[HeyJealousy]

Montgomery County Tx, 1998

On December 8, 1998, 19-year-old Lone Star student Melissa Trotter was raped and strangled to death with a pantyhose. Larry Swearingen, an electrician, was apprehended and sits on death row to this date.

[kellyhound]

Prosecutors are pessimistic about the likelihood that a state district court judge in Montgomery County will ever agree to set an execution date for Larry Ray Swearingen.

Swearingen was convicted in July 2000 of the capital murder of community college student Melissa Trotter.

His appellate attorney is still hopeful that exculpatory evidence from DNA testing will show that Swearingen could not have been the killer because he was serving time in the Montgomery County Jail for unrelated warrants when Trotter was believed to have been kidnapped and killed.

There have been six motions filed by Swearingen seeking additional DNA testing, all of which have been appealed by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

Both sides have filed briefs with the Court of Criminal Appeals and are waiting to learn whether the higher court will hear oral arguments before issuing a ruling, Assistant District Attorney Bill Delmore said.

The CCA affirmed former 9th state District Court Judge Fred Edwards’ denial of Swearingen’s fourth motion for DNA testing in 2010 on grounds that he can never satisfy the requirement that exculpatory results of testing would cause a different outcome in light of the “mountain of inculpatory evidence” of his guilt, including the discovery at Swearingen’s residence of the remaining half of the pantyhose used to strangle Trotter.

However, 9th state District Court Judge Kelly Case, who defeated Edwards in 2012 (Edwards passed away in 2014), granted Swearingen’s fifth motion for DNA testing, and the CCA reversed that order in February. Less than six months later, Case again granted the same renewed request for testing, plus additional testing sought in a supplemental sixth motion.

“We are pessimistic about the likelihood that Judge Case will ever agree to set an execution date, and I have warned the Trotter family that we cannot expect the case to move forward during Judge Case’s current term of office,” Delmore wrote in an email to The Courier.

“But we have gotten past every dilatory obstacle raised by Swearingen’s attorneys in the past, and we remain confident that we will get this case back on track and obtain a just result for Melissa Trotter and her family.”

Sixteen years after Melissa Trotter’s body was found in the national forest, her family has no doubt that Swearingen is responsible for the murder, according to her parents, Charles and Sandy Trotter.

Both parents, during a phone conversation with The Courier Dec. 29, expressed frustration at Case’s decision to stall Swearingen’s execution date by allowing for additional DNA testing. They believe the actions of Swearingen’s appellate attorney and Case are in blatant defiance of what a jury decided nearly 15 years ago.

Swearingen was sentenced to death for the murder July 11, 2000, and the CCA first affirmed the decision March 26, 2003.

His first execution date was set for Jan. 24, 2007, then stayed by the CCA for the trial court to resolve fact issues. A second execution date was set for Jan. 27, 2009, but the CCA again stayed the execution for further review.
A third execution was stayed July 28, 2011, and the most recent order for Feb. 27, 2013, was struck by Case to allow for more DNA testing.

“We were very disappointed when Judge Case overturned the execution with basically the same argument of trying to bring up other DNA, but there’s so much overwhelming evidence against Swearingen that it’s not going to make any difference,” Sandy Trotter said.

“The appeals court has already said that. We’re coming up on these anniversary dates — Melissa was found Jan. 2 (1999) and buried on the eighth.
“We would just like to have some closure with this. With this case not resolved, you’ve got all of this unfinished business lingering in your mind. You’re not really able to totally move forward and remember all of the good things because all of this is lingering.”

Charles Trotter called appellate attorney James Rytting, who represents Swearingen, “an outright liar” for giving the impression they haven’t been able to conduct all of the independent testing necessary, and for presenting the idea that the pantyhose used to strangle Melissa was planted at Swearingen’s home.

“There is no doubt that the pantyhose came from his residence, which is of course the murder weapon,” Charles Trotter said. “Well that’s your smoking gun right there.

