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6 December 2010
Last updated at 13:57 ET
A Texas judge is to consider whether the death penalty is constitutional, in an unusual hearing ahead of a trial.
The defendant, John Edward Green Jr, is accused of fatally shooting a woman in her driveway in front of her children and could be sentenced to death.
His legal team submitted a routine request, usually rejected by judges, to review the use of the death penalty. But Judge Kevin Fine consented.
Experts in forensics and eyewitness identification will testify.
The impact of a ruling that the death penalty is unconstitutional is not clear, but would probably be mostly symbolic.
As a district court judge, Judge Fine does not have the power of higher court judges to require other judges to follow his ruling.
But the case will be watched closely, particularly by courts in other states, including Illinois, where debates over the death penalty are raging.
Wrongful convictions Green's attorneys are expected to focus on the problem of wrongful convictions and recent exonerations of individuals who were sent to death row on the basis of faulty evidence.
Experts for the defence will question the reliability of eyewitness identifications, which have led to mistaken convictions, as well as problems with forensic evidence and questionable confessions.
Two Texas executions being questioned by the Innocence Project, a non-profit organisation that uses forensic evidence to re-examine death row cases, will probably feature in the Green case.
Cameron Todd Willingham was convicted of starting a house fire that killed his two-year-old daughter and one-year-old twins and put to death in 2004. But the evidence of arson has been discredited after experts found serious flaws.
In another Texas case, the single piece of physical evidence linking Claude Jones to a murder scene - a strand of hair - was later found to belong to the victim and not to Jones, throwing his execution into question.
Unusual judge Texas judges are elected, not appointed. Judge Fine is anomalous in heavily Republican Texas - he is a tattooed Democrat who has identified himself as a recovering alcoholic and a former cocaine user.
Prosecution lawyers have unsuccessfully attempted to remove Judge Fine from the case. They accused him of "antagonism against the death penalty" in court documents and expressed doubt over his impartiality.
They also argue that the death penalty is settled case law and does not need to be examined.
Since the resumption of the death penalty in Texas in 1992, Harris County, where Judge Fine serves, has sent more prisoners to death row than any other. Of the 286 death sentences in Harris County, 115 prisoners have been executed.
The hearing could last up to two weeks.
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The defendant, John Edward Green Jr, is accused of fatally shooting a woman in her driveway in front of her children and could be sentenced to death.
His legal team submitted a routine request, usually rejected by judges, to review the use of the death penalty. But Judge Kevin Fine consented.
Experts in forensics and eyewitness identification will testify.
The impact of a ruling that the death penalty is unconstitutional is not clear, but would probably be mostly symbolic.
As a district court judge, Judge Fine does not have the power of higher court judges to require other judges to follow his ruling.
But the case will be watched closely, particularly by courts in other states, including Illinois, where debates over the death penalty are raging.
Wrongful convictions Green's attorneys are expected to focus on the problem of wrongful convictions and recent exonerations of individuals who were sent to death row on the basis of faulty evidence.
Experts for the defence will question the reliability of eyewitness identifications, which have led to mistaken convictions, as well as problems with forensic evidence and questionable confessions.
Two Texas executions being questioned by the Innocence Project, a non-profit organisation that uses forensic evidence to re-examine death row cases, will probably feature in the Green case.
Cameron Todd Willingham was convicted of starting a house fire that killed his two-year-old daughter and one-year-old twins and put to death in 2004. But the evidence of arson has been discredited after experts found serious flaws.
In another Texas case, the single piece of physical evidence linking Claude Jones to a murder scene - a strand of hair - was later found to belong to the victim and not to Jones, throwing his execution into question.
Unusual judge Texas judges are elected, not appointed. Judge Fine is anomalous in heavily Republican Texas - he is a tattooed Democrat who has identified himself as a recovering alcoholic and a former cocaine user.
Prosecution lawyers have unsuccessfully attempted to remove Judge Fine from the case. They accused him of "antagonism against the death penalty" in court documents and expressed doubt over his impartiality.
They also argue that the death penalty is settled case law and does not need to be examined.
Since the resumption of the death penalty in Texas in 1992, Harris County, where Judge Fine serves, has sent more prisoners to death row than any other. Of the 286 death sentences in Harris County, 115 prisoners have been executed.
The hearing could last up to two weeks.
Powered by WizardRSS | Best Membership Site Software