Another Day, Another DNA Exoneration in Dallas

Yet another Henry Wade era conviction is overturned on DNA evidence. Or as we call it in Dallas, a Tuesday.

Good on Craig Watkins’ latest initiative, too: reviewing all the older death row cases.

Meanwhile, former Dallas prosecutor Toby Shook who got smacked down in 2006 running against Watkins gets the WTF Award for his quote:

Perhaps he hasn’t thought this through, but essentially what he’s saying is, ‘There is one more court of appeal and that’s me. That’s going to be devastating to a [victim's] family.

Yeah, well how about a potentially wrongfully convicted man facing a ride on the Huntsville steel gurney, Toby? How devastating is that? And how is it comforting to a murder victim’s family to wonder whether the right guy got the Kervorkian juice, and wonder whether maybe the actual killer is still out there?

September 16, 2008 | Filed Under Liberty, Politics, The DFW 

Comments

7 Responses to “Another Day, Another DNA Exoneration in Dallas”

  1. Tom on September 16th, 2008 8:58 am

    Agreed. Saying that you’re “tough on crime” and pumping up your conviction rate with innocent people is devastating to the taxpayers.

  2. amanda on September 16th, 2008 9:49 am

    Exactly, the thought that even one innocent person dies is makes all of this necessary.

  3. Rawlins Gilliland on September 16th, 2008 9:53 am

    Shook is shaking because the truth about his…and Wade’s…record…aka ‘legacy’… is no longer ‘on the ropes’. More like ‘on the gallows’.

  4. The Agitator » Blog Archive » Another Exoneration in Dallas on September 18th, 2008 12:56 pm

    [...] a look at all pending death row cases originating in Dallas County.  Dallas-area journalist Trey Garrison notes that Watkins’ announcement triggered this curious reaction from a former prosecutor: Toby [...]

  5. Ken’s Weblog » Blog Archive » And another isolated incident on September 18th, 2008 1:20 pm

    [...] a look at all pending death row cases originating in Dallas County.  Dallas-area journalist Trey Garrison notes that Watkins’ announcement triggered this curious reaction from a former prosecutor: Toby [...]

  6. DNA exonerates man convicted of rape after serving 26 years in prison. | The Unspun Zone on September 18th, 2008 5:58 pm

    [...] into all pending death row cases in Dallas County and that this announcement prompted a rather peculiar response from a former prosecutor. Toby Shook, who sent several people to death row while he was a Dallas [...]

  7. Flow on September 18th, 2008 9:02 pm

    You made the Reason blog. Redeem this post for a free slot token at an Oklahoma casino. :bergman:

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