Some legal experts see sex bias in capital murder trial of Darlie Routier

By Kathy Cruz

Texas Center for Community Journalism

It was January 1997 and, in the Kerr County courthouse, Dallas County Assistant District Attorney Greg Davis had Dr.… Read the rest

Calvin Jerold Burdine’s lawyer slept through parts of his capital murder trial and, along with the prosecutor, used anti-gay slurs. So egregious was the behavior of those in the justice system that Burdine’s case was used to argue for the passage of the Texas Fair Defense Act – and an overall examination of what the state considers justice.

TENNESSEE COLONY – Calvin Jerold Burdine was interviewed years ago by Oprah, Barbara Walters, Peter Jennings and Geraldo.… Read the rest

A camera was rolling as Dallas prosecutor Greg Davis told a TV news reporter that Darlie Routier was “a psychopath” – a claim unsubstantiated and not supported by a state-commissioned forensic psychiatrist who was never put on the stand in her capital murder trial. Could questionable ethics and possible Brady violations lead to a repeat of the Michael Morton case?

GATESVILLE – Every morning at 4 a.m., a cacophony of noise emanating from cell blocks inside the bowels of Mountain View make the prison unit sound like a mental asylum.… Read the rest

The Innocence Project of Texas has freed a half dozen wrongfully convicted men through the work of volunteers. They claim the prison gates might swing open for more inmates if they had more money to underwrite their legal investigations.

The DNA test that set Johnny Pinchback free after 27 years behind bars wasn’t due to any good faith effort by the state.… Read the rest

A well-funded state machine claimed Darlie Routier murdered her two little boys and slit her own throat. Costly DNA tests might prove otherwise — but even if she could afford it, the state might not allow it.

Mesquite, Texas — Darlie Kee settles into a chair at the Salt Grass Steak House by Town East Mall, blending in with the after-church crowd and a large group noisily celebrating a birthday.… Read the rest

Forensics expert Terry Laber was poised to challenge the state’s expert blood spatter witness — a man whose credibility has since come under question. But Darlie Routier’s lead defense attorney never called him to testify. Fifteen years after a jury sentenced Routier to die, the public can read the viewpoint the jury never got to hear.

In August of 1996, as Darlie Routier sat in a jail cell at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center in Dallas, former Fort Worth cop Warren Horinek went on trial in Tarrant County for allegedly killing his wife with a .38-caliber handgun – a charge he denied.… Read the rest

Turns out, she couldn’t even wake up the judge.

Larry Craddock, a special education hearing judge in a case brought by Kaminsky and her partner Donna Harvey on behalf of their son Ryan, slept during critical testimony over several days of proceedings in Keller.… Read the rest

Sandy Aitken’s incessant note-taking during the murder trial of her nephew’s wife, Darlie Routier, agitated prosecutors and even the judge. Chronicled in the 405 handwritten pages is her perspective of the controversial trial, including perspectives not chronicled in the official court transcript.

SPRINGTOWN — The turn onto Carter Road from FM 51 North about 11 miles from the Parker County Courthouse is like passing through a time portal.… Read the rest

DALLAS, Texas – It was a hot day for an exhumation – a Friday afternoon in September, when summer refused to take its dying breath.

The witnesses gathered in a room on the fifth floor of the Frank Crowley Courts Building in the city where a president had been assassinated and two goliath newspapers had once fiercely competed.

Only one of those present had any indication of why they were there.… Read the rest