By BJ Austin
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-696871.mp3
Dallas, TX – The ruling that Kentucky's method of lethal injection is NOT cruel and unusual punishment clears the way for Texas to resume executions. Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins is not surprised. What interests him is an opinion in the case from Justice Paul Stevens that seems to challenge the death penalty. Watkins read it moments before he was in court for the release of a man after 23 years in prison for a crime he did not commit - the 16th Dallas County inmate cleared by DNA tests.
Watkins: "When you see individuals being released for crimes they didn't commit, you have to think, or the rationale tells you that someone may have been executed for a crime they didn't commit."
Watkins believes this new debate on the death penalty WILL happen, and he predicts it will be brought by someone sitting in the D-A's seat . But, he does not say if HE's the one.