Source:
CNNA Texas court granted a stay of execution for convicted murderer Henry "Hank" Skinner on Monday, giving Skinner time to pursue DNA testing his lawyers say could prove his innocence.
Skinner had been scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday evening for the New Year's Eve 1993 killings of live-in girlfriend, Twila Busby, and her two adult sons in the Texas Panhandle town of Pampa. But the state Court of Criminal Appeals halted the proceeding Monday afternoon, ruling that it needed time to review the state's revised law on DNA testing.
In a written statement, Skinner's lawyer, Rob Owen, said the decision "has ensured that Mr. Skinner's request for DNA testing will receive the thorough and serious consideration it deserves."
Skinner, now 49, has strongly denied any involvement in the crime and claims that the DNA analysis of untested evidence will not only show him innocent but help determine the real killer. He came within 45 minutes of execution in March 2010 before the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in and handed him a legal reprieve.
Read more:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/07/justice/texas-execution-stay/index.html