The Supreme Court declined to intervene in the case of Texas death row inmate Areli Escobar, who was convicted of the 2009 murder of Bianca Maldonado. Despite prosecutors admitting that the DNA evidence used at trial was flawed and agreeing that a new trial was necessary, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Escobar’s conviction. This decision was criticized by Escobar’s lawyers and Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, who argued that further review was warranted following the U.S. Supreme Court’s request for a second look at the case. The original trial heavily relied on DNA evidence analyzed by the Austin Police Department’s laboratory, which was later found to have widespread errors and bias. A state judge ruled in 2020 that Escobar had suffered a due process violation and deserved a new trial. However, the state court rejected this ruling and maintained Escobar’s conviction, despite prosecutors admitting error. The case has raised concerns about the handling of flawed evidence and the failure of the appeals court to adequately address the state’s confession of error. Garza criticized the appeals court for not giving sufficient weight to the state’s efforts to rectify the injustice and remedy the false evidence used in the trial.
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