Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stops district court's death penalty hearing
January 19, 2011
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AUSTIN, Texas:
A pretrial hearing on the constitutionality of the death penalty in Texas was halted last week by the Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest criminal court in the state. Defendant John Green, who is scheduled to stand trial for the 2008 murder of a Houston woman and faces the death penalty if convicted, brought a motion to challenge the constitutionality of the death penalty on the grounds that "its application has created a substantial risk that innocent people have been, and will be, convicted and executed."[1] Judge Kevin Fine of District 177 heard Green's challenge in March of last year and ruled that the death penalty was in fact unconstitutional. Fine later rescinded his ruling citing the need to hear further evidence and rescheduled the hearing for December. Judge Fine was ordered in December by the Court of Criminal Appeals to stop the proceedings two days into what was to be a two-week hearing, an action prompted by a motion filed by the Harris County District Attorney.[1]
The Court of Criminal appeals ruled to stop the proceedings in a 6-2 decision, stating that the defendant did not have standing. The opinion reads, "One does not put the cart before the horse: A defendant has no claim of wrongful conviction or wrongful sentencing before he has even gone to trial."[2] Green's lawyers, upset with the high court's ruling, said "the system is riddled with errors, inherently unreliable and in urgent need of reforms. Innocent people can and do get sentenced to death in Texas and across the country. Anyone who looks the other way is fooling himself."[1]
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