Stay Granted for Frances Newton
by TChris
TalkLeft reported yesterday that the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted to recommend a stay of execution for Frances Newton to permit reexamination of the shaky evidence that supports her guilt. Today, hours before Newton was scheduled to die, Gov. Rick Perry granted the stay.
Newton's supporters charge she was the victim of poor work done by the Houston Police Department crime laboratory, which has been plagued by scandals in the past few years.
The stay will permit testing of residue on a dress that police viewed as proof that Newton had fired a weapon. Newton maintains that the residue is nitrate from fertilizer.
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