Clemency, now
Texas is, surprise surprise about to execute a possibly innocent man on Tuesday. Sign the petition to try and get Gov. “Culture of Life” Perry to stop this travesty.
Four forensic pathologists agree that Larry Swearingen, set to be executed Tuesday, could not have committed the 1998 murder that sent him to death row.
The four include the medical examiner whose testimony helped secure Swearingen’s guilty verdict. That medical examiner now says college student Melissa Trotter’s curiously preserved body could not have lain in the East Texas woods for more than 14 days — and probably was there for a much shorter time.
The results mean Swearingen was in jail when the 19-year-old’s body was left behind, the pathologists say.
At the least there is significant objective doubt as to whether or not Swearingen could have committed this murder. All attempts to have the courts review this evidence or reconsider have fallen upon deaf ears. It is now down to appeals to mercy from a hangin’ Republican in order to extinguish all options.
Update: Fed court intervenes, grants appeal, execution is stayed. Fantastic!