This DNA stuff is nothing more than a delaying tactic. And now, with Judge Case, they have a judge that will not sign the death warrant.”

Trotter was last seen leaving the Montgomery College (now Lone Star College) campus on Dec. 8, 1998. Her body was found by hunters in the Sam Houston National Forest Jan. 2, 1999, north of Lake Conroe.

Delmore said previously that prosecutors had answered every claim brought by Swearingen’s defense team and that in this case, “justice delayed is justice denied.”

Still, Rytting has argued there could be evidence to support Swearingen’s claim that he was not the last person with Trotter before she was brutally murdered.

Rytting said biological material on various clothing items have been identified for testing, supported with a signed affidavit from DNA expert Huma Nasir.

Rytting wants testing on hair evidence to determine whether a full DNA profile can be identified from various items of clothing — Trotter’s underwear, shirt, sweater and blue jeans.

“We have identified some very important facts that are clearly mistaken that change the way this DNA testing must be looked at,” Rytting told The Courier in June.

“The law has changed, the facts have changed, and now we have additional evidence we believe Mr. Swearingen was not the last person with the victim — that she was with someone else. They have the wrong person in jail.”

DNA testing still unresolved in Montgomery County’s death row case against Larry Swearingen
Brandon K. Scott Published 4:05 pm, Sunday, January 4, 2015

Prosecutors are pessimistic about the likelihood that a state district court judge in Montgomery County will ever agree to set an execution date for Larry Ray Swearingen.

Swearingen was convicted in July 2000 of the capital murder of community college student Melissa Trotter.

His appellate attorney is still hopeful that exculpatory evidence from DNA testing will show that Swearingen could not have been the killer because he was serving time in the Montgomery County Jail for unrelated warrants when Trotter was believed to have been kidnapped and killed.

There have been six motions filed by Swearingen seeking additional DNA testing, all of which have been appealed by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

Both sides have filed briefs with the Court of Criminal Appeals and are waiting to learn whether the higher court will hear oral arguments before issuing a ruling, Assistant District Attorney Bill Delmore said.

The CCA affirmed former 9th state District Court Judge Fred Edwards’ denial of Swearingen’s fourth motion for DNA testing in 2010 on grounds that he can never satisfy the requirement that exculpatory results of testing would cause a different outcome in light of the “mountain of inculpatory evidence” of his guilt, including the discovery at Swearingen’s residence of the remaining half of the pantyhose used to strangle Trotter.

However, 9th state District Court Judge Kelly Case, who defeated Edwards in 2012 (Edwards passed away in 2014), granted Swearingen’s fifth motion for DNA testing, and the CCA reversed that order in February. Less than six months later, Case again granted the same renewed request for testing, plus additional testing sought in a supplemental sixth motion.

“We are pessimistic about the likelihood that Judge Case will ever agree to set an execution date, and I have warned the Trotter family that we cannot expect the case to move forward during Judge Case’s current term of office,” Delmore wrote in an email to The Courier.

“But we have gotten past every dilatory obstacle raised by Swearingen’s attorneys in the past, and we remain confident that we will get this case back on track and obtain a just result for Melissa Trotter and her family.”

Trotter family wants closure
Sixteen years after Melissa Trotter’s body was found in the national forest, her family has no doubt that Swearingen is responsible for the murder, according to her parents, Charles and Sandy Trotter.

Both parents, during a phone conversation with The Courier Dec. 29, expressed frustration at Case’s decision to stall Swearingen’s execution date by allowing for additional DNA testing.

They believe the actions of Swearingen’s appellate attorney and Case are in blatant defiance of what a jury decided nearly 15 years ago.
Swearingen was sentenced to death for the murder July 11, 2000, and the CCA first affirmed the decision March 26, 2003.

His first execution date was set for Jan. 24, 2007, then stayed by the CCA for the trial court to resolve fact issues. A second execution date was set for Jan. 27, 2009, but the CCA again stayed the execution for further review.
A third execution was stayed July 28, 2011, and the most recent order for Feb. 27, 2013, was struck by Case to allow for more DNA testing.

