What’s Next for Texas Death Row Inmate After Execution Stay

One week after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted death row inmate Larry Swearingen a stay of execution, the Texas Tribune examines the case and the scientific evidence:

Since his conviction, though, at least 10 different reports from more than a half-dozen scientists have concluded that [the victim’s] body tells a different story. Their examinations of her internal organs show that she was killed while Mr. Swearingen was behind bars. The inmate’s lawyers have pleaded with courts for years to review the science. So far, those efforts have failed. But after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals last week issued a third stay of execution, Mr. Swearingen, a former electrician and father of five, and his lawyers hope they will get to present their evidence in court and exonerate him.

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For Mr. Swearingen and his lawyers, the stay was a big victory. “This stay acknowledges powerful scientific evidence of innocence,” Swearingen’s attorney James Rytting said.

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