A 43-year-old death row inmate has evaded execution after successfully filing a motion requesting evidence used against him be tested for DNA.
Lubbock Judge John McClendon with the 137th District Court withdrew Joe Franco Garza’s execution date and ordered state criminologists to test DNA found on physical evidence prosecutors used 16 years ago to link Garza to a 1998 murder.
Garza, who maintains his innocence, has exhausted appeals at the state and federal levels.
Lawyers for Garza filed a motion in June hoping new technology will prove their client’s innocence.
“Because Mr. Garza would not have been...