“We were very disappointed when Judge Case overturned the execution with basically the same argument of trying to bring up other DNA, but there’s so much overwhelming evidence against Swearingen that it’s not going to make any difference,” Sandy Trotter said.

“The appeals court has already said that. We’re coming up on these anniversary dates — Melissa was found Jan. 2 (1999) and buried on the eighth.
“We would just like to have some closure with this.
With this case not resolved, you’ve got all of this unfinished business lingering in your mind. You’re not really able to totally move forward and remember all of the good things because all of this is lingering.”

Charles Trotter called appellate attorney James Rytting, who represents Swearingen, “an outright liar” for giving the impression they haven’t been able to conduct all of the independent testing necessary, and for presenting the idea that the pantyhose used to strangle Melissa was planted at Swearingen’s home.

“There is no doubt that the pantyhose came from his residence, which is of course the murder weapon,” Charles Trotter said. “Well that’s your smoking gun right there. This DNA stuff is nothing more than a delaying tactic. And now, with Judge Case, they have a judge that will not sign the death warrant.”
‘
Justice delayed’

Trotter was last seen leaving the Montgomery College (now Lone Star College) campus on Dec. 8, 1998. Her body was found by hunters in the Sam Houston National Forest Jan. 2, 1999, north of Lake Conroe.

Delmore said previously that prosecutors had answered every claim brought by Swearingen’s defense team and that in this case, “justice delayed is justice denied.”

Still, Rytting has argued there could be evidence to support Swearingen’s claim that he was not the last person with Trotter before she was brutally murdered.

Rytting said biological material on various clothing items have been identified for testing, supported with a signed affidavit from DNA expert Huma Nasir.

Rytting wants testing on hair evidence to determine whether a full DNA profile can be identified from various items of clothing — Trotter’s underwear, shirt, sweater and blue jeans.

“We have identified some very important facts that are clearly mistaken that change the way this DNA testing must be looked at,” Rytting told The Courier in June.

“The law has changed, the facts have changed, and now we have additional evidence we believe Mr. Swearingen was not the last person with the victim — that she was with someone else. They have the wrong person in jail.”

Evidence in question

Case wrote in an order filed June 13, 2014, that “it is probable that (Swearingen) would not have been convicted if exculpatory results had been obtained through DNA testing.”

There could be testing of Trotter’s rape kit, the torn pantyhose used to strangle her and the four cigarette butts found near her body that were not offered at trial.

The judge determined that developing the same DNA profile on the cigarette butts would establish a temporal and geographic connection between the source of the DNA and the crime, and that finding the same DNA on the pantyhose would support Swearingen’s contention that the perpetrator of the crime actually planted the pantyhose after Swearingen was known to have been a suspect.

“The fact that the pantyhose was found outside the residence in a publicly accessible location and that the torn pantyhose was not previously identified in two prior searches of the residence by teams of officers trained in the collection of evidence and ordered by the court authorizing the searches to seize items of women’s clothing in the residence for forensic examination, makes Swearingen’s planting theory plausible and capable of proof through the presence of DNA,” Case wrote.

For the judge, the killer’s identity is still an issue due to Swearingen’s claim of innocence from his not guilty plea at trial and throughout post-conviction proceedings. Case wrote that exculpatory DNA results would overcome a strong circumstantial case.

Three findings from the testimony and evidence introduced by prosecutors at trial have been found by Case to be erroneous — a cell phone call by Swearingen on the day of the murder using a cell tower near FM 1097 in Willis that was supposed to be consistent with him driving from his home to the Sam Houston National Forest; testimony by Swearigen’s wife that she observed Trotter’s cigarettes and lighter in the house that evening; and physical evidence showing Trotter was in Swearingen’s truck and his home on the day of her disappearance.

