The supreme court recently denied death row inmate, Charles Hood, of Texas a new trial. After Hood’s trial it was discovered that the prosecuting district attorney, Tom O’Connell, and the case’s judge, Verla Sue Holland, were having an affair together. Hood has continued to deny all charges. Oddly, Holland took a new position soon after the case on Texas’ highest criminal appeals court, which heard the appeal of Hood. The appeals court in Texas ruled that Hood did indeed deserve a new trial. The state later denied the appeal, which was based on the admission of the affair, arguing that the affair did not affect the outcome of the case.
Despite the argument that they affair may not have had any direct influence on the ruling in the case, it is both ridiculous and careless to send someone to death row under these circumstances. Clearly, the judge has document moral lapses in judgment involving the affair, creating the possibility that she may not have been fit to make a ruling on the case in the first place. Furthermore, it was Judge Holland’s own appeals court that ruled that Hood was deserving of a new trial. It is most likely the case that the judges ruling on the appeals case heard every angle of the case, considering it had everything to do with one of their fellow judges. The fact of the matter is, it is not right to execute anyone, but it most definitely not right to execute someone whose judge was in no capacity to make a proper decision regarding someone else’s life.
Article here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/19/scotus.texas.death.row/index.html?iref=allsearch
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