HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- Convicted killer Ricky McGinn lived to see another day after Gov. George W. Bush for the first time approved a 30-day reprieve to a death-row inmate -- an act that may appeal to moderate voters.
Less than 30 minutes before McGinn was to be taken to the death chamber Thursday night, the Republican presidential contender agreed to the reprieve to allow genetic tests that could exonerate the 43-year-old man of capital murder.Bush intervened shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court denied McGinn's appeals.
"Any time DNA evidence used in this context can be relevant as to the guilt or innocence of a person on death row we need to use it," Bush said at a hastily arranged news conference in Sacramento, Calif., where he was attending a governors' conference.
In his 5 1/2 years as governor, Bush refused to stop 131 lethal injections in Texas, which has carried out the most executions since 1976 by far. Once, two years ago, he agreed to reduce self-proclaimed serial killer Henry Lee Lucas' death sentence to life in prison when he determined the evidence was far too weak.
Because Bush and Republican Lt. Gov. Rick Perry were both out of state, the actual order for the reprieve came from state Sen. Rodney Ellis, a Houston Democrat. As president pro tem of the Texas Senate, he is acting governor in the absence of Bush and Perry.
Bush has been criticized for running a busy death chamber while campaigning as a compassionate conservative. The state carried out 35 executions last year and 19 this year, including one Wednesday.
In the case of McGinn, a mechanic convicted of the rape and ax killing of his 12-year-old stepdaughter, Stephanie Flanary, Bush opted to allow extra time for additional DNA tests.
"I expect the courts and all relevant parties to act expeditiously to review the evidence and finally determine his guilt as to the charge of rape in this case," Bush said.