Summary:

In July 1989 Patrick broke into the home of a neighbor, 80 year old Nina Rutherford Redd, through a bathroom window.

Redd was sexually assaulted before having her throat slashed. Patrick ransacked the home before leaving and was later arrested in Mississippi.

A blood-soaked sock was found in the home of Patrick. DNA matched the DNA in Redd's blood sample.

Patrick's live-in girlfriend identified the knife found at the scene as theirs. Patrick confessed to the crime shortly after his arrest, but later recanted.

Patrick had been convicted of Aggravated Assault in 1986 and sentenced to 4 years probation, which was later revoked.

Citations:

Patrick v. State, 906 S.W. 2d 481 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995).

Final Meal:

None.

Final Words:

Patrick made no final statement.

ClarkProsecutor.org

Texas Attorney General

Media Advisory

Thursday, Sept. 12, 2002

Jesse Joe Patrick Scheduled to be Executed.

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offers the following information on Jesse Joe Patrick, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2002.

On April 16, 1990, Jesse Joe Patrick was sentenced to die for the capital murder of Nina Rutherford Redd in Pleasant Grove, Texas, on July 8, 1989.

A summary of the evidence presented at trial follows:

FACTS OF THE CRIME

On July 8, 1989, 80-year-old Nina Rutherford Redd's partially clad body was found on the floor of her bedroom in Pleasant Grove near Dallas.

Her throat had been slashed, one of her arms was twisted behind her back, and her face and body were covered with bruises. The window screen had been pried loose from a bathroom window, and a rusty butcher knife was found at the scene.

Jesse Joe Patrick called the police in the early morning hours of July 8 to report that his house, two doors from Redd's, had been burglarized. When police went to Patrick's house to investigate, no one was home.

The back door was kicked in, and a large rock covered with blood was found on the side of the house.

Police searched Patrick's home the next day and found a man's sock that was saturated with dried blood, a number of wadded toilet tissues that had dried blood on them and an old pair of men's denim jeans that had suspicious stains.

Analysis of the sock showed genetic markers that were consistent with genetic markers found in Redd's blood sample, and DNA testing on the bloody sock and blood-soaked tissues matched the DNA in Redd's blood sample.

A partial palm print from the outside sill of the bathroom window was identified as belonging to Patrick. Patrick's live-in girlfriend identified the knife found in Redd's home as hers and Patrick's. Three hairs found at the scene were the same as Patrick's.

On July 22, 1989, Patrick was arrested at his sister's home in Jackson, Mississippi.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Patrick was convicted of capital murder in the 282nd District Court of Dallas County and sentenced to death on April 16, 1990.

His conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on June 28, 1995, and his petition for writ of certiorari was denied by the United States Supreme Court on March 25, 1996.

Patrick also filed a state habeas corpus application, which the Court of Criminal Appeals denied on April 22, 1998.

Patrick then filed a federal habeas petition, which the district court denied on Aug. 23, 2000. After the district court disposed of several post-judgment motions filed by Patrick, he attempted to appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, but both the district court and the Fifth Circuit denied him a certificate of appealability to do so.

He then filed a petition for writ of certiorari, which was denied by the Supreme Court on Sept. 12, 2002. Patrick's motion for a stay of execution was also denied on Sept. 12, 2002.

In addition to his appeal and habeas corpus proceedings, Patrick filed a motion for DNA testing in the state trial court.

Following a hearing, the trial court ruled that Patrick was not entitled to testing under Chapter 64 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure because there was no reasonable probability that favorable DNA results would have led to an acquittal.

Because Patrick was willing to pay the costs of DNA testing, the court ruled that he could have testing at his expense. The State appealed that ruling to the Court of Criminal Appeals and also filed a petition for writ of mandamus to force the trial judge to rescind her order.

On Sept. 11, 2002, the Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed the State's appeal but granted mandamus relief. The court held that because Patrick did not meet the statute's requirements, he was not entitled to testing regardless of whether he was willing to bear the costs.

PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY

On Jan. 6, 1986, Patrick was convicted of aggravated assault in the Criminal District Court Number Five of Dallas County and sentenced to eight years probation. On July 17, 1986, his probation was revoked and he was sentenced to imprisonment for four years.

ProDeathPenalty.com

Jessie Patrick was convicted of the 1989 robbery, assault and murder of 80-year-old Nina Rutherford Redd in Pleasant Grove, near Dallas. Nina's battered body was found in her bedroom.