Prosecutors introduced eye-witness testimony from Swearingen’s landlord indicating Swearingen returned to his Willis home sometime after 2 p.m. or 2:30 p.m., stayed home for about half an hour and then left moments before making the phone call at 3:03 p.m.

The evidence, according to Case, shows the cell phone tower near FM 1097 that picked up the call is south of Swearingen’s home, suggesting that Swearingen was traveling south and in the opposite direction of the national forest when he made the call.

Texas Department of Public Safety forensic analyst Cassie Carradine testified that DNA testing on a Marlboro Lights cigarette collected during the search of Swearingen’s home excluded Trotter’s DNA.

DPS fiber analyst Sandy Musialowski testified that her visual examination of hair evidence lifted from the pack of cigarettes also excluded Trotter’s DNA, leading the court to determine that the cigarettes and lighter that Swearingen’s wife said she saw on the TV that evening in all likelihood belonged to someone other than Trotter.

Case also found that Trotter’s jacket was the only item of clothing from which fibers matching or resembling fibers from Swearingen’s clothing, residence or vehicle was found.

He determined that the autopsy report and crime scene photos prove that Trotter was found dead and clothed in a sweater, black shirt and a bra, but not a jacket.

“The court therefore finds that the fiber evidence related to Trotter’s jacket, to the extent that it is reliable, shows that Trotter may have been in Swearingen’s truck or home on an earlier date,” Case wrote.

Case said his findings are informed by the exoneration of Roy Criner in Montgomery County on Aug. 15, 2000.

Criner had confessed to the 1986 rape and murder of Deanna Ogg, whose body was found in a secluded wooded area near an old logging road.

The sexual assault evidence indicated that another man had intercourse with Ogg, but the Court of Criminal Appeals had ruled that the evidence was not strong enough to overcome the overwhelming direct evidence of Criner’s guilt.

Subsequently, DNA testing of a cigarette butt found near Ogg’s body was consistent with DNA detected in the sexual assault evidence, placing the source of the DNA at the crime scene and ultimately leading to Criner’s exoneration.

Although the judge acknowledges Swearingen demonstrated “consciousness of guilt” by evading the police and trying to manufacture exculpatory evidence, he states that there was no evidence at trial identifying Swearingen as the man seen with Trotter in the hours before her disappearance and no evidence linking him to the body or the crime scene.

“Associating another person with the sexual assault, murder weapon, scene and the torn pantyhose would completely undermine the state’s circumstantial trial evidence,” Case wrote.

“Swearingen’s admission and other consciousness of guilt evidence would be far outweighed by the scientific proof that someone else committed the crime.”

Melissa Trotter graduated from Willis High School in 1998 and was finishing up her first semester in college when she went missing.

Her parents now have three grandchildren from Melissa’s brother, who carries their father’s name.
But when Charles Trotter watches his grandchildren interact during the holidays, he wonders how many there would be if Melissa had not been murdered.

He said it’s not just holidays, but every day he thinks about his daughter who died at the age of 19.

“It’s not easy,” Charles Trotter said. “There’s not really a day goes by that I don’t think about Melissa. She’s always in my mind. So it’s not just this time of the year, but I think about her every day.

“With Judge Case, how much clearer can this get?

I’ve lost track of how many appeals there have been. What they’re hoping for is to find contamination, so then they can argue someone else was there.”

[HeyJealousy]

Originally Posted by kellyhound ↗

Prosecutors are pessimistic about the likelihood that a state district court judge in Montgomery County will ever agree to set an execution date for Larry Ray Swearingen.

Swearingen was convicted in July 2000 of the capital murder of community college student Melissa Trotter.

His appellate attorney is still hopeful that exculpatory evidence from DNA testing will show that Swearingen could not have been the killer because he was serving time in the Montgomery County Jail for unrelated warrants when Trotter was believed to have been kidnapped and killed.

There have been six motions filed by Swearingen seeking additional DNA testing, all of which have been appealed by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

Both sides have filed briefs with the Court of Criminal Appeals and are waiting to learn whether the higher court will hear oral arguments before issuing a ruling, Assistant District Attorney Bill Delmore said.

