NEW HELL HOLE NEWS
AUGUST 28, 2011
New Hell Hole News #32 August 28th, 2011 Hey y’all, I am holding my head up. I keep my head high! Ha/ha! As to how I’m doing, I am ok (not really, but hanging on). I wish I could explain to you how I feel so you could really understand it but as someone who’s out there you just have no life experiences to compare this with at all. For example, could you imagine going without any physical love for 13+ years? I mean intimacy. And otherwise without any affection at all in that same period? And to watch, over a 17+ year span, people you know, or are cool with or close to, die one by one and, with each one, you know they are one more closer to you? And, when it’s someone close to your number, who arrived about the same time you did, you think “oh, Lord – Thank God it was not me!” Then you immediately feel awful for that thought, especially if it was a friend; but it hurts either way. When they took me over there 03.24.10 and almost killed me, it took me most of last year, part of this year to get over it and, there was a recurrence of everything I went through at that time last year came upon me again this year at that same time – a sort of very vivid déjà vu. As to my case and where it’s at – well it’s kinda complicated but to me it does not look very good. The legislature changed the DNA law with SB 122 so I could get the DNA testing but they have no independent power to enforce their intent. Sept 1st I can file a new motion for DNA testing, but it’s filed in the trial court. Historically this judge (Steven Emmert) has never given us anything and has denied two previous Ch 64 DNA motions on spurious grounds and has previously been cited for abuse of discretion for every findings not supported by the record. Also he is the one who has set this new execution date – so he seems to be saying “damn what the legislature intends, I intend to kill him”. I think it would be ridiculous to believe he’d stay an execution date he set, in order to conduct DNA testing he’s already denied three times. In the meantime, the TX Solicitor General has moved for summary judgment in my federal DNA lawsuit against D.A. Switzer, on grounds of which she is clearly not entitled to summary judgment. It remains to be seen what the federal magistrate will do with this, but historically, again, he’s never given us anything either, even when the law and facts clearly indicate and demand it. As I’m sure you know the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rarely rules in a prisoner’s favor. So I expect nothing of them, either. That leaves us ending up again in the U.S. Supreme Court. They take less than 1% of the cases submitted to them per term, and their review is purely discretionary, meaning it’s totally up to them what they want to hear. Lastly, Governor Perry apparently publicly stated that he personally believes I am guilty. It’s hard to say how or whether he intends to reinforce that belief with facts. Currently there is no evidence that points to guilt at all in my case, and the TX Solicitor General is grasping at hollow straws in a strained effort to paint me as guilty. On page 21 of the Respondent’s Reply Brief in support of summary judgment, he lists his alleged “overwhelming evidence of guilt”: 1. “Skinner’s decision to forego DNA testing at trial”, that statement is a blatant LIE. I made no such decision and in fact wrote a letter to my sell out trial counsel, previous D.A. Harold Comer, ordering him to hire a serologist and get the blood work done. That letter was written in June/July of 1994, 8 months trial commenced. Comer failed to do what I told him to do. He claims he never saw that part. Ha/ha. The letter was taken out of his attorney/client file so obviously he got it; he just ignored it. 1
2. “The fact that Skinner was arrested wearing clothes soaked in the victim’s blood”. Another blatant LIE. My clothes weren’t “soaked” with anything. Secondly the stains tested were only contact transfers. The state’s own experts at trial conceded that this proved only that I’d come into contact with a victim or, a surface upon which they deposited blood, at a time after they became bloody. Those facts are wholly more consistent with my actual innocence and do not, in any way, prove guilt of anything. I was roused off the couch by the mortally wounded eldest son (Scooter Caler) of my girlfriend. With his help, I stumbled through the house and out. Only Scooter’s blood and his mother’s, my girlfriend Twila Busby’s, were on my clothes. The third victim, Randy Busby’s blood, was not on me anywhere. I was severely injured that night too as I fell on a shard of broken ceiling fan light globe as Scooter tried to help me get dressed and out of there. Most importantly, my blood was not found on any of the three murder weapons, nor on any of the victims, nor were my fingerprints, other organic matter linked to me was not found on any victim. Bloody unidentified prints were found on the trash bag containing one of the murder weapons, a knife wrapped in a cup towel. Furthermore, a footwear impression was found in the pooled blood beside Twila’s head, so we know for a fact someone was in the house besides Scooter and I because I had only socks and no shoes, Scooter was in his underwear and barefoot. More than that, in front of the stereo, less than 3 ft from Twila’s body, was found a cassette tape case with fresh blood of both an unknown male and female DNA mixed. 3. “The fact that Skinner’s bloody handprints were found ‘throughout’ the house where the victims were murdered’”. Yet another blatant LIE. My prints were found in only two places: on the door leading out of the back bedroom and into the utility room; on the back door knob, going out of the house. As I’ve stated previously, my hand was severely injured on falling on a glass shard in the living room, thus I was cut and bleeding profusely. So how does my bloody prints, only on doors leaving out of the house, prove me guilty of anything other than getting out of there in order to save my life? 4. “Skinner’s failure to call police or seek help after the victims were murdered, even though Skinner admits he was in the house during the murders”. Either this TX Solicitor General, Jonathan Mitchell, is an idiot or, he’s an idiot and not familiar with the record. First of all whoever killed Twila, Scooter and Randy, fleeing the house had gotten their feet hung in the phone cord and yanked it out of the wall, I couldn’t call anyone. Secondly, I did flee the house and seek help but I was so incapacitated I couldn’t stand or walk so it took me over 45 minutes to get 3 ½ blocks, as far as Andrea Reed’s house. But I couldn’t tell her what happened because I didn’t have the power of coherent speech. 