Neal Robbins writ headed back to CCA after Lege ostensibly passed fix

Few of the thousands of habeas writs filed annually get local TV news coverage when they're filed, but Ex Parte Neal H. Robbins is no ordinary case. The medical examiner recanted her trial testimony and the Court of Criminal Appeals majority ignored recommendations by prosecutors and Robbins' attorney Brian Wice that he deserved a retrial. See coverage from MyFox Houston, an item by Wice in the State Bar Journal, and related recent Grits coverage. Robbins' writ was denied 5-4 but Whuitmire/Turner's SB 344 should help reverse that ill-considered precedent. Grits knows he's not alone in closely watching to see which case the Court of Criminal Appeals chooses first to interpret SB 344 and what they'll say about it - especially the five in the Robbins majority - and whether they'll do it before or after three of them leave the court in January 2015.