On Eve Of Execution Texas Inmate Asks For One More DNA Test

Henry Skinner is scheduled to be put to death in Texas this evening for the murders of his girlfriend and her two sons.  Skinner has proclaimed his innocence since his arrest.  Skinner is requesting that additional DNA tests be performed on items that were never tested for DNA.  The only DNA tests performed to date establish that he was present in the home when the murders were committed.  Skinner has never denied that he was present in the home when the murders happened.  There was no confession, no witnesses, no motive, and no prior acts of violence by Skinner introduced at trial.  Blood tests of Skinner taken after he was arrested established that he was under the influence of painkillers, alcohol and anti-anxiety medication when these murders were committed. Skinner's attorneys argue that he was not physically able to commit the murders.  He was sentenced to death for the murders by a jury in 1995.  David Protess, a journalism professor at Northwestern University, who is famous for examining the cases of inmates wrongfully convicted of violent crimes, looked at Skinner's case and concluded that Skinner is innocent.  

In the past few years, at least 17 inmates on death row have been released after DNA tests proved that they were innocent of the crimes that they had been put on death row for.

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