Death sentence reversed in Hood case

Charles Dean Hood's date with the executioner has been cancelled as the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed his death sentence. Ironically enough, the Court made no mention of the affair between the judge, Verla Sue Holland, and the prosecutor, Tom O'Connell.

The Court, instead, based its decision on mitigation evidence that Mr. Hood was not allowed to present to the jury during the punishment phase of his trial. The evidence in question raises the possibility that Mr. Hood was abused as a child.

The decision does not vacate the conviction, however, and Mr. Hood continues to maintain his innocence.

While the Court will always attempt to make its decisions on the narrowest of grounds, to ignore the relationship between the judge and the prosecutor smacks of protecting the robe. To be certain, Mr. Hood is no longer under the threat of death, but the question still remains whether or not he is innocent.

The Court's decision to ignore the elephant in the room does short shrift to justice.

See also:

"Court throws out death penalty for Texas man" New York Times (Feb. 24, 2010)

"New punishment hearing ordered for Texas death row inmate Charles Dean Hood" Dallas Morning News (Feb. 24, 2010)

Judge rules Charles Hood's appeal may go forward

The long-twisted saga of Charles Hood continues on in North Texas. Yesterday State District Judge Greg Brewer ruled that Hood's claim of judicial bias in his trial may be ruled on its merits. For those of y'all not familiar with the tawdry soap opera that was the Collin County Courthouse you can read my previous posts here.

Prosecutors tried to argue that the affair between then-State District Judge Verla Sue Holland and Collin County D.A. Tom O'Connell was common knowledge around the courthouse and that Hood's attorneys had to have known who was keeping whose pillow warm.

Judge Brewer disagreed:

“Judge Holland and Mr. O’Connell did not abide by their ethical and constitutional duties to disclose the fundamental conflict caused by their relationship,” Brewer said, adding that O’Connell misled Hood’s attorneys and Holland resisted their “investigative efforts.”

Brewer also said state attorneys could not argue that time deadlines for appeals were violated in Hood’s case because their hands were “unclean.”

“It is the appearance of partiality that is damaging to the public’s confidence in the integrity of the judicial process,” he said.

The Court of Appeals will now take up the matter.

Update: Stay of execution granted in Hood case

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has stayed the scheduled execution of Charles Dean Hood. The Court's decision was not based on the deposition testimony confirming the sexual relationship between retired Judge Verla Sue Holland and former Collin County DA Tom O'Connell, but, instead, on the question of whether or not the jury was given a proper instruction regarding mitigation during the sentencing phase.

Grits for Breakfast has a transcript of an e-mail sent from Mr. Hood's lawyers detailing the admissions of Ms. Holland and Mr. O'Connell. Those admissions were the first confirmation from the two former lovebirds that anything out of sorts had been going on during Mr. Hood's trial. Both admitted to the affair and to their failure to inform Mr. Hood, or his attorneys, about the affair.

Update: Depositions ordered in Hood case

State District Judge Greg Brewer has ordered retired Judge Verla Sue Holland and former Collin County D.A. Tom O'Connell to testify under oath regarding their alleged affair while Charles Dean Hood's case was being tried.

Mr. O'Connell was deposed by attorneys representing Mr. Hood for two hours on Monday evening. He refused to comment after leaving the courthouse following his deposition. Judge Holland is scheduled to be deposed on Tuesday morning.

Earlier in the day, Judge Holland's attorney, Bill Boyd, sought to have the case moved to federal court under the theory that Mr. Hood was pursuing a civil rights claim. Mr. Hood's attorneys argued that the matter before the state court was a preliminary matter and that there was no federal jurisdiction over the case.

U.S. District Judge Richard Schell agreed with Mr. Hood's attorneys and ordered the case back to state court.

Mr. Boyd seemed more upset that Mr. Hood's attorneys moved for depositions 18 years after the trial in which Mr. Hood was convicted, than he was in whether or not Judge Holland was sleeping with Mr. O'Connell at the time of Mr. Hood's trial.

Gov. Perry has yet to make a decision on Mr. Hood's request for a reprieve from the executioner.

In a related development (for a story that just seems to get more bizarre each passing day) an assistant attorney general who used to represent Judge Holland, has filed a grievance against Attorney General Greg Abbott just days after Mr. Abbott sent a letter to the Collin County District Attorney urging him to look into the allegations of the affair between Judge Holland and Mr. O'Connell.

