The execution of Hood is apparently back on, following an order from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, but it is hard to tell by just reading the online media reports. This AP story does say that he has three unresolved appeals at the U.S. Supreme Court. The big news is that apparently the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals does not close at 5, as Sharon Killer dishonestly claimed on Sept 25. No matter what else happens tonight, one thing should be clear, Sharon Keller should be immediately forced to resign for her unethical behavior last Sept 25. Sharon Keller is a liar. Meanwhile, the all time clown college that is the Texas Judicial System is in full session, trying to execute a person whose trial was presided over by a judge who was secretly having a romantic affair with the DA prosecuting the case.

The Statesman is reporting:

The Court of Criminal Appeals has ordered a North Texas judge to reinstate the death warrant for Charles Dean Hood. The warrant had been recalled earlier in the day. Prosecutors in Collin County successfully asked the state’s highest court to order the region’s presiding judge to reinstate the case. Hood could be executed this evening if the order is reinstated by midnight, when the warrant expires.

UPDATE, 9:13 p.m.: Prosecutors in Collin County have again this evening asked the Court of Criminal appeals to reinstate the execution warrant for Charles Dean Hood. In one court filing, Collin County Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Garon asked the court to order the presiding judge of the state’s First Administrative Judicial District to order the execution warrant reinstated tonight. In another filing, Garon asked for “extraordinary writ relief” because “no judge is available to withdraw the order.

Meanwhile, Texas prison officials say that Hood remains in a holding cell adjacent to death row in Huntsville. The execution warrant that prosecutors are trying to reinstate expires at midnight.

Update: The Court of Criminal Appeals has ordered that a district judge in Collin County had no authority to withdraw Charles Dean Hood’s death warrant. However, the state’s highest court said in an unsigned order that since the judge has now recused himself from the case, the Court of Criminal Appeals has no authority to order the judge to reinstate the death warrant. Hood’s lawyers say they are unsure whether Collin County prosecutors will file additional motions this evening in an attempt to prompt Hood’s execution.

8:23pm From the Statesman: “The Court of Criminal Appeals has ordered that a district judge in Collin County had no authority to withdraw Charles Dean Hood’s death warrant. However, the state’s highest court said in an unsigned order that since the judge has now recused himself from the case, the Court of Criminal Appeals has no authority to order the judge to reinstate the death warrant. Hood’s lawyers say they are unsure whether Collin County prosecutors will file additional motions this evening in an attempt to prompt Hood’s execution.”

The Statesman is reporting that

Charles Dean Hood’s scheduled execution today was delayed after a state district judge recalled Hood’s death warrant in the wake of recent allegations that the district attorney and trial judge in the case had a secret intimate relationship that may have undermined Hood’s right to a fair trial.

But Hood’s fate this evening remains unresolved as prosecutors in Collin County have appealed for the state’s highest criminal court to overrule the district judge and order the execution to proceed. The Associated Press reports that state prison officials have declined to return Hood to death row, pending the outcome of the appeal.

“Only in Texas. Only in Texas,” said Lawrence Fox, who teaches law at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania and has been watching the case closely.

“If we’re going to have the death penalty in America, then we better conduct the proceedings in a pristine way … If it (the relationship between the judge and district attorney) is true, he is entitled to a new trial in front of another judge and it doesn’t make a difference that everyone thinks he is guilty.”

Houston Chronicle:

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A Collin County state district judge has put off the scheduled execution of Charles Dean Hood for a double slaying in suburban Dallas almost 20 years ago.

In an order signed just over an hour before Hood could have gone to the death chamber Tuesday night, state District Judge Curt Henderson withdrew the execution warrant after defense attorneys for the inmate had sought any correspondence in the Collin County district attorney’s office that could be related to accusations of a long-standing romantic relationship between one of Hood’s prosecutors and the judge who presided over his trial in 1990.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals had refused to consider arguments about the alleged affair, citing technical reasons that disqualified the appeal.

