Sunday, June 21, 2009  SCOTUS DNA ruling not a problem for
Texas, but maybe for Sotomayor  A number of readers have asked
my views on last week's Supreme Court decision in the Osborne
case out of Alaska where a slim, 5-4 majority ruled there is no
constitutional right to postconviction DNA testing.  My first,
admittedly parochial thought: Texans needn't particularly care.
We have strong statutory access to post-conviction DNA testing
in Chapter 64 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. According to
media accounts, 46 states have DNA testing statutes on the
books, and Texas has one of the best.  However, in the big
picture, at least on the margins, the Osborne decision, as the
Washington Post put it, "increased the risk that the wrongly
convicted could be kept behind bars. Michael Landauer at the
Dallas News Death Penalty Blog laid out the crux of the issue
facing the court: I'm torn. ... I have a hard time thinking it's
OK to limit any evidence from being submitted that might prove
guilt or innocence. Why would w