Her house had been ransacked. Evidence that tied Patrick to the murder was found in his nearby home and included a sock and toilet paper soaked with the victim's blood. Prosecutors also introduced into evidence a palm print found on Nina's open bathroom window and bite marks on her arm.

The murder weapon, a knife found at the scene, was identified as belonging to Patrick. Sperm was found in Nina's body, and an officer testified she had been raped. Patrick confessed to the crime and said he had been drinking before the killing.

He said he broke into the house and tried unsuccessfully to have sex with Nina. He wrote in his confession that he slit her throat with the knife, then added, "I don't really remember cutting her throat."

UPDATE: A Texas man convicted of raping and killing an 80-year-old woman in a 1989 attack was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday. Jessie Joe Patrick, 44, was the 25th person put to death this year in Texas.

Patrick was condemned for the rape and murder of neighbor Nina Redd at her Dallas home on July 8, 1989. Patrick made no last statement and requested no last meal.

Texas Execution Information Center by David Carson

Txexecutions.org

Jessie Joe Patrick, 44, was executed by lethal injection on 17 September in Huntsville, Texas for the burglary and murder of an 80-year-old woman.

In the early morning of 8 July 1989, Jessie Joe Patrick, then 31, broke into the home of Nina Rutherford Redd. Redd lived two doors down from Patrick, and she had previously given money and food to him and his live-in teenage girlfriend.

She had also let them inside her house to use the telephone in the past. Patrick pried the window screen loose from a bathroom window and went inside. He beat Redd, 80, and attempted to rape her. He then slashed her throat with a butcher knife and ransacked the house.

Patrick called police later that morning to report that his house had been burglarized. When police arrived to investigate, no one was home. They noticed that the back door was kicked in, and a large rock, covered in blood, was on the side of the house.

After Redd's body was discovered, police searched Patrick's house. They found a man's blood-soaked sock, some stained blue jeans, and some bloody, wadded toilet tissues.

The sock and tissues were DNA tested, and the blood matched the victim's. A partial handprint from outside Redd's bathroom window was matched to Patrick. Furthermore, hairs found at the murder scene matched Patrick, as did teeth marks on the victim's body.

Patrick's girlfriend identified the rusty butcher knife used to kill Redd as belonging to him. Patrick was arrested two weeks later at his sister's home in Mississippi. When officers arrived, he was hiding under a bed.

In his written confession, Patrick stated that had been drinking before the killing. He wrote that he broke into the house and tried unsuccessfully to have sex with Redd. He wrote that he slit her throat with the knife, then added, "I don't really remember cutting her throat." Although sperm was found on the victim's body, it was not tested and Patrick was not charged with rape.

Patrick had a previous conviction for aggravated assault and was sentenced to four years in prison. (It was his second time to be charged with aggravated assault; the charges were dropped the first time.) He served four months from September 1985 to January 1986 and then was released on "shock probation."

He was returned on a probation violation in July 1986. He was released again on parole 5½ months later. (At the time, early release was common in Texas due to strict prison population caps imposed by U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice.) In May 1987, Patrick received another sentence of one year's probation for a DWI conviction.

A jury convicted Patrick of capital murder in April 1990 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the conviction and sentence in June 1995. The CCA denied his state habeas corpus petition in April 1998, and a U.S. district court denied his federal habeas corpus appeal in August 2000.

In 2001, the Texas legislature passed a law allowing DNA tests for capital murder convicts who could show a reasonable probability that they would have been acquitted with favorable DNA test results. In September 2001, Patrick requested a DNA test on the sperm found on Redd's body.

A state district judge determined that Patrick did not qualify for a DNA test because the physical evidence of his guilt was overwhelming. However, when Patrick offered to pay for the test with private funds, the judge agreed. The funds were raised by Patrick's wife, Hester, a British woman who he met as a pen pal and married by proxy in 1997.

The state appealed this ruling, claiming that the new DNA testing law does not allow judges to authorize post-conviction DNA tests in unqualified cases, regardless of who paid for them. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed, and on 11 September 2002, it overruled the state district judge's decision. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Patrick's appeal on 12 September.

At Patrick's execution, his lawyer, Keith Hampton, claimed that Patrick was constitutionally ineligible for execution because he was mentally retarded. Neither Hampton nor any of Patrick's other lawyers ever raised a mental retardation claim in court, however, nor did they ever have his IQ tested.

