Word: mcginn
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...willing to entertain doubt last week when he agreed for the first time in his record-setting 131 executions to grant a 30-day reprieve so that a more sophisticated DNA test of semen and hair samples could be performed in the rape and murder case of Ricky Nolen McGinn...
...make a decision that is also likely to shape voters' perceptions. After presiding over 131 executions--about one-fifth of all the executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976--Bush for the first time issued a 30-day stay of execution. The lucky man: Ricky Nolen McGinn, who had been sentenced to die for the 1993 rape and murder of his 12-year-old stepdaughter. Some may see Bush's move as the best evidence that he too will do whatever it takes to get elected, others as a sign the Texas Governor puts the compassionate into "compassionate...
...days, but when he finally decided to take this unprecedented step, he moved quickly. On the way to a New Mexico event to talk about military policy last Wednesday, communications chief Karen Hughes told the Texas Governor that a state court had barred new DNA tests for McGinn--removing one of the last roadblocks to his execution the next day. As they rolled along under the hot Southwest sun, Bush called his legal counsel, Margaret Wilson, to review the matter. He peppered her with questions: Was DNA relevant? Could it prove whether McGinn had raped his stepdaughter? It would...
...Innocence Project gained national exposure with their successes in freeing death-row inmates with DNA evidence, a number of prominent conservatives have come forward with their doubts about the reliability of the judicial process. These doubts have also turned up in the polls. "I don't know if McGinn is innocent or not," said Scheck, who has signed on as a volunteer in the McGinn case. "But the DNA will tell us. And with DNA data banks, you can not only exonerate someone but find the person who really committed the crime...
...cocksure as he sometimes appears to be. By putting the brakes on the lethal-injection mill, if only in one instance, Bush shows he can take serious things seriously. Unlike in many other cases Bush has refused to reconsider, where the evidence is shakier, the evidence of guilt in McGinn's case is strong, and the DNA test may not change the outcome. Let's hope that's not why Bush chose McGinn for a reprieve. It would be a step backward in his maturation if he were to use the case to show he is always right. Matters...