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Birth
Hank Skinner was born in Pampa, Texas. -
Muders
Hank was convicted of killing his live-in girlfriend, Twila Busby, and stabbing to death her two adult sons, Randy Busby and Elwin Caler. -
Conviction
Hank Skinner was convicted of the murders and sentenced to death. -
Lab Mistake
It was then revealed that the lab misinterpreted the results and failed to report other needed results. The lab had also changed archival software which obscured the underlying electronic data and despite the discovery order granted by the Court, GeneScreen personnel failed to cooperate with Hank's DNA experts. -
Filing for Certificate of Appealability
Hank's attorneys filed an application for a certificate of appealability on the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. -
Denial for Application for Appealability
Judge Robinson denied the application. This decision will be appealed with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and Hank's attorneys haved filed a motion for DNA testing. -
Marriage
Skinner married Sandrine Ageorges while on Texas death row -
Skinner vs. Switzer
The defense team filed a complaint in federal court against the Gray County DA, Lynn Switzer, for refusing to release the evidence to the defense for private DNA testing, which she could conceivably do without a court order. On January 15, the magistrate in charge of the complaint recommended that it be dismissed and on January 20, the Federal district Judge affirmed the dismissal. This decision is being appealed at the Federal Court of Appeals. He was given right in 2011. -
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Skinner vs. Switzer
On November 27, 2009, the defense team filed a complaint in federal court against the Gray County DA, Lynn Switzer, for refusing to release the evidence to the defense for private DNA testing, which she could conceivably do without a court order. On January 15, the magistrate in charge of the complaint recommended that it be dismissed and on January 20, the Federal district Judge affirmed the dismissal. This decision is being appealed at the Federal Court of Appeals. He was given right in 2011. -
Second Execution Date Change
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed Skinner's most recent execution (second date) so that a determination could be made about whether Texas law allowed for DNA evidence from the crime scene to be tested. -
Claimsing Color-blindness and Accidental Codeine Ingestion
In an April, 2010 letter responding to what Skinner called "false and undocumented allegations" circulating on the web, Skinner put forth a new theory that he was colorblind at the time and drank from the wrong cup. -
Texas Criminal Justice Reform Law
The Senate of Texas voted unanimously for the Senate Bill 122, a Criminal Justice Reform Bill, expanding access to post-conviction DNA testing. This bill, would allow post-conviction testing "whenever there is biological evidence that has not previously been tested, or when the evidence can be subjected to newer techniques that might be more revealing than the results of an older test. -
Attorneys file Motion in State District Court
Hank's attornys compeled DNA testing of key pieces of evidence that have never been tested in his case. Mr. Skinner's attorneys also asked the court to withdraw Mr. Skinner's scheduled November 9 execution date to allow time for the DNA testing. -
Issues Leading to Third Date
Only thirty-five minutes before his scheduled second execution date, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay of execution to consider the question of whether Skinner could request testing of DNA his attorney chose not to have tested at his original trial in 1994. -
Questioning on DNA
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed Skinner's most recent execution so that a determination could be made about whether Texas law allowed for DNA evidence from the crime scene to be tested. -
Issuing an Order of Dismissal
The Court of Criminal appeals issued an order dismissing the appeal in the denial of the 3rd motion for DNA testing and remanded the case to the sentencing judge for signature of the prosecution and defense agreement on the DNA testing.
