Based on taped conversations among members of the Bexar County prosecutor’s office, some participants in the investigation of the case of Ruben Cantu may have made up their minds before talking to those who now assert that Cantu was innocent. Cantu was executed in Texas in 1993. Significant evidence has emerged from a victim-witness and from a co-defendant that Texas may have executed the wrong man. The senior District Attorney, Mike Beers, said on tape, before interviewing the witnesseses, that “They’re all lying.” Another primary DA investigator, James Moore, said, “It’s going to go forward with the fact that it was justified and everything was correct and that’s the way it is.”

Susan Reed is the District Attorney of Bexar County. Her office has been criticized for not being impartial in assuming the investigation of the allegations of a wrongful execution. Reed had been the judge that set Cantu’s execution date.

A spokesman for the DA’s office said he regretted that the remarks had been made on a publicly recorded telephone because they could imply that his officed had “prejudged the case,” and admitted that the statements might shake the public’s confidence in the investigation. The office also said there was no conspiracy to cover up actions.

(Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News, July 22, 2006). See Innocence.