Rodriguez, Ex Parte George

• Court: Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
• Decided: August 31, 2005
• Docket: AP-75,225
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS

OF TEXAS

NOS. AP-75,225 & AP-75,226 EX PARTE GEORGE RODRIGUEZ, Applicant

ON APPLICATIONS FOR WRITS OF HABEAS CORPUS

FROM CAUSE NOS. 474772-C & 474773-C

IN THE 230^TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT,

HARRIS COUNTY

Per curiam.

O P I N I O N

These are post-conviction applications for writs of habeas corpus forwarded to this Court pursuant to Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 11.07, § 3, et seq.. Applicant was convicted by a jury for the felony offenses of aggravated sexual assault of a child and aggravated kidnapping. The trial court assessed his punishment as confinement for sixty years on each offense. The convictions were affirmed on appeal. Rodriguez v. State, 766 S.W.2d 358, 360 (Tex. App.- Texarkana 1989, pet. ref'd).

Applicant contends that new DNA evidence reveals that pubic hair recovered from the victim was not his, but matches the profile of Isidro Yanez, who had been considered a suspect in this crime. Applicant adds that he was wrongly convicted based on false serology evidence from the Houston Crime Laboratory.

The court has entered findings of fact that DNA testing, unavailable at the time of Applicant's trial, on the unknown pubic hair recovered from the victim's underwear excluded the Applicant and the co-defendant, but did not exclude Yanez or his maternal blood relatives as possible contributors. The trial court also found that testimony from the Houston Crime Lab Serology Section Supervisor was inaccurate scientific evidence and Yanez should not have been excluded as a contributor of semen collected from the victim. The Court finds that the prosecutor unknowingly relied on this inaccurate evidence to argue that Applicant, rather than Yanez, committed these offenses. The trial court concludes that Applicant was denied due process based on the admission of inaccurate serological evidence during his trial. The trial court's findings are supported by the record.

Habeas corpus relief is granted. Cause numbers 474772-C and 474773-C from the 230th District Court of Harris County are remanded to the trial court for a new trial.

DO NOT PUBLISH

DELIVERED: