Death Row Inmate Spared At Final Hour

(CBS/ AP)  Texas prison officials halted Tuesday night's scheduled execution of a former topless-club bouncer condemned for a double slaying almost 20 years ago as the clock ticked down on their deadline.

After winning a reprieve earlier in the day, Charles Dean Hood spent much of the evening in a cell not far from the death chamber as a flurry of appeals played out in the courts.

Shortly after 11 p.m., the U.S. Supreme Court rejected three appeals and Hood appeared headed to the death chamber. But prison officials faced with a midnight deadline to administer lethal drugs feared they could not follow the proper procedures before the execution warrant expired. Gov. Rick Perry then issued a 30-day reprieve.

Hood initially won a reprieve just over an hour before he could have been put to death when State District Judge Curt Henderson lifted the death warrant. Hood cried tears of relief at the news.

According to , the wrinkle in the Hood case came two weeks ago when Matthew Goeller, an assistant district attorney during the time in question, filed an affidavit stating under oath that it was "common knowledge" that Hood's prosecutor, Tom O'Connell, was engaged in a sexual relationship with Hood's judge, Verla Sue Holland, during Hood's capital trial. It is a fluke, apparently, that Hood's lawyers got this information when they did. But the law accounts for such flukes, and allows them to become appellate issues.

Henderson's order set off a volley of appeals by prosecutors. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rescinded the order, saying Henderson didn't have the authority to withdraw the warrant that appeared to stop the punishment.

Hood, 38, was convicted of murder for the 1989 slayings of Ronald Williamson and Tracie Lynn Wallace at Williamson's home in the Dallas suburb of Plano.

When arrested in Indiana, Hood was driving Williamson's $70,000 Cadillac but insisted he had Williamson's permission. Hood says he's innocent. Tuesday's was his fifth execution date.

Normally, inmates are returned to death row in Livingston once their execution is called off. But state officials kept Hood in Huntsville as the appeals played out.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma executed its first death row inmate since August.

Terry Lyn Short, who was convicted of killing 22-year-old Japanese exchange student Ken Yamamoto in 1995, was put to death by lethal injection Tuesday evening.

Short was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m., said Oklahoma Department of Corrections spokesman Jerry Massie.

Yamamoto, a student at Oklahoma City University, lived one floor above Short's ex-girlfriend and died after Short threw a gasoline-filled bottle into her apartment that ignited the building.

Short acknowledged during a clemency hearing last month that he threw the firebomb, but claimed he did not intend to kill Yamamoto, whom he did not know.

A de facto moratorium on executions was lifted when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of lethal injection procedures in April.

[keithle1]

Prove to me that "God created the world", omded. I need proof not faith.

I''m sick of Christians/Jesus freaks/bible punchers preaching The Word here. Acting like everyone thinks the way they do. Save it for Sunday. I don''t want to hear it. Enough already. PLEASE. I beg you.

[patriot12436]

libslov2spit and skyk
I am not sure which statement you are referrig to that i made. I looked back and didn''t find it so assume i has been removed from the web. I consider myself a liberal as i want to look at all sides of an issue before deciding whci way i agree with. I also am a strong supporter of the death penalty. I see nothing in yoiur statements i really disagree with.

[patriot12436]

I think it is ashame this happened because i believe the man committed the crime. However i see the legality of the situation and have to agree it is a necessary part of our judicial system.

[patriot12436]

manstantrust
I would like to see you take one of these killers home and rehabilitate them with your forgiveness.

[omded]

libslov2spit,
Again you''re changing the point. Your expense has nothing to do with it. Your love for unborn children has everything to do with it. Remember, Jesus gave it all to live his beliefs. "Foxes have lairs, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to rest His head". People will always party. Unwanted children will often result. Why don''t you adopt one? Remember, it''s for the child.

I applaud you on your diligence for responsibility. I try to be responsible too. However, I see no way that criticizing un-wed mothers (and many of the mothers-to-be who want abortions are un-wed) is being responsible. It only gives them one more reason to want an abortion - to avoid your scorn. Remember, a lot of these people are just girls, and they haven''t yet developed confidence in their self immage. It is my firm belief that, one thing people opposed to abortions must do is show praise and great honor to those girls and young women who decide to go forward and carry their child to birth. Remember, many of them are doing it alone, and it takes a lot of courage, and strength to do that. But, this creates one religious paradox: You''d be seen as honoring and praising their "promiscuity" as well. Look, God created the world. He also creates un-wed pregnancies. Maybe it''s not all that bad or scornful afterall.

[keithle1]

So he killed two people. Big whoop. I''m sure if he had died we would miss his presence deeply. Poor misunderstood man.

I would like to knit him a sweater with bunnies on the front & send him some homemade fudge brownies with walnuts. Address?

[omded]

libslovetospit,
You''re making a lot of assumptions here. If my "arse" was in the hands of someone like myself, I''d live a long and prosperous life. I wouldn''t have an abortion. Why did you assume that I would?

Regarding "adopting a death row inmate". Why on earth would I want to do that? You attacked redhopper for "taking the easy way out" on the abortion issue. The point I was trying to make to you is that it looks like you''re taking the easy root yourself. If you''re indeed someone who isn''t opposed to investing a little effort to solve a problem, then why don''t you consider an adoption? It involves a huge commitment, but it sounds like you''re willing to do it. Besides, if you invested your time adopting one of these unwanted fetuses (or soon to be children), you would be setting a great example regarding "responsibility". Go for it! It sounds like you''d make a good parent! Besides, wouldn''t it be a better way to spend your time than making lots of posts on this board?

[one4gipper]

People, conservatives and liberals alike, aren''t we missing the point here? I am sorry, but when it is discovered that the judge is sleeping with the prosecutor, this has got to be a violation of even the most minimal standard of fairness. The judge and prosecutor should both be disbarred. This was a gross violation of the Code of Ethics. The defendant should receive a new trial.

What were the judge and the prosecutor talking about when they were not busy doing "the deed"? What misconduct was the prosecutor able to get away with because he had the ear (and presumably other body parts) of the final arbiter in the trial?

[omded]

libslov2spit,
If you really love all of those unborn fetuses, why don''t you offer to adopt some? Using your own words, "OF COURSE YOU DECIDE TO TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT" AND MAKE ABORTION ILLEGAL. "spare me your sh*t"

[cezrh]

The real TRASH are people who convict people for a win. This country has no heart when it comes to judging people.