The CCA affirmed former 9th state District Court Judge Fred Edwards’ denial of Swearingen’s fourth motion for DNA testing in 2010 on grounds that he can never satisfy the requirement that exculpatory results of testing would cause a different outcome in light of the “mountain of inculpatory evidence” of his guilt, including the discovery at Swearingen’s residence of the remaining half of the pantyhose used to strangle Trotter.

However, 9th state District Court Judge Kelly Case, who defeated Edwards in 2012 (Edwards passed away in 2014), granted Swearingen’s fifth motion for DNA testing, and the CCA reversed that order in February. Less than six months later, Case again granted the same renewed request for testing, plus additional testing sought in a supplemental sixth motion.

“We are pessimistic about the likelihood that Judge Case will ever agree to set an execution date, and I have warned the Trotter family that we cannot expect the case to move forward during Judge Case’s current term of office,” Delmore wrote in an email to The Courier.

“But we have gotten past every dilatory obstacle raised by Swearingen’s attorneys in the past, and we remain confident that we will get this case back on track and obtain a just result for Melissa Trotter and her family.”

Sixteen years after Melissa Trotter’s body was found in the national forest, her family has no doubt that Swearingen is responsible for the murder, according to her parents, Charles and Sandy Trotter.

Both parents, during a phone conversation with The Courier Dec. 29, expressed frustration at Case’s decision to stall Swearingen’s execution date by allowing for additional DNA testing. They believe the actions of Swearingen’s appellate attorney and Case are in blatant defiance of what a jury decided nearly 15 years ago.

Swearingen was sentenced to death for the murder July 11, 2000, and the CCA first affirmed the decision March 26, 2003.

His first execution date was set for Jan. 24, 2007, then stayed by the CCA for the trial court to resolve fact issues. A second execution date was set for Jan. 27, 2009, but the CCA again stayed the execution for further review.
A third execution was stayed July 28, 2011, and the most recent order for Feb. 27, 2013, was struck by Case to allow for more DNA testing.

“We were very disappointed when Judge Case overturned the execution with basically the same argument of trying to bring up other DNA, but there’s so much overwhelming evidence against Swearingen that it’s not going to make any difference,” Sandy Trotter said.

“The appeals court has already said that. We’re coming up on these anniversary dates — Melissa was found Jan. 2 (1999) and buried on the eighth.
“We would just like to have some closure with this. With this case not resolved, you’ve got all of this unfinished business lingering in your mind. You’re not really able to totally move forward and remember all of the good things because all of this is lingering.”

Charles Trotter called appellate attorney James Rytting, who represents Swearingen, “an outright liar” for giving the impression they haven’t been able to conduct all of the independent testing necessary, and for presenting the idea that the pantyhose used to strangle Melissa was planted at Swearingen’s home.

“There is no doubt that the pantyhose came from his residence, which is of course the murder weapon,” Charles Trotter said. “Well that’s your smoking gun right there.

This DNA stuff is nothing more than a delaying tactic. And now, with Judge Case, they have a judge that will not sign the death warrant.”

Trotter was last seen leaving the Montgomery College (now Lone Star College) campus on Dec. 8, 1998. Her body was found by hunters in the Sam Houston National Forest Jan. 2, 1999, north of Lake Conroe.

Delmore said previously that prosecutors had answered every claim brought by Swearingen’s defense team and that in this case, “justice delayed is justice denied.”

Still, Rytting has argued there could be evidence to support Swearingen’s claim that he was not the last person with Trotter before she was brutally murdered.

Rytting said biological material on various clothing items have been identified for testing, supported with a signed affidavit from DNA expert Huma Nasir.

Rytting wants testing on hair evidence to determine whether a full DNA profile can be identified from various items of clothing — Trotter’s underwear, shirt, sweater and blue jeans.

