[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS

[Rick Halperin]

May 17



TEXAS:

Lawyer says DNA, prints don’t prove Steven Thomas killed woman


The judges on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals heard arguments Wednesday 
about the case of Steven Thomas who was given the death penalty in 2014 after 
he was convicted of the capital murder of a Williamson County woman. It was 
unclear when they might make a decision in the case.

Defense lawyer Ariel Payan argued Wednesday morning that the evidence used to 
convict Thomas did not prove he was at the scene of the crime. A Williamson 
County jury convicted Thomas in October 2014 and sentenced him to death for the 
sexual assault and strangulation of Mildred McKinney in 1980.

Thomas’ fingerprint was found on the back of a clock in McKinney’s bedroom. 
Payan said Wednesday at a hearing before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals 
that it could have been there because Thomas worked for a pesticide company 
that had been to her house, Payan said.

He also said Thomas’ sperm was found on a piece of medical tape wrapped around 
the thumb of the 73-year-old McKinney, but that didn’t prove he sexually 
assaulted her. McKinney also had DNA inside of her from three other unknown 
men, Payan said.

He said the testimony of a jailhouse snitch during Thomas’ trial also could not 
prove that Thomas killed McKinney. The inmate, Steven Shockey, testified in 
front of a jury that Thomas told him about being high on cocaine, breaking into 
a house and having to restrain a woman before she got out of bed and that 
Thomas took money and jewelry.

Williamson County Assistant District Attorney John Prezas, who was representing 
the state on the appeal, said the physical evidence alone was enough to convict 
Thomas without Shockey’s testimony. The clock that had Thomas’ fingerprint on 
it was found in the middle of McKinney’s bed near some of the cord used to tie 
her up at the crime scene, Prezas said.

He also said Thomas’ sperm was found not on medical tape but on a ribbon tied 
around McKinney’s thumb that was used to restrain her hands. Prezas also 
questioned whether Thomas had been to McKinney’s house when he worked for his 
brother’s pesticide company. Thomas’ brother testified during the trial that 
McKinney was one of their clients but he didn’t have records that showed Thomas 
made a service call to her house, Prezas said.

One of Thomas’ lawyers, Ariel Payan, said in his appeal to the Court of 
Criminal Appeals in August that the evidence presented at the trial showed 
McKinney was killed by more than one person. No evidence at the trial showed 
Thomas had killed McKinney or helped commit any other crime against her, Payan 
said.

Evidence at the trial showed that a throat swab taken during McKinney’s autopsy 
showed male DNA that didn’t belong to Thomas and also ruled out other suspects 
in the case, including serial killer Henry Lee Lucas and his partner Ottis 
Toole.

The ribbon wrapped around one of McKinney’s thumbs not only had DNA on it from 
Thomas but also from an unknown man, according to a DNA analyst who testified 
at the trial.

(source: Austin American-Statesman)