Judicial Record "Rife with Error"

Although we have no sympathy for sexual predators, we also have no sympathy for judges that railroad a conviction and trample on the rights of the accused.

A decision by a Texas Court of Appeals shows how the rights of  the accused were tossed aside in a case from Mineola, Texas, even though there was sufficient evidence to convict the perverts without having to engage in prosecutorial or judicial misconduct.

Luckily for us, the two sexual predators will be re-tried.


KMOO radio reports:

The 14th [Texas] Court of Appeals overturned the convictions of Patrick Kelly and Jamie Pittman  on Thursday and ordered that the two men be retried. Writing the opinion for the court in Pittman's case, Justice Tracy Christopher said the trial court "permitted the State to try [Pittman] for being a criminal generally, rather than for the offense for which he was indicted." In Kelly's case, Christopher calls the record, "rife with error." The opinion accused the trial court, overseen by District Judge Jack Skeen, of adopting "ad hoc" rules, that "operated to assist the State in proving its case, while impeding [Kelly's] ability to defend himself. Christopher did note that the evidence in Kelly's case is, "legally sufficient" to support the conviction.