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Routier lawyers assail judge, ruling They demand access to trial
evidence for new analysis in slaying case 10:04 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Two weeks after a state district judge rejected convicted child killer
Darlie Routier's second appeal, the former Rowlett homemaker's attorneys
gathered at the courthouse steps to criticize the ruling and demand access
to trial evidence. Attorney Richard Burr said Judge Robert Francis and prosecutors have an
obligation to turn over evidence for new analysis that could get Ms.
Routier off death row. "Any reasonable person who cares about the truth ... would say we've
got to do some exploring," Mr. Burr said. "He did nothing as a judge that
any of us would expect a judge to do." Judge Francis declined to comment, saying only that his ruling speaks
for itself. The defense team has filed a new court motion asking an outside judge
to order the release of the evidence they seek. A separate motion for new
DNA testing is also pending. The state Court of Criminal Appeals is now
considering the writ of habeas corpus that could allow for a new trial.
Judge Francis rejected that appeal this month. Assistant District Attorney John Rolater, an appellate specialist, said
defense attorneys have not taken advantage of numerous opportunities to
examine evidence they now seek. In September 2002, the district attorney's
office offered to have evidence tested by an agreed-upon expert, but the
defense did not accept, he said. And in October 2002, the court granted an order giving the defense
access to evidence, but Mr. Rolater said the defense never followed
up. "I don't think their claims have any merit," he said. Attorney J. Stephen Cooper said the October order amounted only to
looking at the evidence, not testing it. He called the prosecution
assertion "an absolute lie." Mr. Rolater said dozens of DNA tests have been performed since Ms.
Routier's 1996 arrest and 1997 conviction, and each analysis pointed to
Ms. Routier or the children as the source of the DNA material. "Everything points at her," he said. "She's the only one with the
opportunity and the motive and the animus toward the children." Ms. Routier was sentenced to death for killing her 5-year-old son,
Damon. She was also accused of killing her 6-year-old son, Devon, but was
not tried for his death. She continues to maintain that she's innocent and
that an intruder broke into the house and killed the boys and attacked
her. She suffered knife wounds to her arms and neck that prosecutors
contend were self-inflicted and staged to support the intruder theory. Ms. Routier's mother attended the news conference. Ms. Routier's
husband, Darin Routier, lives in Lubbock with their surviving son, now 8,
and did not attend. The appellate attorneys say one of the main issues are bloody
fingerprints found on a table and door of the Routier home. Two fingerprint experts for the state concluded that the prints could
exclude everyone in the household except Ms. Routier. Police investigators did not preserve the two boys' fingerprints for
future reference. Their bodies were later exhumed, and the defense team
used a forensic anthropologist to try to reconstruct their
fingerprints. A defense fingerprint analyst later ruled the prints were not
consistent with Ms. Routier or the children and support Ms. Routier's
claim of an intruder. In his ruling on the appeal, Judge Francis sided with the prosecution
and said the defense expert used procedures that were "not sound."
Attorney Michael Flanagan said the judge should allow for more
analysis. "We believe the enhanced testing might show the source of it," he
said. E-mail rtharp@dallasnews.com |
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