“We have identified some very important facts that are clearly mistaken that change the way this DNA testing must be looked at,” Rytting told The Courier in June.

“The law has changed, the facts have changed, and now we have additional evidence we believe Mr. Swearingen was not the last person with the victim — that she was with someone else. They have the wrong person in jail.”

DNA testing still unresolved in Montgomery County’s death row case against Larry Swearingen
Brandon K. Scott Published 4:05 pm, Sunday, January 4, 2015

Prosecutors are pessimistic about the likelihood that a state district court judge in Montgomery County will ever agree to set an execution date for Larry Ray Swearingen.

Swearingen was convicted in July 2000 of the capital murder of community college student Melissa Trotter.

His appellate attorney is still hopeful that exculpatory evidence from DNA testing will show that Swearingen could not have been the killer because he was serving time in the Montgomery County Jail for unrelated warrants when Trotter was believed to have been kidnapped and killed.

There have been six motions filed by Swearingen seeking additional DNA testing, all of which have been appealed by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

Both sides have filed briefs with the Court of Criminal Appeals and are waiting to learn whether the higher court will hear oral arguments before issuing a ruling, Assistant District Attorney Bill Delmore said.

The CCA affirmed former 9th state District Court Judge Fred Edwards’ denial of Swearingen’s fourth motion for DNA testing in 2010 on grounds that he can never satisfy the requirement that exculpatory results of testing would cause a different outcome in light of the “mountain of inculpatory evidence” of his guilt, including the discovery at Swearingen’s residence of the remaining half of the pantyhose used to strangle Trotter.

However, 9th state District Court Judge Kelly Case, who defeated Edwards in 2012 (Edwards passed away in 2014), granted Swearingen’s fifth motion for DNA testing, and the CCA reversed that order in February. Less than six months later, Case again granted the same renewed request for testing, plus additional testing sought in a supplemental sixth motion.

“We are pessimistic about the likelihood that Judge Case will ever agree to set an execution date, and I have warned the Trotter family that we cannot expect the case to move forward during Judge Case’s current term of office,” Delmore wrote in an email to The Courier.

“But we have gotten past every dilatory obstacle raised by Swearingen’s attorneys in the past, and we remain confident that we will get this case back on track and obtain a just result for Melissa Trotter and her family.”

Trotter family wants closure
Sixteen years after Melissa Trotter’s body was found in the national forest, her family has no doubt that Swearingen is responsible for the murder, according to her parents, Charles and Sandy Trotter.

Both parents, during a phone conversation with The Courier Dec. 29, expressed frustration at Case’s decision to stall Swearingen’s execution date by allowing for additional DNA testing.

They believe the actions of Swearingen’s appellate attorney and Case are in blatant defiance of what a jury decided nearly 15 years ago.
Swearingen was sentenced to death for the murder July 11, 2000, and the CCA first affirmed the decision March 26, 2003.

His first execution date was set for Jan. 24, 2007, then stayed by the CCA for the trial court to resolve fact issues. A second execution date was set for Jan. 27, 2009, but the CCA again stayed the execution for further review.
A third execution was stayed July 28, 2011, and the most recent order for Feb. 27, 2013, was struck by Case to allow for more DNA testing.

“We were very disappointed when Judge Case overturned the execution with basically the same argument of trying to bring up other DNA, but there’s so much overwhelming evidence against Swearingen that it’s not going to make any difference,” Sandy Trotter said.

“The appeals court has already said that. We’re coming up on these anniversary dates — Melissa was found Jan. 2 (1999) and buried on the eighth.
“We would just like to have some closure with this.
With this case not resolved, you’ve got all of this unfinished business lingering in your mind. You’re not really able to totally move forward and remember all of the good things because all of this is lingering.”

Charles Trotter called appellate attorney James Rytting, who represents Swearingen, “an outright liar” for giving the impression they haven’t been able to conduct all of the independent testing necessary, and for presenting the idea that the pantyhose used to strangle Melissa was planted at Swearingen’s home.

