The
wife of Hank Skinner, Sandrine Ageorges Skinner, is a long-time
opponent of the death penalty. She met her husband in the course of
pursuing her work to end it.
France Info, France
French Rally to
Side of Texas Man Facing Execution
"The Supreme Court suspended the execution. ... His
wife, Sandrine Ageorges Skinner, a French woman, has battled to prevent it. In short, her activities seem to have paid off. Demonstrators gathered
again tonight near the U.S. Embassy in Paris - all at the initiative of Mrs.
Skinner."
Hank Skinner: On death row since 1995 for murders that took place, he asserts, while he was unconcious, may obtain the DNA tests that will prove his innocence or guilt.
The condemned man was to be
executed tonight in Texas, for a triple murder he has always denied. According
to the accused, Hank Skinner, the State of Texas has always refused to run DNA
tests that would prove his innocence.
The suspension, however,
doesn't guarantee his right to the tests ...
Less than an hour before ...
three-quarters of an hour to be exact, the U.S. Supreme Court stopped
everything. Hank Skinner was not executed tonight at the penitentiary in
Huntsville, Texas, for the murder on the Christmas Eve 1993, of both his wife
and son.
It was a dramatic surprise.
The Supreme Court suspended the execution - without further explanation at this
time. Will Skinner be permitted to try and prove his innocence? He has always
asserted that it wasn't he who committed the murders. "A DNA test would
certainly exonerate me," he has said. But the state of Texas has always
refused to allow one. Incidentally, it is Texas that holds every record for
executions ...
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
In Supreme Court will now
decide whether it accepts or rejects the case. If it refuses, another date for
his execution will be set.
If the accused was at home
during the night of the triple murder, as he says he was ... he was
unconscious. The presence in his body of a cocktail of tranquilizers,
pain-killers and alcohol has been fully confirmed by blood testing.
The investigation has clearly
been botched. An uncle of the victim with a violent past, who had harassed his
niece on another evening, was never questioned. He died in 1997.
His wife, Sandrine Ageorges
Skinner, a French woman, has battled to prevent the execution.
In short, her activities seem
to have paid off. Demonstrators gathered again tonight near the U.S. Embassy in
Paris - all at the initiative of Mrs. Skinner.
France
24 interviews Hank Skinner's French wife, Sandrine
Ageorges-Skinner,
about the Supreme Court's decision to
France, moreover, through the
voices of Nicolas Sarkozy and Bernard Kouchner, have intervened with Texas
seeking a pardon for the condemned man. Salvation, however, came from the
highest levels of American justice.
[Editor's Note: Sandrine Ageorges Skinner has been an important part of this project for the past five years. She has translated or helped translate hundreds of articles from French on behalf of the American people and English-speaking world. For a sampling of her work, check out the Worldmeets.US archive].
