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10-23-2004, 12:45 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Texas
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Darlie Routier Loses Another Appeal
Judge rejects another appeal by Darlie Routier
The judge who presided over Darlie Routier's 1997 death-penalty trial rejected the convicted child-killer's second appeal in a ruling released Wednesday.
More than two years after the writ appeal was filed by Ms. Routier's defense team, state District Judge Robert Francis found that the former Rowlett homemaker now on death row got a fair trial.
"The Applicant has failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence ... that anyone other than the Applicant was responsible or involved in the murders," Judge Francis wrote.
* * *
One of Ms. Routier's appellate attorneys, J. Stephen Cooper, said he was not surprised by the findings because the judge indicated in January that he would not hear court arguments on the matter.
* * *
He said a federal appeal is possible if the state appeals court agrees with the judge's findings and rejects the appeal.
An earlier appeal based on the fact that errors occurred during the trial also was rejected.
Ms. Routier was sentenced to death in 1997 for killing her 5-year-old son, Damon. She was also accused of killing her 6-year-old son, Devon, but was not tried for that death. She maintains that an intruder stabbed the boys before stabbing her in her Rowlett home.
The appeal challenged Ms. Routier's conviction by claiming a wide range of errors and mishandling by the original trial attorneys and prosecutors, including the following:
One bloody fingerprint was not analyzed properly and could have supported a defense claim that Ms. Routier's children were fatally stabbed by an unknown intruder. Judge Francis ruled that a fingerprint analyst used by the defense team used methodology that was "not sound" and that trial testimony about the print was accurate.
* * *
The intruder theory was buffeted by information that Ms. Routier's husband, Darin Routier, had searched for someone to stage a burglary of the house to collect insurance money. Judge Francis found no evidence that the slayings were part of a burglary.
* * *
The judge also concluded that the defense team had mounted an adequate defense during the trial.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...rlie.165bd.html
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Texas
Posts: 2,617
Darlie Routier Loses Another Appeal
Judge rejects another appeal by Darlie Routier
The judge who presided over Darlie Routier's 1997 death-penalty trial rejected the convicted child-killer's second appeal in a ruling released Wednesday.
More than two years after the writ appeal was filed by Ms. Routier's defense team, state District Judge Robert Francis found that the former Rowlett homemaker now on death row got a fair trial.
"The Applicant has failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence ... that anyone other than the Applicant was responsible or involved in the murders," Judge Francis wrote.
* * *
One of Ms. Routier's appellate attorneys, J. Stephen Cooper, said he was not surprised by the findings because the judge indicated in January that he would not hear court arguments on the matter.
* * *
He said a federal appeal is possible if the state appeals court agrees with the judge's findings and rejects the appeal.
An earlier appeal based on the fact that errors occurred during the trial also was rejected.
Ms. Routier was sentenced to death in 1997 for killing her 5-year-old son, Damon. She was also accused of killing her 6-year-old son, Devon, but was not tried for that death. She maintains that an intruder stabbed the boys before stabbing her in her Rowlett home.
The appeal challenged Ms. Routier's conviction by claiming a wide range of errors and mishandling by the original trial attorneys and prosecutors, including the following:
One bloody fingerprint was not analyzed properly and could have supported a defense claim that Ms. Routier's children were fatally stabbed by an unknown intruder. Judge Francis ruled that a fingerprint analyst used by the defense team used methodology that was "not sound" and that trial testimony about the print was accurate.
* * *
The intruder theory was buffeted by information that Ms. Routier's husband, Darin Routier, had searched for someone to stage a burglary of the house to collect insurance money. Judge Francis found no evidence that the slayings were part of a burglary.
* * *
The judge also concluded that the defense team had mounted an adequate defense during the trial.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...rlie.165bd.html