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Condemned man's hearing moved to before execution
September 4, 2008 - 6:35pm
By MICHAEL GRACZYK
Associated Press Writer
HOUSTON (AP) - A judge on Thursday moved a hearing date for a condemned inmate so that it's no longer scheduled for after his execution, giving his lawyers the chance to argue while he's still alive that the conviction was unfair because the judge was allegedly having an affair with a prosecutor.
State District Judge Greg Brewer moved the hearing date for Charles Dean Hood to Monday, two days before Hood is set to die for the 1989 slaying of a couple in Plano, near Dallas.
The decision reverses a that of another judge, Robert Dry, who had set a similar hearing for Sept. 12, two days after Hood's execution date.
The hearing will address arguments that Brewer's murder trial was unfair because of an alleged romantic relationship between the judge presiding over the trial, Verla Sue Holland, and former Collin County District Attorney Tom O'Connell.
Brewer ordered Holland, now retired, and O'Connell, now in private practice, to be ready to be interviewed by lawyers Monday _ if Brewer agrees at Monday's hearing that the pair should be deposed. Neither has commented on the allegations that they were romantically involved.
Dry wrote to the defense last month that he was treating the request as part of a civil case that could be pursued after Hood was dead. "In reality, you are exploring a civil lawsuit for the estate of Mr. Hood," he wrote.
But the defense said the hearing should be held before Hood's execution, because evidence gathered from taking the depositions of Holland and O'Connell "may serve as the basis for a reprieve request to the governor of Texas."
On Wednesday, Dry took himself off the case, citing a "previous business relationship" with Holland's ex-husband as the reason.
Hood, 39, was scheduled to die June 17 but his lethal injection, which had cleared numerous lengthy appeals, was aborted by state prison officials after they ran out of time to carry out the execution by midnight.
The former topless-club bouncer was convicted of killing Tracie Lynn Wallace, 26, an ex-dancer at the club, and her boyfriend, Ronald Williamson, 46, at Williamson's home.
Hood was driving Williamson's Cadillac at the time of his arrest, and fingerprint evidence tied him to the murder scene. But he said he was living at Williamson's home and had permission to drive the car.
September 4, 2008 - 6:35pm
By MICHAEL GRACZYK
Associated Press Writer
HOUSTON (AP) - A judge on Thursday moved a hearing date for a condemned inmate so that it's no longer scheduled for after his execution, giving his lawyers the chance to argue while he's still alive that the conviction was unfair because the judge was allegedly having an affair with a prosecutor.
State District Judge Greg Brewer moved the hearing date for Charles Dean Hood to Monday, two days before Hood is set to die for the 1989 slaying of a couple in Plano, near Dallas.
The decision reverses a that of another judge, Robert Dry, who had set a similar hearing for Sept. 12, two days after Hood's execution date.
The hearing will address arguments that Brewer's murder trial was unfair because of an alleged romantic relationship between the judge presiding over the trial, Verla Sue Holland, and former Collin County District Attorney Tom O'Connell.
Brewer ordered Holland, now retired, and O'Connell, now in private practice, to be ready to be interviewed by lawyers Monday _ if Brewer agrees at Monday's hearing that the pair should be deposed. Neither has commented on the allegations that they were romantically involved.
Dry wrote to the defense last month that he was treating the request as part of a civil case that could be pursued after Hood was dead. "In reality, you are exploring a civil lawsuit for the estate of Mr. Hood," he wrote.
But the defense said the hearing should be held before Hood's execution, because evidence gathered from taking the depositions of Holland and O'Connell "may serve as the basis for a reprieve request to the governor of Texas."
On Wednesday, Dry took himself off the case, citing a "previous business relationship" with Holland's ex-husband as the reason.
Hood, 39, was scheduled to die June 17 but his lethal injection, which had cleared numerous lengthy appeals, was aborted by state prison officials after they ran out of time to carry out the execution by midnight.
The former topless-club bouncer was convicted of killing Tracie Lynn Wallace, 26, an ex-dancer at the club, and her boyfriend, Ronald Williamson, 46, at Williamson's home.
Hood was driving Williamson's Cadillac at the time of his arrest, and fingerprint evidence tied him to the murder scene. But he said he was living at Williamson's home and had permission to drive the car.
I told the judge today I would interloc her, she was none too pleased with that comment.
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