Patrick declined requests for interviews and made no last statement. He was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m.

Convicted Rapist, Murderer Executed

Houston Chronicle

AP - September 17, 2002

HUNTSVILLE -- A convict with a history of assaults was executed Tuesday for raping and fatally beating and slashing an 80-year-old Dallas woman during an attack at her home more than 13 years ago.

Jessie Joe Patrick already was on parole when evidence showed he crawled through a window and killed Nina Rutherford Redd, who lived alone a few houses away from him. Patrick, 44, was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m., seven minutes after the lethal dose began.

He declined to make a final statement, but smiled and nodded to his wife, brother and relatives as they entered the chamber. As he gasped and sputtered when the drugs began taking effect, his wife, Hester Patrick, began wailing, and at one point she cried out "Bastards!" Patrick's attorneys filed last-ditch appeals in the federal courts to try to block the punishment.

Police questioning neighbors about the killing began suspecting Patrick when his girlfriend said the distinctive wood-handled and square-tipped butcher knife found lying next to Redd's body appeared to be his. Detectives found Patrick's palm print outside the victim's bathroom window sill. A sock in a trash can at Patrick's home was stained with blood that matched the victim. A dentist testified a bite mark on the slain woman's wrist matched Patrick's dental impression. Hairs at the slaying scene matched Patrick's hair.

Jurors deliberated about 50 minutes before convicting him of the slaying. It took the same jury less than 45 minutes to decide on the death sentence after three women testified Patrick either had assaulted or raped them in a drunken rage.

Patrick was the 25th Texas inmate put to death this year and the first of two on consecutive evenings this week.

Man executed for 1989 Murder

By Mark Passwaters - The Huntsville Item

September 17, 2002

Jesse Joe Patrick, a Dallas County man sentenced to death for the 1989 rape and murder of a neighbor, was executed Tuesday evening in the death chamber of the Huntsville "Walls" Unit.

Patrick was found guilty of brutally killing 80-year-old Nina Rutherford on the night of July 8, 1989. Patrick, who had previously served two years of a four year term for aggravated assault, was 44.

Wearing a red shirt, Patrick made no final statement but nodded to his British wife Hester, who had married by proxy while on death row.

As the lethal dose of drugs began flowing at 6:10 p.m., Hester Patrick said "I love you" to her husband through the plexiglass divider. After a few moments, Patrick made one long sputter and lost consciousness.

His wife began to sob and emitted a loud wail. After a few moments, she turned away and began to address Texas Department of Criminal Justice employees in the room with her, calling them "bastards." "I hope you are satisfied now," she said. "You ought to do something about your justice system. This is a disgrace and you should be ashamed of yourselves." Patrick was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. In a statement released after the execution, Rutherford's family expressed compassion for the Patrick family. "Our prayers are for the Patrick family during this sad time of grief," they wrote. "This is not a vendetta or a social event. We all hurt and hope the Patricks can understand our grief for the past 13 years waiting for justice to be done."

Patrick was arrested on July 22, 1989, in Jackson Miss. and was extradited to Texas to face a capital murder charge filed in Rutherford's death. Patrick became a suspect within hours after Rutherford was found beaten with her throat slit by a rusted butcher's knife. He had called police to report a burglary at his house - two doors down from Rutherford's - but was gone by the time police arrived.

Police obtained a search warrant and searched Patrick's house the next day, finding a sock caked in dried blood, an amount of toilet paper with dried blood on it, and a pair of denim jeans also covered in blood. Testing showed the blood on the sock and toilet paper to be a genetic match with Redd's; Patrick's girlfriend identified the butcher knife as her's and a partial palm print from Redd's bathroom window sill matched Patrick's.

Patrick confessed to the crime shortly after his arrest, but later recanted. He was found guilty by a Dallas County jury on the capital murder charge and sentenced to death on April 16, 1990. He had attempted to obtain a stay of execution so DNA testing could be done on the semen found in Rutherford's body, but that appeal was rejected on the grounds that there was no "reasonable probability" such a test would prove his innocence.

Parolee Executed for 1989 Dallas Slaying

Dallas Morning News

AP - September 18, 2002

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – A convict with a history of assaults was executed Tuesday for raping and fatally beating and slashing an 80-year-old Dallas woman during an attack at her home more than 13 years ago.

