The Houston Chronicle plans to re-examine Texas death penalty cases where suspects have been convicted and executed using evidence that may have been shaky at best, and downright "dirty" at worst. Ruben Cantu of San Antonio was executed in 1993 for a crime he allegedly committed when he was 17. Twenty years later, the sole eye witness, jury members and even the prosecutor have doubts about Cantu’s guilt.
George Bush, ran his Texas gubernatorial campaign and his 2000 presidential campaign on an unapologetic, "no qualms about it", pro death penalty platform. He has repeatedly asserted that all prisoners executed during his tenure as Texas governor (and there were many), have been ”guilty of the crime charged”. Please read the story in Houston Chronicle to find out how in the absence of physical evidence and based solely on the testimony of a coerced witness, a man was executed. How many more such cases are out there? In such murky circumstances, how can anyone, including George Bush, be sure that only the "guilty" were executed?
See a discussion on this story at Prawfs Blawg .
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