Supreme Court Revives Texas Death Row Inmate’s Claim

The Supreme Court has revived claims by an Austin Death Row inmate who has the support of the state prosecutor’s office that put him on death row. The justices on Monday threw out a Texas appeals court ruling that refused to grant the inmate a new trial. The state appeals court had overruled a lower court judge who documented the flaws in DNA testing by the discredited Travis County Crime Lab. They used that evidence to convict Areli Escobar. The case now returns to the appeals court. They condemned Escobar for fatally stabbing a 17-year-old high school student who lived in the same apartment complex in Austin.