Jessie Joe Patrick already was on parole when evidence showed he crawled through a window and killed Nina Rutherford Redd, who lived alone a few houses away from him. Patrick, 44, was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. CDT, seven minutes after the lethal dose began

He declined to make a final statement, but smiled and nodded to his wife, brother and other relatives as they entered the chamber. His wife, Hester Patrick, repeatedly said, "I love you."

As he gasped and sputtered when the drugs began taking effect, his wife began wailing, and at one point she cried out: "Bastards!" Then in the moments after her husband lost consciousness and before being examined by a physician who pronounced him dead, Hester Patrick bitterly denounced the death penalty and criminal justice system. "I hope you all are satisfied now," she said. "You should be ashamed of yourselves."

Patrick's attorneys filed last-ditch appeals in the federal courts to try to block the punishment. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeals about an hour before he was executed, making him the 25th condemned killer to be put to death this year in Texas. Earlier appeals also were unsuccessful to have DNA testing of some evidence in hopes of exonerating him.

Prosecutors argued a state district judge who agreed to the tests had no authority to do so and evidence against Patrick was overwhelming. "This was not his first go-round with the law," recalled Jerri Sims, the former Dallas County district attorney who prosecuted Patrick for capital murder for the July 8, 1989, slaying. "It was so brutal. And, of course, he had no remorse."

Patrick's Austin-based lawyer, Keith Hampton, also questioned Patrick's mental competence, saying the former landscaper was mentally retarded and putting him to death would be unconstitutional. There was no IQ test for Patrick, however, to quantify Hampton's contention. Sims said the possibility of mental retardation never surfaced at his trial.

Patrick, his girlfriend and their infant son, had moved recently into the neighborhood in the Pleasant Grove section of southeast Dallas, and Redd had allowed them to use her phone and gave them milk for the child. On the night of the killing, court records show he had been drinking and had tried to rape his girlfriend.

Redd's 78-year-old sister, who lived next door, discovered the body "Our prayers are for the Patrick family during this sad time of grief," Redd's family said in a statement released after the execution. "This is not a vendetta or a social event. We all hurt and hope the Patrick's can understand our grief for the past 13 years waiting for justice to be done..." "Our family will always grieve for the way Nina die."

Police questioning neighbors began suspecting Patrick when his girlfriend said it appeared the distinctive wood-handled and square-tipped butcher knife found lying next to Redd's body appeared to be his.

Detectives found Patrick's palm print outside the victim's bathroom window sill. A sock in a trash can at Patrick's home was stained with blood that matched the victim. A dentist testified a bite mark on the slain woman's wrist matched Patrick's dental impression.

Hairs at the slaying scene matched Patrick's hair. Police arrested Patrick two weeks later at his sister's home in Jackson, Miss. When officers arrived, he was hiding under a bed.

Jurors deliberated about 50 minutes before convicting him of the slaying. It took the same jury less than 45 minutes to decide on the death sentence after three women testified Patrick either had assaulted or raped them in a drunken rage.

Patrick, a Los Angeles native, first went to prison in September 1985 for aggravated assault. He was released on probation after serving less than four months of a four-year term, but returned six months later as a parole violator. Less than six months later, in January 1987, was paroled to Dallas County.

Patrick declined to speak with reporters in the weeks preceding his execution date. On a Web site used by inmates to attract penpals, he offered assurances to potential correspondents that "I am not an animal, but rather a down-to-earth person."

Deathrow.at

Execution date set for September 17, 2002

Jessie Patrick, a white man, is scheduled to be executed in the state of Texas on Sept. 17 for the 1989 robbery, assault and murder of an 80-year-old Dallas County woman.

During his direct appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Patrick raised 31 points of order; all were denied. Several of the points of order alleged ineffective assistance of counsel. Patrick argued that his counsel failed to discover that a prior aggravated assault conviction was invalid and failed to object to its admission at trial; this invalid conviction was used by the prosecution to argue that Patrick constituted a future danger to society.

Patrick also argued that his trial counsel failed to object to the admissibility of DNA evidence introduced by the prosecutor and failed to contest its accuracy; and that his trial counsel failed to object to incorrect definitions given to the jury.

Patrick's counsel argued during the punishment phase of the trial that Patrick was raised in a foster home and subjected to physical abuse as a child. Please write the governor of Texas and the Board of Pardons and Paroles and ask them to stop the cycle of violence.

Forty four year old Jesse Joe Patrick has spent almost twelve years on Texas death row, convicted of the 1989 murder of Nina Rutherford Redd in Pleasant Grove, Dallas.

