Death Penalty Judge, Prosecutor Admit Affair; Execution Postponed

[WSJ_law_blog]

The wacky Texas death penalty case we blogged on last week has taken an unexpected turn. A judge and a prosecutor who handled the murder trial of Charles Dean Hood, who was convicted and scheduled to be put to death tonight, have admitted under oath that they carried on a secret affair for years.

Yet, when the highest criminal court in Texas decided yesterday to postpone Hood’s execution, it wasn’t because of the affair, but rather to reconsider whether the jury instructions were flawed.

Here are reports from the NYT and the L.A. Times. Here’s LB background.

“Judge Holland and Mr. O’Connell confirmed that they kept the relationship secret,” Mr. Hood’s lawyer, Gregory W. Wiercioch, reportedly wrote to the governor. “She never disclosed it to a single litigant or lawyer who appeared before her, and she never recused herself from hearing a single case because of her affair with the elected district attorney.” He added: “Similarly, Mr. O’Connell never disclosed the romantic relationship to any of his adversaries nor did he recuse himself or his office from prosecuting a single case because of his affair with Judge Holland.”

Hood, 39, is a former club bouncer who was 20 when he was arrested in Indiana for the fatal shootings of two individuals in Plano, Texas in 1989. Late Tuesday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Hood a stay, saying it would reconsider its previous dismissal of Hood’s appeal challenging jury instructions. At the same time, the court dismissed claims that Hood had been denied a fair trial because of the alleged affair, the Associated Press reported.

Photo: AP