5. “Skinner’s decision, shortly after the murders occurred, to stitch a cut wound in the palm of his hand rather than go to the hospital”. This gets goofier by the minute. I’m guilty of murder because I can’t afford a $500.00 and E.R. hospital bill? I’ve already got two such bills I’m paying at this time and, their inadequate treatment already cost me a previous $650.00 bill I could not pay for outpatient surgery from an infection in another hand wound earlier that year directly caused by the hospital’s E.R. doctors. Dr Michael Chamales, who’d more recently misdiagnosed 5 broken ribs after the sheriff beat me down, kicked and stomped me as I lay in the bar ditch, cuffed behind my back and unable to defend myself. But more importantly, I did not make any such decision at all. Andrea made it for me, because my hand couldn’t quit bleeding. She’d sewn me up before and treated me herself with antibiotics from the vet when I accidentally got cut at work. I was in no condition to protest or complain; I needed medical attention. She gave it. 6. “Skinner’s statement to the police upon being told that he was under arrest for crimes unrelated to the murders: ‘is that all?’” The sheriff was illegally arresting me on pretextual 2
ruse. I’d been at Andrea’s over 3 ½ hours. But that time, while she fed me strong black coffee and cigarettes – I was just starting to get somewhat lucid/coherent again. The sheriff was always trying to impress me with big charges and I’d always say: “Oh hell, is that all?” Indicate of, like: “Well, that ain’t shit and neither are you!” Hoping he’d say something to expose his pretext that I could use against him later in court. The state has long mischaracterized this, to try to falsely imply guilty knowledge; but that’s an intentional misrepresentation because we later filed a motion to dismiss on pretextual arrest and suppression of illegally gained evidence. The state is well aware of that, but continues to proffer this ruse because they have no evidence whatsoever to rely on otherwise. Their whole “case” is, and has always been, built on lies, misrepresentations of fact and inflammatory innuendo, nothing more. They won’t talk the forensic evidence because what forensic evidence has been tested all points to someone else as being the killer. 7. “Skinner’s continued unwillingness to assert actual innocence in this court”. Another LIE easily disproven by the record. In our response to the state’s motion for summary judgment I only asserted my innocence by a declaration under title 28 of the U.S. Code §1746, under penalty of perjury. I also supported it with new evidence in the form of a declaration from Dr Harold Kalant, one of the leading internationally recognized experts on toxicology and human performance while under the influence of intoxicants. The state has nothing to refute Dr Kalant’s findings because, quite simply, he is correct. 8. “The continued unwillingness of Skinner’s lawyers to assert in this court their belief in their client’s actual innocence”. While this is not an outright LIE, it’s mighty close. Ha/Ha. My lawyers certainly have expressed their belief in my innocence throughout the proceedings in this case; they’ve filed motion after motion seeking access to the evidence, in order to prove my innocence by testing the evidence. The state, through Mitchell and the respondent herself, D.A. Lynn Switzer, continues to assert, without any evidentiary support whatsoever that “if the evidence is tested, it can only prove Skinner guilty”. Well, since that is the case, why don’t they just test it and be done with it? They’ve spent 13 of the last 17 years making this asinine assertion when at any time they could’ve allowed testing and been done with it. It wouldn’t cost them a dime. Now, in all this, where do you see any true evidence mentioned? Nowhere. That is because the only thing the state ever had was two contact blood stains on my shirt and pants of Scooter’s and Twila’s DNA. Scooter was holding onto me leaving the house because I could not stand and walk on my own. He was mortally wounded at that time, hence his blood contact stains on my clothes. Twila was killed in the living room on the floor, two feet from the couch and chair upon which I laid passed out and upon which my clothes lay, draped over the back and arm (chair). I feel right by Twila’s body while trying to get dressed and Scooter picked me up. Here’s what got me convicted: that DNA mentioned above and Andrea Reed’s lies. Andrea Reed has since recanted her trial testimony even in fact of threats from the state that they would prosecute her for perjury – they never did. There is no forensic evidence tying me to the victims whatsoever. Nothing. There never was. My DNA or hair has never been found on any of the victims, nor on any of the murder weapons. The third victim, Randy’s blood, had not been found on me or on my clothes, anywhere. When then D.A., John Mann, unilaterally tested this evidence in 2000, he lied and claimed it was my blood and hair “clutched” in Twila’s dead hands. After Mann left office in 2000 and his successor, Rick Roach, took office, in February 2001 he released the real GeneScreen DNA reports 3
to my attorneys, admitted they were actually exculpatory (it’s not my blood or my hair) and stated: “there will be no more testing without a court order”. Far from proving guilt as the state now falsely alleges, when they lied about the results, then got caught doing so when the evidence proved exculpatory, the state ceased all testing and to date has totally refused to allow any further testing at all; and has instead sought every opportunity to kill me and conceal the truth. That’s the current status of the situation. Best regards, Hank 999143 Polunsky Unit H W Hank Skinner 3872 FM 350 South Livingston TX 77351-8580 h.w.skinner@gmail.com http://www.hankskinner.org Facebook http://on.fb.me/Justice4Hank Twitter http://twitter.com/Justice4Hank Newsletter http://eepurl.com/cYCIE For those of you who use JPay to write, don’t forget to always include your postal address and your e-mail address after your signature, so I can reply. www.jpay.com don’t forget to enter my TDC number as an 8-digit number: 00999143.
4