Police & forensic specialists investigating the crime found evidence to suggest that the victim had been sexually assaulted. However, at his trial in 1990, experts revealed that it had not been possible to amplify DNA from samples presented by the state as evidence of such an offence.

Sufficient funds were privately raised to pay for the test & in August 2001, a hearing was convened in a Dallas court to determine whether to allow re-testing Whilst ruling that a favourable DNA test would not, in the court's opinion, undermine confidence in the original conviction (the death penalty), Judge Karen Green also ruled that the re-testing could proceed, providing it was privately funded.

Despite initially indicating that they would not oppose re-testing, after this verdict was brought in the Dallas District Attorney's office (representing the State of Texas), filed a *Writ Of Mandamus In the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, challenging the ruling of the trial court, and stating that to proceed with the tests would ¡§harm¡¨ or ¡§injure¡¨ the State of Texas.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed to hear the District Attorney's appeal, & in late October 2001 ordered the re-testing, which was by then half completed, to be stopped, & the samples removed to the Texas Department of Physical Science for safekeeping¡¨.

The new DNA law in Texas is one among several new reforming statutes that were brought into force in 2001, in part as a response to the harsh criticism Texas justice has come in for both at home and abroad.

Texas Governor Rick Perry endorsed the new law, stating that it would help to make the state's criminal justice system better & fairer for all. We should not fear this kind of comprehensive review of cases where there are legitimate questions about guilt Perry said. Either we will confirm the previous findings of a jury or we will correct a grave injustice in instances where the wrong person has been convicted.¡¨

* A writ of Mandamus appeals against the judgement of a lower court to a higher one. In Jesse's case, it has been filed to try to overturn Judge Green's decision to allow the test to proceed

Below is the Dallas Morning News article:

Killer, prosecutor spar in DNA fight
Debate over testing broadens as inmate seeks 'peace of mind'
12/02/2001
By DIANE JENNINGS / The Dallas Morning News

LIVINGSTON, Texas Overwhelming evidence a bloody sock, a palm print, bite marks sent Jesse Joe Patrick to death row 11 years ago for the murder of an elderly Dallas woman.

Now Mr. Patrick who confessed to the crime at the time but now says he doesn't remember that night says he wants a DNA test for his peace of mind. The convincing evidence in the case disqualifies him from a state-paid test, so Mr. Patrick has raised the money to pay for it thanks to his new British wife, whom he met through the mail. Mr. Patrick has made his legal play against the advice of his attorney. The Dallas district attorney's office opposes the test and has gone to court to stop it. Now the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will decide the issue.

As the legal community scrambles to keep pace with DNA technology, the question of how much access inmates should have to biological evidence is popping up in courtrooms across the country. Experts expect the issue eventually will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

"It will increasingly be an issue," said Akhil Reed Amar, a law professor at Yale. "Because even for defendants who are indigent, I think increasingly there will be third parties willing to pay." Mr. Patrick isn't concerned with setting legal precedent. He says it's simpler than that: "I want to know if I did it."

Marcie Bowling said it's clear Mr. Patrick did it, and she doesn't care if he has peace of mind. Ms. Bowling is the niece of the victim, Nina Rutherford Redd, the woman who raised her. "The reason I don't care if he has peace of mind or not he didn't care that he was scaring my mother half to death before he took her life," Ms. Bowling said. Mr. Patrick should not be able to have the test, regardless of who pays for it, because there's "already plenty of evidence" in the crime, Ms. Bowling said.

Prosecutors declined to comment on the case because it is pending. But in briefs filed to oppose the testing, they argue that Mr. Patrick is not entitled to the test regardless of who pays for it. Under a new law passed last spring, Texas inmates may have a DNA test, courtesy of the state, if there is a "reasonable probability" the test may exonerate them. State District Judge Karen Greene decided in September that Mr. Patrick did not qualify for the free test because evidence against him in the case was convincing. But she agreed to let him have the test done at his own expense.

The money for Mr. Patrick's test come from his British wife, Hester. Mrs. Patrick, 47, is a London stage designer who met Mr. Patrick, 43, through a pen pal club that matches correspondents with death row inmates in the United States. The couple married by proxy in 1997. Mrs. Patrick raised $1,000 to pay for the test from some of Mr. Patrick's other international pen pals. She assumed that obtaining evidence to test would be easy.

