all, you execute as many people as Texas does, human error is inevitable. And as Patrick Buchanan said, “Surgeons lose people on the operating table all the time. What’s the big deal?”
Bloodlust. We’ve been fed a steady diet of movies, TV shows and sports, both real and fake, that celebrate bloody vengeance and retribution. No wonder most of America luuuuurves them some executions. I’m just surprised they haven’t yet been offered on pay per view.
the rest of the states should cancel extradition treaties with TX until they comply with international norms on due process, human rights and the treatment of prisoners. By all reports, conditions on the TX death row are sub-human (filth, tiny cages, inedible food, no ventilation, extreme heat)
We should eliminate the death penalty altogether right after Bush’s war crimes trials.
Enjoy.
Bottom Line: WAY too many prosecutors refuse to look at new evidence (or updated evidence) of a crime. Sadly, this mostly only happens in death penalty cases. They should come first, but it should not stop there. There are many innocent people rotting in jail for crimes they did not commit. The Innocence Project needs many more attorneys working for them to get these people freed.
Are these prosecutors retarded? By not owning up to your errors doesn’t make you look strong — it makes you look really really stupid. I say: If there is hard evidence of innocence (like DNA) and the prosecutor refuses to admit it, throw HIM/HER in prison and throw away the key. That is the only thing that will stop these imbeciles.