The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on May 12 granted a stay of Tilon Carter’s May 16 execution to consider his claim that he was convicted based on “false or misleading testimony by the State Medical Examiner” concerning the cause of the victim’s death. Carter (pictured) was convicted and sentenced to death based upon testimony by a local medical examiner that the 89-year-old victim, James Tomlin, had died of suffocation. His lawyers say that new scientific evidence that was unavailable at the time of trial contradicts that testimony and supports Carter’s claim that he did not intentionally kill Tomlin. According to a filing by Carter’s attorney, Carter was denied due process because Nizam Peerwani, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner, presented misleading testimony implying that Tomlin was intentionally smothered, though his cause of death was listed as “smothering with positional asphyxia,” which could have been unintentional. In addition, three other experts who have reviewed the evidence offered opinions contradicting the finding that Tomlin was smothered. Raoul Schonemann, Carter’s attorney, wrote in a court filing, “While the experts disagreed on the ultimate cause—whether Mr. Tomlin’s death was caused by positional asphyxiation or a cardiac event—they unanimously agreed that the evidence does not show that Mr. Tomlin’s death was the result of intentional smothering.” Carter would not be eligible for a death sentence if he did not intentionally kill the victim. Schonemann also alleged that Carter’s trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to seek evidence on whether Tomlin’s death was intentional.
(M. Mitchell, “Fort Worth death row inmate gets second stay of execution this year,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 12, 2017; J. McCullough, “Execution halted amid claims of false evidence at trial,” May 12, 2017.) Read the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals order staying Tilon Careter’s execution here. See Upcoming Executions.
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