Post by MXB on Jun 13, 2007 10:22:50 GMT -5
Cathy Lynn Henderson Gets Reprieve
A divided Texas Court of Criminal Appeals voted 5-3 to grant death row inmate Cathy Lynn Henderson a reprieve two days before her scheduled execution for the death of a three-month-old child she was babysitting 13 years ago. The court voted to send her case back to the trial court to hear arguments that Henderson was innocent of capital murder.
At the center of Henderson's appeal was new scientific evidence that was not available during her trial in 1995. A medical examiner who testified for the prosecution now says new tests not available in 1995 show that his conclusion that the infant's death could not have been an accident was incorrect.
"Had the new scientific information been available to me in 1995, I would not have been able to testify the way I did," said Dr. Robert Bayardo in an affidavit.
Judge Tom Price of the appeals court wrote that Bayardo's affidavit proved to him no rational juror could have found Henderson guilty "to a level of confidence beyond a reasonable doubt."
In a scathing written dissent, Judge Michael Keasler blasted the judges who backed the reprieve without explanation as "indefensible." "They dare not set out their reasons because they might have to defend them," Keasler wrote.
Under Texas law, Keasler wrote, the defense needed to show that because of the new evidence "no rational juror could have found Henderson guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."
Buried in a Wine Cooler Box
Cathy Lynn Henderson, now 50 years old, was babysitting three-month-old Brandon Baugh Jan. 21, 1994 when she said he fell from her arms and hit his head on the floor of the garage, which had been turned into a playroom.
In an interview last month with The Associated Press, Henderson said she "performed CPR on the infant but didn't call 9-1-1. She wrapped him in his blanket, stuffed him in a wine cooler box and fled north, burying him in a field 60 miles away. Then she drove to her native Missouri where she was arrested under an assumed name."
Judge Price wrote that Henderson's flight from the state did not mean she committed capital murder.
Sipped a Few Margaritas
"While (Henderson's) flight undoubtedly evinces a guilty conscience, it provides little rational basis to conclude she felt guilty of an intentional or knowing murder, as opposed to a reckless or negligent homicide or even an excusable accident," Price wrote.
Judge Keasler wrote that an innocent person would have administered first aid, called an ambulance, sought help from a neighbor or driven the child to a hospital.
"What did Henderson do?" Keasler wrote. "She buried Brandon's 3 1/2-month-old body and skedaddled to Missouri. And what did Henderson do then? Why, she sipped a few margaritas, and according to her friend and confidant, admitted that she had 'killed somebody or murdered somebody.' Is this consistent with her innocence? Of course not."
A divided Texas Court of Criminal Appeals voted 5-3 to grant death row inmate Cathy Lynn Henderson a reprieve two days before her scheduled execution for the death of a three-month-old child she was babysitting 13 years ago. The court voted to send her case back to the trial court to hear arguments that Henderson was innocent of capital murder.
At the center of Henderson's appeal was new scientific evidence that was not available during her trial in 1995. A medical examiner who testified for the prosecution now says new tests not available in 1995 show that his conclusion that the infant's death could not have been an accident was incorrect.
"Had the new scientific information been available to me in 1995, I would not have been able to testify the way I did," said Dr. Robert Bayardo in an affidavit.
Judge Tom Price of the appeals court wrote that Bayardo's affidavit proved to him no rational juror could have found Henderson guilty "to a level of confidence beyond a reasonable doubt."
In a scathing written dissent, Judge Michael Keasler blasted the judges who backed the reprieve without explanation as "indefensible." "They dare not set out their reasons because they might have to defend them," Keasler wrote.
Under Texas law, Keasler wrote, the defense needed to show that because of the new evidence "no rational juror could have found Henderson guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."
Buried in a Wine Cooler Box
Cathy Lynn Henderson, now 50 years old, was babysitting three-month-old Brandon Baugh Jan. 21, 1994 when she said he fell from her arms and hit his head on the floor of the garage, which had been turned into a playroom.
In an interview last month with The Associated Press, Henderson said she "performed CPR on the infant but didn't call 9-1-1. She wrapped him in his blanket, stuffed him in a wine cooler box and fled north, burying him in a field 60 miles away. Then she drove to her native Missouri where she was arrested under an assumed name."
Judge Price wrote that Henderson's flight from the state did not mean she committed capital murder.
Sipped a Few Margaritas
"While (Henderson's) flight undoubtedly evinces a guilty conscience, it provides little rational basis to conclude she felt guilty of an intentional or knowing murder, as opposed to a reckless or negligent homicide or even an excusable accident," Price wrote.
Judge Keasler wrote that an innocent person would have administered first aid, called an ambulance, sought help from a neighbor or driven the child to a hospital.
"What did Henderson do?" Keasler wrote. "She buried Brandon's 3 1/2-month-old body and skedaddled to Missouri. And what did Henderson do then? Why, she sipped a few margaritas, and according to her friend and confidant, admitted that she had 'killed somebody or murdered somebody.' Is this consistent with her innocence? Of course not."