Execution date put off for Fort Worth killer

The execution of a convicted Fort Worth killer, scheduled for next month, has been called off while a state commission addresses concerns raised recently about DNA statistics and interpretation.

Tarrant County prosecutors filed a motion Monday in 297th District Court, asking the judge to recall the death warrant for Christopher Chubasco Wilkins, who was scheduled to be executed Oct. 28.

The prosecutors wrote that they were seeking the recall because the Texas Forensic Science Commission “is in the process of addressing emerging issues involving the calculation of DNA population statistics and DNA mixture interpretation.”

“While the State has no reason to believe that these DNA issues are material to or have any effect on [Wilkins’] conviction and death sentence, the State believes that a stay of [Wilkins’] currently scheduled execution should be granted in order to allow the parties to more fully investigate these matters.”

State District Judge David Hagerman signed an order that day, withdrawing the execution date and recalling the death warrant.

DNA, including mixed DNA, was among evidence presented at the 2008 trial of Wilkins, who was convicted of fatally shooting two men — Willie Freeman and Mike Silva — on Oct. 27, 2005.

Other evidence implicating Wilkins included fingerprints found inside and outside Silva’s vehicle. A pentagram and the numbers 666 were carved into the hood of Silva’s vehicle — matching tattoos on Wilkins.

But perhaps most damning was Wilkins’ own testimony, in which he admitted to jurors that he killed Freeman out of revenge after Freeman ripped him off in a dope deal. He said he killed Silva, who had been with Freeman, simply because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Wilkins also told jurors that he killed another man, Gilbert Vallejo, the day before outside a south Fort Worth bar during a dispute about a pay phone.

He told jurors that he didn’t care whether he lived or died, and he said whatever they chose for him was fine.

“I am as undecided as you are,” Wilkins told jurors. “You’ve got a job to do. You tell the judge, ‘Get a rope’ or not. …

“Look, it is no big deal. It is no big deal.”

The jury chose death, and prosecutors still intend to see that the sentence is delivered, said Sam Jordan, a spokeswoman for the Tarrant County district attorney’s office.

In an email responding to questions from the Star-Telegram on Wednesday, Jordan said the office has had the DNA recalculated and has received an amended report that confirms compliance with current lab interpretation and reporting protocols.

Prosecutors hope to proceed with the Wilkins case after the state commission meets in October, when the DNA mixture issue is expected to be addressed.

“It is our intention to enforce the jury’s decision in this case,” Jordan said.

Hilary Sheard, Wilkins’ attorney, said, “That funny sound you hear is heads being scratched across the state as people try to figure this out.”

“It is clearly a major issue in many cases, and I think that the state acted entirely appropriately in choosing to withdraw, or asking the court to withdraw, the warrant in these circumstances.”

Sheard said she hopes the delay will “allow sufficient time for other issues in the case to continue to be litigated.”

DNA concerns arise

Concerns arose this spring when the FBI notified all Combined DNA Index System laboratories that minor discrepancies had been identified in the DNA statistical population database used by labs nationwide since 1999.

The discrepancies in the database, which is used to calculate DNA match statistics in criminal and human identification cases, were attributed to human error and technological limitations.

The FBI has since provided corrected data to labs.

“The immediate and obvious question for the criminal justice community was whether the discrepancies could have impacted the outcome of any criminal cases,” the Texas Forensic Science Commission wrote as part of a letter and attached memo to the criminal justice community. The letter was posted on the commission’s website Aug. 21.

“The widely accepted consensus among forensic DNA experts is the database corrections have no impact on the threshold question of whether a victim or defendant was included or excluded in any result.”

Mixed DNA interpretation

But adding to the concerns is that many labs have interpreted DNA mixtures found on evidence differently over the years.

The scientific acceptability of some of those approaches has now been brought into question, and several labs are adopting a new standard of interpreting mixed DNA, which involves evidence that contains more than one person’s DNA.

In its letter, the commission recommends that prosecutors, defendants and defense attorneys with a pending case involving a DNA mixture should inquire with the testing lab whether new protocols were used.

If not, the commission advises requesting a recalculation using the new protocols.

“The extent to which any closed criminal cases my require re-analysis will be a subject of Commission review and subsequent notification to the stakeholder community,” wrote Dr. Vincent Di Maio, the presiding officer.

Tarrant County’s response

Amid the DNA concerns, Jordan said, the district attorney’s office has been meeting with each of the labs to obtain a list of relevant cases during the time in question.

She said the office is also reviewing pending cases involving DNA, as well as the case files of Death Row inmates from Tarrant County, to determine any potential effects.

According to Texas Department of Criminal Justice records, the county has 18 inmates on Death Row, including Wilkins.

Jordan said labs used by Tarrant County agencies have told prosecutors that they are following current guidelines known as Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods. Staff members have participated in several lab meetings and multiple legal and Forensic Science Commission conferences to “understand and stay up to date on the evolving scientific protocols.”

“We remain in regular communication with the labs and the Forensic Science Commission, which has assembled a panel of world-renowed DNA experts to determine the potential to define a single standard protocol,” Jordan said.

This story was originally published September 23, 2015 at 9:50 PM with the headline "Execution date put off for Fort Worth killer."