Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Bulletin: Hank Skinner; Evidentiary hearing winds up with both sides claiming that the DNA evidence supports their position. Judgment reserved. Pampa News.


STORY:  "Consistency important with DNA evidence," by reporters Dennis Palmitier and Timpothy P. Howsare, published  by the Pampa News on February 4, 2014;

GIST:  "On Monday before arguments began, defense requested to include as a new witness, a neighbor of Busby’s who purportedly could identify a windbreaker-type jacket with blood stains on it found at the crime scene. The state objected because the state and the defense had a disclosure agreement before the hearing on what evidence would be deliberated. Judge Steven R. Emmert of the 31st District ruled in favor of the state, denying admission of the jacket. .. In a statement emailed to the press after the hearing, Skinner’s defense attorneys, Robert C. Owen and Douglas G. Robinson, said the state has not presented any dramatic new evidence confirming Skinner’s guilt. “On the contrary, the testimony confirmed DNA from an unknown person, along with Twila Busby’s blood, on a dishtowel that had been secreted in a plastic garbage bag at the crime scene,” the attorneys wrote. “Moreover, the DNA test results were at odds with the state’s theory of the crime. If Mr. Skinner stabbed Randy Busby in the manner claimed by the state, Mr. Skinner’s blood should have been on the blanket of Randy’s bed. It was not. “If Mr. Skinner’s hands were covered with the victims’ blood when he staggered out of the house, their blood should have been mixed with his on the doorknobs he touched. It was not. And Mr. Skinner’s DNA on the common kitchen knife used in the crimes could have come from his innocently using it as a resident of the house and being cut with it by the assailant.”...Emmert did not issue a definitive ruling at the conclusion of the hearing. Both parties will have an opportunity to submit written arguments in late February, and the judge will issue a definitive ruling after considering those arguments."

The entire story can be found at:

 http://www.thepampanews.com/news/article_9a848daa-8dfe-11e3-9442-001a4bcf6878.html

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