The Hood saga takes another turn

The hearing set for today in the Charles Dean Hood saga was cancelled after Mr. Bill Boyd, the attorney for retired Judge Verla Sue Holland, requested that the matter be transferred to federal court.

Mr. Hood's attorneys have filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus and a motion for a stay of execution.

Interestingly enough, the Texas Defender Service released a press release showing that, during her time on the Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge Holland recused herself from 78.6% of the cases that came from Collin County.

Mr. Hood's execution is scheduled for Wednesday. The question of whether or not Mr. Hood lives or dies is now up to Gov. Rick Perry, who has been urged by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to issue the stay. Mr. Abbott sent a letter to Mr. John Roach, the current Collin County District Attorney, stating his belief that the issues regarding the alleged affair between Judge Holland and Tom O'Connell "warrant thorough review."

Mr. Abbott also wrote that "if the execution proceeds as scheduled, before questions about the fairness of [Hood's] trial are legally resolved, neither the victims nor justice will be served."

It's time for the governor to do the right thing.

Update on Charles Dean Hood

Finally someone in Collin County has come to their senses. State District Judge Greg Brewer has moved Hood's hearing date from September 12, 2008 (two days after his scheduled execution) to September 8, 2008. At that hearing Judge Brewer will decide whether to order the depositions of Judge Holland and Tom O'Connell.

Grits for Breakfast had this to say about the latest developments.

Justice, Collin County style

In 1990, Charles Dean Hood was convicted for the murders of Ronald Williamson, his boss, and Tracie Wallace, Williamson's girlfriend. Hood's bloody fingerprints were found at the crime scene (on garbage bags and documents) and the two victims had been shot at close range.

It appeared that the trial would be a slam dunk conviction for Collin County DA Tom O'Connell who decided to try the case himself. Actually it would be more than a slam dunk.

The presiding judge of the 296th Judicial District Court, Verla Sue Holland, was involved in a long-running romantic relationship with O'Connell. Yet, despite the clear conflict of interest, neither disclosed their relationship to Mr. Hood or to his attorney, David Haynes.

Although rumors about the relationship ran rampant through the Collin County courthouse, Mr. Haynes didn't think the issue could be raised at trial absent proof.

Mr. Hood was scheduled to be murdered by the State of Texas on June 17, 2008 but prison officials aborted it when it became clear they could not carry out the sentence prior to midnight.

After securing an affidavit from a former prosecutor in the Collin County DA's Office acknowledging the relationship between O'Connell and Holland, Hood's attorneys filed an appeal alleging the affair prevented Mr. Hood from receiving a fair and impartial trial before Judge Holland.

The State of Texas stayed the execution and rescheduled it for September 10, 2008. At the same time, Mr. Hood's attorneys sought civil relief in the 199th Judicial District Court of Collin County. His attorneys asked Judge Robert Dry to determine whether the conduct of Holland and O'Connell during Hood's trial was ethical.

Judge Dry scheduled a hearing on the civil matter for September 12, 2008 -- too late to afford any relief to Mr. Hood.

To date, Judge Holland has refused to comment on the allegations she was sleeping with the prosecutor during Hood's trial. She said it would be "unethical" for her to comment on a pending case, even though the Texas Constitution says that the judiciary must avoid any appearance of impropriety and must hold itself to exacting standards in order to avoid a loss of public confidence.

The Collin County DA's office has also refused to comment on the allegations.

Judge Holland left her bench in Collin County and served on the Court of Criminal Appeals in the mid-1990's. Since then, Court of Criminal Appeals has refused to force Holland to answer any questions regarding the affair.

Although it was not Judge Holland who convicted (and condemned) Mr. Hood - that was the job of 12 citizens of Collin County, she ruled on motions, objections and proposed charges during the course of the trial.

To that end, the 500-member Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers and dozens of legal ethicists have called Hood's conviction into question and 22 former federal and state judges from Texas and the rest of the country have called on Governor Perry to grant Mr. Hood a reprieve.

Charles Dean Hood may very well be guilty of the murders but there is this little notion of due process that the courts should (at the very least) pay attention to every now and then. This is one of those times.