Texas executes a death row inmate who argued that his conviction was based on junk science; he had been represented by the Innocence Project.
She was last seen leaving her community college in Conroe, and her body was found nearly a month later in a forest near Huntsville, about 70 miles north of Houston.Swearingen, who had always maintained his innocence in Trotter's death, was the 12th inmate put to death this year in the U.S. and the fourth in Texas, the nation's busiest capital punishment state. Eleven more executions are scheduled in Texas this year.
He never opened his eyes and never looked at the witnesses who were there on his victim's behalf, including her parents, who watched through a window just a few feet from him."Today, justice was served for Melissa," her family said in a statement provided to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice."This process has been overwhelming. We want to praise God for getting us through this horrific ordeal. We feel we now can move forward and start the healing process.
Swearingen had long tried to cast doubt on the evidence used to convict him, particularly claims by prosecution experts that Trotter's body had been in the woods for 25 days. His longtime appellate attorney, James Rytting, said at least five defense experts concluded her body was there for no more than 14 days, and because Swearingen had been arrested by then on outstanding traffic violations, he couldn't have left her body there.
"I have absolutely zero doubt that anybody but Larry Swearingen killed ... Melissa Trotter," he said. In letters sent to Swearingen's attorneys in July and August, the Texas Department of Public Safety said its technicians should not have been as definitive in their testimony about the blood found in the fingernails and the pantyhose match.
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