Supreme Court hands victory to Texas death row inmate in faulty DNA case
Rachel Schilke
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The Supreme Court sided with a Texas death row inmate who is attempting to overturn his conviction on the basis of bad DNA evidence.
The court issued an unsigned order on Monday agreeing to take on the case and wiped away the ruling from the U.S. Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas. The case will now go back to the lower court for a new trial “for further consideration in light of the confession of error by Texas” filed in September 2022.
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The case involves inmate Areli Escobar, who was initially convicted in the murder of 17-year-old Bianca Hernandez, according to CNN.
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, who originally sought to convict him, filed a brief in support of overturning Escobar.
He said that, post conviction, his office “undertook a comprehensive reexamination of the forensic evidence” involved in the case after claims were made that the state had presented “flawed and misleading” DNA evidence during the trial.
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The lab was eventually shut down after significant deficiencies were discovered. The lower court of appeals had sustained the conviction, finding Escobar failed to show a “reasonable likelihood” that false DNA evidence could have influenced the jury’s decision.