“There is no doubt that the pantyhose came from his residence, which is of course the murder weapon,” Charles Trotter said. “Well that’s your smoking gun right there. This DNA stuff is nothing more than a delaying tactic. And now, with Judge Case, they have a judge that will not sign the death warrant.”
‘
Justice delayed’

Trotter was last seen leaving the Montgomery College (now Lone Star College) campus on Dec. 8, 1998. Her body was found by hunters in the Sam Houston National Forest Jan. 2, 1999, north of Lake Conroe.

Delmore said previously that prosecutors had answered every claim brought by Swearingen’s defense team and that in this case, “justice delayed is justice denied.”

Still, Rytting has argued there could be evidence to support Swearingen’s claim that he was not the last person with Trotter before she was brutally murdered.

Rytting said biological material on various clothing items have been identified for testing, supported with a signed affidavit from DNA expert Huma Nasir.

Rytting wants testing on hair evidence to determine whether a full DNA profile can be identified from various items of clothing — Trotter’s underwear, shirt, sweater and blue jeans.

“We have identified some very important facts that are clearly mistaken that change the way this DNA testing must be looked at,” Rytting told The Courier in June.

“The law has changed, the facts have changed, and now we have additional evidence we believe Mr. Swearingen was not the last person with the victim — that she was with someone else. They have the wrong person in jail.”

Evidence in question

Case wrote in an order filed June 13, 2014, that “it is probable that (Swearingen) would not have been convicted if exculpatory results had been obtained through DNA testing.”

There could be testing of Trotter’s rape kit, the torn pantyhose used to strangle her and the four cigarette butts found near her body that were not offered at trial.

The judge determined that developing the same DNA profile on the cigarette butts would establish a temporal and geographic connection between the source of the DNA and the crime, and that finding the same DNA on the pantyhose would support Swearingen’s contention that the perpetrator of the crime actually planted the pantyhose after Swearingen was known to have been a suspect.

“The fact that the pantyhose was found outside the residence in a publicly accessible location and that the torn pantyhose was not previously identified in two prior searches of the residence by teams of officers trained in the collection of evidence and ordered by the court authorizing the searches to seize items of women’s clothing in the residence for forensic examination, makes Swearingen’s planting theory plausible and capable of proof through the presence of DNA,” Case wrote.

For the judge, the killer’s identity is still an issue due to Swearingen’s claim of innocence from his not guilty plea at trial and throughout post-conviction proceedings. Case wrote that exculpatory DNA results would overcome a strong circumstantial case.

Three findings from the testimony and evidence introduced by prosecutors at trial have been found by Case to be erroneous — a cell phone call by Swearingen on the day of the murder using a cell tower near FM 1097 in Willis that was supposed to be consistent with him driving from his home to the Sam Houston National Forest; testimony by Swearigen’s wife that she observed Trotter’s cigarettes and lighter in the house that evening; and physical evidence showing Trotter was in Swearingen’s truck and his home on the day of her disappearance.

Prosecutors introduced eye-witness testimony from Swearingen’s landlord indicating Swearingen returned to his Willis home sometime after 2 p.m. or 2:30 p.m., stayed home for about half an hour and then left moments before making the phone call at 3:03 p.m.

The evidence, according to Case, shows the cell phone tower near FM 1097 that picked up the call is south of Swearingen’s home, suggesting that Swearingen was traveling south and in the opposite direction of the national forest when he made the call.

Texas Department of Public Safety forensic analyst Cassie Carradine testified that DNA testing on a Marlboro Lights cigarette collected during the search of Swearingen’s home excluded Trotter’s DNA.

DPS fiber analyst Sandy Musialowski testified that her visual examination of hair evidence lifted from the pack of cigarettes also excluded Trotter’s DNA, leading the court to determine that the cigarettes and lighter that Swearingen’s wife said she saw on the TV that evening in all likelihood belonged to someone other than Trotter.

