The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday morning they will decide whether Skinner is entitled to request DNA tests under federal civil rights law on biological evidence in his case, according to the Medill Innocence Project website. The decision is expected to occur during the Court’s 2010 term, which begins in October.
According to the Innocence Project’s website, Skinner, 47, faced lethal injection for allegedly killing his girlfriend, Twila Jean Busby, and stabbing her two adult sons at their home in Pampa, Texas on New Year’s Eve in 1993. He was convicted in 1994 and sentenced to death a year later. The Innocence Project took up the case in 1999 after an AP reporter questioned the conviction.
Director of the Innocence Project and Medill Professor David Protess said he and his students were ecstatic about the ruling.
“It was a long shot, but a man’s life is on the line so I’m glad the courts did the right thing,” said Protess.
The success comes not only from the journalists but also the lawyers they worked with, he said.
“It’s not every day you get the Supreme Court to take your case, even with a man’s life on the line,” he said. “My fondest hope is that the students who have been involved with this project will, ten years from now, learn a great deal from the experience.”
He added, “If they do, the project will be a success, regardless of what the court ultimately decides.”
Updated 5/24/10, 11:55 p.m. More to come.