Another (truly tragic) reason for the U.S. to kick Texas out of our nation. Texas would be much better on its own. And the rest of us could stop being embarrassed by that odious, backward state.

is indefensible, and the people of Texas, through their political system, are obligated to do their best to remove any judges responsible for this decision, if at all possible.

the Court of Criminal Appeals.

The US judicial system is getting more and more like the one the The Trial. One they've got you, all they do is play with your head until they kill you or release you.

I would never uphold anyone who has murdered someone-But at the very least this guy should get a retrial

Just a thought

People have it off. Happens all the time.

Meanwhile, this Hood fellow shot a man and woman dead, stole their car and debit card and withdrew 400 bucks from their account.

So what's the problem?

What is it about Texas that it produces a continual crop of people who think that state sanctioned killing is superior to the actual rule of law. It's priceless to read that a court of appeals believes that two officer of the court bumping uglies didn't mean that the scales of justice weren't unbalanced. As if the past eight years of Bush weren't enough of a joke, these clowns weigh in.

So they don't think this was misconduct rising to the level of needing a new trial? Evil.

It took Thin Blue Line to get that innocent man out. It will take a lot more attention to save this possibly innocent man. I hope Salon and other media keep up the pressure.

As for the person above, since Hood did not get a fair trial, we DO NO KNOW that he shot and killed these two people. The evidence was not tested in a fair and impartial way, as demanded by the Constitution.

If this is not overturned by the US District Court of Appeals, I will choke on my own vomit.

I wonder what Glenn Greenwald would think of this...

At the very least, the situation should have been declared by the judicial system a conflict of interest. If I were the guilty party I would file an appeal on this trial judgement ASAP!!!

...than any other profession on earth, save the ministry.

I realize it's a broad generalization, but except for Austin, I hate Texas and all who choose to dwell there. Rotten to the core from bashing people in gay clubs, dragging black men behind trucks, GWB, Haliburton, Enron, Big Oil and, well, everything that goes on there. It's a cesspool of corruption and racism and our country has suffered these past few decades from the politicians originating from there. Rick Perry can die a slow, painful death for all I care.

What a sordid and seedy state of affairs in Texas. Even the civil area of law is compromised...the insurance companies have their way in the state. I suppose the CCA can't bring themselves to do what's right...it's just not in them.

Those two doofuses have expressed opinion that guilt or innocence is irrelevant, that if an innocent person gets a "fair" trial then a death sentence should stand, because the Constitution supposedly does not protect the lives of innocent people, it only protects the process.

Now here we've got a case where the perp is indisputably guilty and deserves capital punishment, but received a blatantly unfair trial.

Wondering how "Justices" Scalia and Thomas, living in Bizarro World themselves, would rule. Guessing they would rule this guy should die, too. Meaning it doesn't really matter if you're innocent or not, or whether your trial is fair or not.

Being pro-capital punishment, it really irks me when the courts undermine the legitimacy of putting to death people who desperately need to be put to death. It's foulups like these that cause moratoriums on executions.

austin and san antonio are the exception to the rule.

The idea behind the trial is not just to determine who did it, but to prove it. Not just for the Judge, but for the perpetrator and his family, and to everybody and anybody who doubts the outcome, no matter how biased they may be. That's the ideal, at least.

As such, it's the duty of the judge and everybody to seek the highest level of integrity. Even if they themselves believe this guy is guilty, they haven't proven it to everybody else yet. Having a secret affair is not the way to do that. The suspect should get a retrial, even if he's obviously guilty as sin. The judge and the DA should get some sort of punishment; they've soiled every other legal professional. We don't need any more phony convictions and we don't need yet another reason for people to doubt convictions.

They got Death Panels down in Texas.

Whether the defendant committed these horrific crimes or not is irrelevant...he is still entitled to a fair and unbiased trial. Anyone with one ounce of common sense would agree that the judge and the prosecutor can not be involved without the entire system being corrupt. So where are the prosecutors in this....again, they are more concerned about protecting their statistics and their own asses than with doing the right thing. No wonder people are so disgusted with our system of justice.

And for the record..Gov Perry....please do us all a favor and do secede>>>would love to have Texas not be a part of the United States!

Moved to New York City for school. Stayed in New York for twenty years. Hate Texas. Despite various oases of sanity in that awful state, it's largely a brutal, medieval backwater. So here's how it goes: First, health care. And then the revocation of the death penalty. Gay marriage and everything else can wait. (And I'm gay.) Let's focus and achieve those two goals.

This sounds like pure inbreeding to me. If the State court is unable to lawfully determine when attorneys, district attorneys and judges are guilty of malfeasance then what hope is there for the populace?

These is called incest in any part of the world.

Pull it out. Zip up your pants. Keep your legs together.

Grow up.

If we can just breed the teens in Oklahoma unable to name the first President of the U.S. to the intellectuals running the State of Texas we should be able to birth an alien baby.