Death Penalty
Judge says DA intentionally withheld murder trial evidence, but denies defense bid for retrial ban
A Texas district attorney intentionally withheld evidence from defense counsel in a capital murder trial, a state court judge ruled Friday.
However, the reason why Williamson County DA Jana Duty did so is unknown, Williamson County District Judge Rick Kennon writes in his 15-page opinion (PDF).
Hence, because Kennon did not find that Duty had intentionally caused a mistrial in the case of Crispin Harmel, the judge rejected a defense argument that double jeopardy should prevent Harmel from being retried, KXAN reports.
The article doesn’t include any comment from the DA.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “DA gets 10 days for contempt; judge cites gag order, failure to appear, disrespect to court”
KXAN: “Jana Duty reports to jail, waives right to appeal”
Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.