Other Texas defendants, such as Calvin Edward Washington, have had DNA tests performed at private expense. Mr. Washington, of Waco, was freed in July after tests paid for by a journalist cleared him of murder. He had served 13 years of a life term. Efforts on Mr. Washington's behalf took place before the Legislature passed the DNA testing law, and prosecutors did not protest.

"Their position, basically, was, 'If you want to, you can test it. We're just not going to pay for it,' " said Mr. Washington's lawyer, Walter Reaves. On a recent trip to Texas, Mrs. Patrick said she was "very surprised at the level of protest" from prosecutors in her husband's case.

Mr. Patrick's lawyer, Keith Hampton, said he, too, was surprised especially because there's little likelihood the test would help his client. "I am perplexed at the length to which the Dallas County district attorney's office has gone to and the resources they have devoted to precluding a guy on death row from getting a DNA test that he's paying for," Mr. Hampton said.

Home invasion - The bruised and battered body of Ms. Redd, an 80-year-old resident of Pleasant Grove, was found in the bedroom of her home in July 1989. The house had been ransacked, and no money was found. Evidence tying Mr. Patrick to the crime was found in his home, a few doors away, including a sock and toilet paper soaked with the victim's blood.

Also, prosecutors introduced a palm print found on Ms. Redd's open bathroom window, hair samples at the scene, and teeth marks on Ms. Redd's arm. The murder weapon, a knife found at the scene, was identified as belonging to Mr. Patrick. Sperm was found in Ms. Redd's body, and an officer testified she had been sexually assaulted. The sperm was not tested, however, and Mr. Patrick was not charged with sexual assault.

Prosecutors obtained a written confession from Mr. Patrick. They did not introduce it at trial, but it has been included in subsequent filings. In the confession, Mr. Patrick, said he had been drinking before the killing. He said he broke into the house and tried unsuccessfully to have sex with Ms. Redd.

He wrote in his confession that he slit her throat with the knife, then added, "I don't really remember cutting her throat." His lawyer says Mr. Patrick, who previously served prison time for aggravated assault, has impaired memory because of brain damage he suffered in a fight.

Mr. Patrick said his inability to remember is the reason he wants the DNA test. He said he also hopes the test will exonerate him. But legal experts say that even if the DNA does not match, that wouldn't necessarily clear him. Mr. Patrick was not tried for the sexual assault of Ms. Redd, but for killing her while committing burglary. That charge would be unaffected by the sperm DNA. Prosecutors could argue that someone else raped Ms. Redd or that she had a consensual sexual partner. Despite his lawyer's advice not to have the test, Mr. Patrick wants it, "just for the peace. If I'm executed, I'll know exactly why."

The other evidence, no matter how strong, hasn't convinced him. "I can't imagine how it would be to sit on a gurney and not know if you did the crime you're being executed for," he said. Like her husband, Mrs. Patrick holds slim hope that the test may help. Legal experts note that most DNA tests end up validating convictions, rather than invalidating them. But even if the test doesn't help Mr. Patrick's case, "we just thought this was worth taking the risk," she said.

"It's very important to him on a personal level, to find out about the DNA because he actually has no memory of the night in question," she said. Mr. Hampton said he agreed to make his client's test request "for human dignity." "He wants to know, is it really true?" Mr. Hampton said.

Ms. Bowling, Ms. Redd's niece, said Mr. Patrick's attempts to get DNA testing on the sperm is an effort to make the system clear unnecessary hurdles. Whether he raped the woman she calls mother isn't as important as the proof that he killed her. "She could have lived through a rape," she said. "He's grasping at straws." Mr. Hampton assumed getting the test, at no cost to the public, would be easy. After Judge Greene's ruling, the material was being tested at a private lab when the Dallas prosecutor's office filed an appeal to a local court, and a writ to the Court of Criminal Appeals to halt the testing.

Lori Ordiway, chief of the appellate division of the Dallas district attorney's office, said she could not comment on the case because it is pending litigation. The state's brief offers little insight into why prosecutors oppose the test, other than to say the judge lacked authority to order it.

Tim Floyd, professor of law at Texas Tech University, said prosecutors probably are worried that the case might set a precedent that would keep cases alive indefinitely. "Prosecutors worry constantly about this Pandora's box, [that] there would be no finality to convictions. ... You can't just open the door to continually go back with new tests and new evidence."

