Each year, we dedicate thousands of attorney hours and significant additional resources to a number of ongoing death penalty representations, including our work on behalf of Cathy Henderson. In 2005, at the request of Sister Helen Prejean, a cross-off Morgan Lewis team became involved in the representation of Ms. Henderson, a Texas death row inmate. Ms. Henderson was convicted of murder in the death of an infant she had been babysitting. The infant had died in what Ms. Henderson described as an accidental fall. However, at Ms. Henderson’s trial, the Medical Examiner (ME) testified that after conducting the autopsy of the infant, an accidental fall was an impossibility. That evidence led to a murder conviction and death sentence.
When Morgan Lewis became involved in the case, the conventional habeas proceedings had been virtually exhausted. We launched a new and detailed investigation of the facts and legal issues, focusing on the scientific evidence. We gathered evidence showing that the ME’s opinion and testimony were based on outdated and flawed science and that the injuries were indeed consistent with an accidental fall. Just a few weeks before Ms. Henderson’s scheduled execution date, Morgan Lewis lawyers obtained an affidavit from the ME who had testified at Ms. Henderson’s trial recanting his testimony and stating that based on the new evidence, he could no longer conclude that the death was caused by an intentional act.
Just two days before Ms. Henderson’s scheduled execution, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted preliminary relief on the Subsequent Writ we filed. On remand, the trial judge recommended that the appellate court vacate the judgment of capital murder against our client. And as a result of our advocacy and dedication, the Court of Criminal Appeals accepted that recommendation and ordered a new trial for our client. The District Attorney’s Office recently announced that it will not seek the death penalty at our client’s retrial.
San Francisco Litigation partner Molly Lane and San Francisco Litigation counsel George Cumming were honored with California Lawyer’s 2014 California Lawyer of the Year Award for their work on the Henderson matter.
In recognition of the Death Penalty Practice’s historic achievements, the firm received the 2013 American Bar Association Death Penalty Representation Project’s Exceptional Service Award.