Doubts continue to rise about whether Cathy Henderson intentionally killed Brandon Baugh. Now, Court TV is reporting on the case.

By Emanuella Grinberg
Court TV Article

A Texas babysitter facing execution for killing an infant in her care says new scientific evidence supports her claim that she accidentally dropped the child and did not intentionally kill him, as prosecutors alleged in her trial.

Moreover, the medical examiner who helped send Cathy Lynn Henderson to death row for killing 3-month-old Brandon Baugh has said that, in light of the new evidence, he no longer stands by his original opinion that the child’s death resulted from an intentional act on Henderson’s part.

With less than three weeks before her scheduled execution, lawyers for Henderson filed an application last week asking that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals review Henderson’s case based on new research using biomechanics in analyzing infant head injuries.

In the application, which also asks for a stay of her June 13 execution, her lawyers claim that new research in the field of infant head trauma shows that Brandon could have died from an accidental fall and not necessarily at Henderson’s “murderous” hands.

Read the Rest of the Court TV Article

Write Governor Perry to Protest Cathy Henderson’s Execution

Patrick Knight has a MySpace page which is run by one of his friends outside prison since they don’t have computers or internet access on death row. Knight is scheduled for execution in Texas on June 26 this year. You can write Governor Perry to protest this execution. Knight himself has come up with an idea for bringing attention to his execution. He is having a joke contest. From his MySpace:

I recently received a letter from Patrick Knight, a death row inmate in the Polunsky Unit in Texas. He has an execution date of June 26th 2007. In his own words “I’ll be enjoying my last days on this earth. I’m not asking for any pen pals but I am asking you to spread the word that I am holding a contest. I want people to send me their best jokes, to keep me and the others with dates, laughing!”

The best joke, which will be determined by the inmates on death watch and will be recited in Patrick’s “Last Statement”. Instead of “Dead Man Walking” he will be “Dead Man Laughing”.

Send jokes to:

Patrick Knight #999072
Polunsky Unit
3872 FM 350 S.
Livingston, Texas 77351

In an interview in The Monitor, the Chair of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee says he is thinking about not running for re-election to the House. Aaron Peña recently discredited himself by blocking the popular Innocence Commission proposal in his own committee. Paul Burka called his committee “talent poor” after it passed out a version of “Jessica’s Law” without giving it “the scrutiny it should have received in committee”. The well-respected criminal justice blog Grits For Breakfast said “this committee has been a HUGE disappointment”. Peña cemented his reputation for being not quite ready for the big leagues by childishly redirecting a link on his blog of one of his hometown critics to a toilet sounds website. His acting out gave rise to the nickname Aaron “Toilet Sounds” Peña.

Peña’s poor performance this session leading the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee raised the probability that he would only serve one term as chair. Now, it sounds like he has come up with an excuse for quitting other than the obvious one that he didn’t do a very good job. According to The Monitor:

State Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, strongly suggested in an interview Friday evening that he might not run again for the Legislature now that his six-year quest to have a drug treatment center built in the Rio Grande Valley is coming to a close.

The final version of the state budget presented Friday includes $3 million to build a treatment center in Edinburg. He and other Valley lawmakers have pushed for the facility.

Peña’s 16-year-old son died May 18, 2001, of a drug overdose at a party. Peña was elected to the House in 2002 after promising in his campaign to improve access to substance-abuse treatment.

“When I first ran, my commitment was to build a drug treatment center, and now that it’s done, I feel like my work is done here,” Peña said.

Peña, 47, said he did not know when he would make a final decision whether to run for another two-year term. His current term ends in January 2009.

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.

From the Statesman:

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.

In 2007, seventy percent of all executions in the U.S. have been conducted by the state of Texas.

Michael Griffith June 6

Write Gov Perry to Protest the Execution of Michael Griffith

TDCJ Info on Michael Griffith

Cathy Henderson June 13

Write Gov Perry to Protest the Execution of Cathy Henderson

Website for Cathy Henderson

TDCJ Info on Cathy Henderson

Lionell Rodriguez June 20

TDCJ Info on Lionell Rodriguez

Write Gov Perry to Protest the Execution of Lionell Rodriguez

Gilberto Reyes June 21

Write Gov Perry to Protest the Execution of Gilberto Reyes

TDCJ Info on Gilberto Reyes

Patrick Knight June 26

Write Gov Perry to Protest the Execution of Patrick Knight

TDCJ Info on Patrick Knight

Contact Governor Perry to Protest Each Execution

Office of the Governor Main Switchboard: (512) 463-2000 [office hours are 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. CST]
Office of the Governor Fax: (512) 463-1849

For anyone who wonders about stays on the day of an execution here is a number to call:
TDCJ Public information—1-936-437-1303 —-just ask if the execution is still scheduled.