Case also found that Trotter’s jacket was the only item of clothing from which fibers matching or resembling fibers from Swearingen’s clothing, residence or vehicle was found.

He determined that the autopsy report and crime scene photos prove that Trotter was found dead and clothed in a sweater, black shirt and a bra, but not a jacket.

“The court therefore finds that the fiber evidence related to Trotter’s jacket, to the extent that it is reliable, shows that Trotter may have been in Swearingen’s truck or home on an earlier date,” Case wrote.

Case said his findings are informed by the exoneration of Roy Criner in Montgomery County on Aug. 15, 2000.

Criner had confessed to the 1986 rape and murder of Deanna Ogg, whose body was found in a secluded wooded area near an old logging road.

The sexual assault evidence indicated that another man had intercourse with Ogg, but the Court of Criminal Appeals had ruled that the evidence was not strong enough to overcome the overwhelming direct evidence of Criner’s guilt.

Subsequently, DNA testing of a cigarette butt found near Ogg’s body was consistent with DNA detected in the sexual assault evidence, placing the source of the DNA at the crime scene and ultimately leading to Criner’s exoneration.

Although the judge acknowledges Swearingen demonstrated “consciousness of guilt” by evading the police and trying to manufacture exculpatory evidence, he states that there was no evidence at trial identifying Swearingen as the man seen with Trotter in the hours before her disappearance and no evidence linking him to the body or the crime scene.

“Associating another person with the sexual assault, murder weapon, scene and the torn pantyhose would completely undermine the state’s circumstantial trial evidence,” Case wrote.

“Swearingen’s admission and other consciousness of guilt evidence would be far outweighed by the scientific proof that someone else committed the crime.”

Melissa Trotter graduated from Willis High School in 1998 and was finishing up her first semester in college when she went missing.

Her parents now have three grandchildren from Melissa’s brother, who carries their father’s name.
But when Charles Trotter watches his grandchildren interact during the holidays, he wonders how many there would be if Melissa had not been murdered.

He said it’s not just holidays, but every day he thinks about his daughter who died at the age of 19.

“It’s not easy,” Charles Trotter said. “There’s not really a day goes by that I don’t think about Melissa. She’s always in my mind. So it’s not just this time of the year, but I think about her every day.

“With Judge Case, how much clearer can this get?

I’ve lost track of how many appeals there have been. What they’re hoping for is to find contamination, so then they can argue someone else was there.”

Thanks for the info, Kelly. Dude has a real "douche" look to him that's hard to pin down.

[K53]

The death penalty is well earned.

[HeyJealousy]

Originally Posted by K53 ↗

The death penalty is well earned.

I don't think that the death penalty, as an institution, deserves to exist. The justice system is inconsistent and occasionally rigged, and the presence of the death penalty does not deter sick fucks from committing abhorrent acts.
But this man deserves a hellish punishment, and if life in prison isn't good enough for him, then maybe ass-rapes (if he is indeed purely hetero) on a routine basis would do it.

[Vedderman]

I've got her autopsy report around here somewhere. If I can scrounge it up in my mountain of files I'll append it to the thread.

[HeyJealousy]

Originally Posted by Vedderman ↗

I've got her autopsy report around here somewhere. If I can scrounge it up in my mountain of files I'll append it to the thread.

Is it detailed?

[Darkknight1]

More pics of the body

[Vedderman]

Originally Posted by HeyJealousy ↗

Is it detailed?

Homicide postmortems usually are. Well, most autopsies are by default, but they tend to scrimp on the detail sometimes if it's natural or a clear accident, etc.

Hers is quite extensive. I've added it to your original post.

[HeyJealousy]

Originally Posted by Vedderman ↗

Homicide postmortems usually are. Well, most autopsies are by default, but they tend to scrimp on the detail sometimes if it's natural or a clear accident, etc.

Hers is quite extensive. I've added it to your original post.

Thanks, I'll read up on it.
Hey, is that Rutger Hauer on your avatar?