Yesterday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals turned down two appeals from Charles Hood, who was convicted in a courtroom in which the judge was involved in a long time romantic relationship with the prosecutor. Hood is scheduled for execution on Tuesday, June 17, in Huntsville. Protesters will be at the Texas Capitol at 5:30 on Tuesday.

The Statesman reported, “the Court of Criminal Appeals rejected one appeal, known as a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, citing problems with the appellate lawyers’ signatures. The second appeal was rejected because Texas law limits death row inmates to one habeas petition unless lawyers uncover new information that was not previously available.”

Mike Hall of Texas Monthly wrote last week in an email to Evan Smith that the CCA should stop Hood’s execution or risk Texas “becoming the all-time clown college of the American judicial system, the state that okayed both sleeping lawyers and lawyers sleeping with each other.” Now that the appeal has been rejected by the TCCA, Texas assumes the title of “all-time clown college”.

From Mike Hall’s email:

But it’s not merely justice that is important. As the U.S. Supreme Court has said, a court “not only must be unbiased but also must avoid even the appearance of bias.”

And this is why the CCA needs to grant this writ and not, as it has done over the past ten years, rush to execution. After Holland left the district court, she served on the CCA from 1997 until 2001. She worked with eight of the nine currently sitting judges. If they ignore this appeal, this affidavit from a former officer of the Texas courts about one of their former peers, they risk not only the appearance of injustice but the reality of Texas becoming the all-time clown college of the American judicial system, the state that okayed both sleeping lawyers and lawyers sleeping with each other. The state that wouldn’t halt its execution machine long enough to ask a simple question. The CCA should grant this writ, call a hearing, subpoena Holland and O’Connell, and get to the bottom of the matter. Because it’s more than a man’s life that is at stake. It’s the absolute integrity of the way we run our judicial system.

Click here to CONTACT GOVERNOR PERRY and tell him to stop the execution of Charles Dean Hood:

In Austin or from out of state: (512) 463-1782
Calling from Texas: (800) 252-9600
Fax: (512) 463-1849

At last weekend’s Democratic State Convention, the Resolutions Committee approved a resolution calling for the abolition of the death penalty. In the end, only one committee member voted against the resolution. The resolution did not get a floor vote. It was referred to the SDEC Resolutions Committee for further consideration, like many other resolutions. Lee Greenwood, who spoke at Friday’s caucus meeting of “Democrats Against the Death Penalty” was allowed to speak to the resolutions committee. Her son was executed last year in Huntsville. Other caucus participants, including Sherry Clausell and Barbara Acuna, lobbied the committee members. The abolition resolution had been passed by several senatorial or county conventions. Many people at the convention wore red stickers saying “Abolish the Death Penalty”.

The 2008 Texas Democratic Party platform continues to call for a moratorium on executions. This is the third time the platform has called for a moratorium. The first platform that called for a halt to executions and the creation of a commission to study the problems in the Texas death penalty was in 2004.

At the State Convention, there was a caucus meeting of “Democrats Against the Death Penalty”, which was founded by Texas Moratorium Network’s Scott Cobb in 2004. Speakers at the caucus this year were Rev. Carroll Pickett, Judge Charlie Baird, Lee Greenwood and Sissy Farenthold. More than 300 people attended the caucus, packing the room and standing along the walls.

Picket is a former chaplain of the death house in Huntsville. He accompanied 95 people to their executions in his capacity as chaplain.

Judge Baird is a former member of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and current Judge of the 299th District Court in Austin.

Leeatriss Greenwood is the mother of Joseph Nichols who was executed last year in Huntsville. Greenwood received a standing ovation at the caucus meeting after telling the moving story of her son’s execution. She and many others believer her son was wrongfully convicted. “You stand in front of a glass and I watched them kill him. That’s not easy. That is one of the hardest things that you will ever do,” said Greenwood.

Sissy Farenthold is a former Texas state representative who ran for the Democratic nomination for governor in 1972, getting into a runoff with the eventual winner.