The defense attorneys for death row inmate Charles Hood in Texas have filed a civil lawsuit that would require retired Judge Verla Sue Holland and former district attorney Tom O’Connell, Jr. to testify under oath whether they were having an intimate affair while both were participating in the capital trial of Mr. Hood. The underlying claim is “that Judge Holland or Tom O’Connell deprived Charles Hood of his constitutional rights by not revealing this romantic relationship prior to his capital murder trial,” defense attorney Greg Wiercioch said. The filing asks the court to depose the pair and order the two to produce any letters, cards, and gifts exchanged between them, as well as credit card or store receipts for any gifts, all photographs and videotapes depicting the two together, and all emails or text messages pertaining to allegations about their alleged romantic relationship. “It’s the only way we feel we’re going to be able to get to talk to Judge Holland and the former district attorney Tim O’Connell,” said Wiercioch. “Nobody’s heard anything from them and it’s getting close to the execution date. We need to find some method of asking them or court ordering them to cooperate.”

In June, Hood’s attorneys filed appeals to state and federal courts with an affidavit from a former assistant district attorney who said the romantic relationship was “common knowledge.” Despite a discovery motion seeking information several months ago and a statement from three dozen legal ethicists saying a romantic relationship between the judge and prosecutor would violate Mr. Hood’s constitutional rights, Wiercioch hasn’t “heard anything from the DA’s office on it.” The scheduled June execution was halted because the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said they ran out of time to carry it out before the death warrant expired. Hood’s execution is now scheduled for September 10.
(D. Jennings, “Texas death row inmate’s defense hopes to prove romantic link between Collin County ex-prosecutor, retired judge,” The Dallas Morning News, August 20, 2008). See Arbitrariness.