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Governor Rick Perry,
I ask that the State of Texas not execute Hank Skinner while it withholds copious, untested DNA evidence. I ask
further that the State release the DNA evidence for independent testing, and release results for the rape kit and
fingernail scrapings which were long ago delivered to GeneScreen for testing. Professor David Protess of the Medill
Innocence Project has publicly offered to pay for the testing, but his offer continues to be ignored by District
Attorney Lynn Switzer. Her reason:
“[Hank Skinner] doesn’t need to keep trying it over and over again. It’s already been handled.”
But it has not “already been handled.” True, samples of DNA have already been tested by Ms. Switzer’s predecessor,
John Mann, who believed that testing would “put a few more nails in that man’s coffin.” To his surprise, the results of
those tests excluded Hank Skinner as the murderer. Since that time, Lynn Switzer, a district attorney whom you
seated, has locked away the remaining DNA evidence so that no one can test the remainder.
I advocate neither for nor against the death penalty. I do not claim to know whether Hank Skinner is factually
innocent or factually guilty. Instead I argue that it is an extraordinarily flagrant disregard of human life to passively
allow the execution of any person while proof of guilt or innocence languishes untested and unreported. This is
particularly egregious when the DNA evidence already tested is persuasive that Hank Skinner was wrongfully
convicted. I realize Mr. Skinner’s attorney waived DNA testing at trial. While this gives Texas legal cover to kill Hank
Skinner, I am confident most Americas will agree that a defense attorney’s pathetic representation is a grossly
insufficient reason to kill the client.
To bring attention to this case, I have decided to make Hank Skinner the subject of the fourth book in The Skeptical
Juror series, the initial book of which will go on sale this month. Each book in the series dissects the trial
proceedings in a single criminal case. The Hank Skinner book will vary from the others in that it will place more
emphasis on the events following the trial, and on those personalities actively or passively responsible for the
execution of a person, Hank Skinner, whom I suspect most people will soon believe to be factually innocent.
The graphic pre‐publication material included with this mailing displays the preliminary front and back cover for
the book. When opened, the graphic presents a stunning pictorial of the ultimate injustice. The ISBN number on the
back cover has already been reserved for the book. The book will appear in September 2010.
We expect substantial sales on each book in the series. With respect to Hank Skinner, however, our marketing
research indicates boundless interest and vehemence regarding the execution of any person while the answer of
guilt or innocence is perniciously withheld from the public. We expect, therefore, the Hank Skinner story will
generate more sales than all other books in the series combined, by a wide margin.
I close this letter as I open it. I ask you to demand that the copious and probative DNA evidence be tested and
reported before, not after, the execution. It is a modest request of utmost import.
Regards,
J Bennett Allen
The Skeptical Juror
www.skepticaljuror.com
cc: President Barack Obama, Former President George W. Bush, Former President George H. W. Bush, U.S. Attorney
General Eric Holder, Governor Sarah Palin, U.S. Senator John Cornyn, U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, U.S.
Representative John Carter, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, Attorney General Greg Abbott, Gray County
District Attorney Lynn Switzer, Senator Kel Seliger, Senator Robert Duncan, Representative Ryan Guillen,
Representative Warren Chisum, Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins, Gubernatorial Candidate Clement
Glenn, Gubernatorial Candidate Star Locke, Gubernatorial Candidate Farouk Shami, Gubernatorial Candidate Felix
Alvarado, Gubernatorial Candidate Bill White, Gubernatorial Candidate Debra Medina, Professor David Protess,
Attorney Robert Owen