Rob Kepple, general counsel for the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, said prosecutors "probably aren't too inclined to allow people to jerk us around."

'Frivolous motions'

"One of the big issues that we're going to see with this DNA testing statute is whether or not we've basically opened the door to a lot of frivolous motions and frivolous tests." In general, prosecutors are "very co-operative with defense attorneys in making sure evidence, state's evidence, is properly tested when it might make a difference," he said. "But when it won't make a difference, when it amounts to a waste of time, and efforts and energy, I don't think you're going to find many prosecutors inclined to allow their evidence to leave their control, to go to parts unknown, for someone else's test. Peter Neufeld, co-founder of the Innocence Project at Cardozo Law School in New York, has represented defendants in similar cases in other states.

He maintains that state resources are not wasted if the defendants is paying for the test at a private lab. "Frankly, if the guy is paying for the testing, it's faster to do the testing than to litigate the issue," he said. "It's cheaper to do the testing than to litigate the issue. And if the prosecutor is so certain that indeed he is guilty, then they have nothing to worry about because the testing will simply be additional evidence of his guilt."

Most of the DNA tests in cases handled by the Innocence Project are privately financed, Mr. Neufeld said. Prosecutors consent to testing about half the time. Mr. Neufeld has two cases in federal appeals courts concerning a state's refusal to allow DNA testing. In a Virginia case a judge ruled that felons have a constitutional right to DNA testing, and in Pennsylvania, a judge ruled that the defendant has a right to DNA tests no matter how remote the possibility that it will help his case. Both rulings are being contested by prosecutors. Catherine Greene Burnett, associate dean at the South Texas College of Law, said deciding the issue will be a "head to head collision in these two values the value in having it be over and the value in having it be right."

DNA testing is such a new area for Texas and the rest of the country that specifics such as who is entitled to testing "aren't fleshed out," she said.

------------------------------------------------------

Jesse's case in now pending in the 5th circuit, and the re-testing needs to be completed as soon as possible before it becomes too late for any results that might be favourable to Jesse to be of use.

On the 27th of February, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will hear oral argument on this DNA issue. Any support that we may be able to get from members of the Texas senate, and by raising public awareness about Jesse's case could help us to a favourable outcome.

Please help us to do this by sending appeals (written, faxed, email or by telephone) to as many of the following as possible. The priority contacts are Senator Duncan. Or The Letters Page for the Dallas Morning News

Jessie Patrick
# 000975
Polunsky Unit
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston, Texas 77351 USA

Canadian Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Dec 2, 1999 - Information about the case from Jesse Patrick Sr.

I have been on Death Row since June 14th, 1990, and I have been locked up since July 7th, 1989.

After I was convicted of this crime, and my case appealed with Court appointed attorneys, I have tried to get each of them to make me a copy of my trial transcripts. But after all this time, my wife went to my attorneys office in Austin, Texas, and made copies of the transcripts herself. Anyway, I knew there were some things said about the DNA evidence not matching mine. But I wasn't for sure, and I've talked to each of the attorneys I've had on this appeal and each have agreed that there was some problems with the DNA evidence, but when I ask if they were going to challenge this on appeal, two of them did, but not very well, and my Direct Appeal and my State Appeal both were denied. So now I am in Federal Court and the attorney I have now said he was going to challenge this but never did. I talked to him face to face about this issue, my wife borrowed 5000 $ dollars to have this DNA test done, but the lawyer used it to have two psychologists come talk to me. And this was a waste of good investigation money, money we cannot replace, and need desperately to have this checked on. As my case is in the Federal Courts, and I could "possibly" be facing an Execution date as early as next year ( 2000.)

I am in desperate need of someone to help me raise the money for another investigation into this matter. I will gladly have a copy of the Transcripts made and sent to anyone willing to help me on this matter. As the Transcripts clearly state that the DNA evidence DOES NOT MATCH MINE ! Now that I have some proof of this, I really do need the financial help to have something done.

For this I would be greatly thankful. I do not want to die if someone has committed this crime. And I need to try to raise the $5000 myself to hire a Private Investigator to have this done.

If there is anyone out there that is willing to help me with this matter, please contact me at : Jesse Patrick Sr.

Jessie has also filed for a stay of execution based on the following issues:

1.THAT THE DNA TEST SHOULD BE COMPLETED AND THE RESUTLS MADE KNOWN,

2. MENTAL RETARDATION.

  

The victim

80 year old Nina Rutherford Redd