By Bill Zeeble
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-720920.mp3
Dallas, TX – No one's challenging Hood's guilt. But Steve Hall, with Stand Down Texas, an organization opposing capital punishment, says evidence shows the prosecutor and judge were having an affair at the time. At the least, he says there was a conflict of interest.
Hall: The relationship was not disclosed to the defense council. This is a horribly large ethical problem that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals doesn't seem to want to look at.
The court has rejected defense attorney's call for a stay. Hall says this is the same body the U.S. Supreme Court has criticized in capital cases, and the court that found no problem when a defense attorney slept during a client's case.
Hood's lawyers are taking the ruling back to the appeals court then to the Supreme Court if necessary. Times run out at 6, when Hood's scheduled for a lethal injection.
Bill Zeeble KERA news.