The Austin American-Statesman published a story today that casts great doubt on the question of whether Cathy Henderson is guilty of capital murder. She has an execution date of June 13, 2007. Write Governor Perry to protest this scheduled execution. Whether or not anyone supports or opposes the death penalty, everyone should be able to agree that no one should be executed when there is scientific evidence casting doubt on the validity of the conviction.
As the doctor who autopsied 3-month-old Brandon Baugh, Robert Bayardo confidently told jurors in 1995 that the child was deliberately killed, not accidentally dropped on his head as baby sitter Cathy Lynn Henderson claimed.
The testimony was instrumental to Henderson’s conviction and death sentence.
But on Thursday, with Henderson’s execution less than three weeks away, Bayardo backed away from his emphatic testimony, telling a Texas appeals court that recent medical findings have cast doubt on his 12-year-old conclusions.
“Had the new scientific information been available to me in 1995, I would not have been able to testify the way I did,” Bayardo said in a signed affidavit provided to a Texas court as part of an appeal filed Thursday on Henderson’s behalf.
