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Routier gets another prominent attorneyLawyer handling death row appeal helped to defend McVeigh07/12/2003By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News For a prison inmate so broke that she can't pay legal fees, convicted child-killer Darlie Routier has an impressive cast of attorneys working on her appeals. On Friday in Dallas, state District Judge Robert Francis appointed respected death-penalty defense lawyer Richard Burr of Houston to take the place of attorney Steven Losch, who died in May. Mr. Burr is working on the writ of habeas corpus appeal for the Rowlett woman based on information not addressed in her 1997 trial....

Routier appeal rejected 05/21/2003 Associated Press AUSTIN - The state's highest criminal court Wednesday upheld the conviction of Darlie Routier, a homemaker in the Dallas suburb of Rowlett who was arrested two weeks after her sons were killed in 1996. In a 75-page, unanimous opinion, the Court of Criminal Appeals rejected claims by Routier's attorneys that her conviction should be reversed because the record of her 1997 trial was plagued with inaccuracies and prevented her attorneys from raising important legal questions. Darlie Routier Her attorneys also have said her rights were violated because her lead trial attorney had a conflict;...

Prosecutors assail Routier claims, criticize analyst DA's office responds to legal filing that seeks retrial in child slayings 01/09/2003 By HOLLY BECKA / The Dallas Morning News Dallas County prosecutors said in a legal filing Wednesday that convicted killer Darlie Routier is the only person who cannot be ruled out as having left a bloody fingerprint on a table near her slain sons. Prosecutors also attacked the credibility of a forensic anthropologist who told Ms. Routier's attorneys that he thinks an adult probably left the bloody print. Prosecutors made the assertions in their 400-page response to a legal filing...

Routier requests retesting Appeals lawyers file massive writ in pursuit of new trial in slaying 07/13/2002 By TIM WYATT / The Dallas Morning News Lawyers for condemned killer Darlie Routier filed a formal request in a Dallas court Friday, renewing a request to retest key evidence from her 1997 capital murder trial in light of new evidence that they say backs her claim of innocence. Ms. Routier's four-lawyer appeals team filed the 130-page writ of habeas corpus supported with more than 200 pages of sworn statements and documents in the hopes of winning a new trial. The Rowlett mother...

Judge rules on Routier evidence 07/08/2002 Associated Press A Dallas judge says he does not have jurisdiction to decide whether to turn over evidence to Darlie Routier's attorneys. Judge Robert Francis ruled Monday on a request last week from the death row inmate's defense team. IRWIN THOMPSON / DMN Convicted murderer Darlie Routier waves to friends as she leaves the courtroom after a hearing last week. Routier's attorneys want access to a knife, carpet and other pieces of evidence presented at her 1997 trial. They say new tests will clear her in the 1996 stabbing deaths of two of...

Routier asks judge to retest evidence 07/03/2002 Associated Press Dallas - Death row inmate Darlie Routier was back in a Dallas courtroom today, wanting to retest evidence used to convict her for stabbing her two sons in 1996. Routier's attorneys are asking to retest the night gown she was wearing the night of the killings, which had cuts and blood evidence. The attorneys also want to test carpet, tile and floor samples to see if bloody footprints were left by someone else. AP Darlie Routier State District Judge Robert Francis said he would review their request and possibly rule...

Documents: Routier planned insurance scam before slayings 06/22/2002 By HOLLY BECKA / The Dallas Morning News Darin Routier asked his father-in-law whether he knew anyone who would burglarize his home as part of an insurance scam months before his sons were killed, according to affidavits made public Friday by his wife's defense lawyers. Robbie Gene Kee, stepfather of convicted child-killer Darlie Routier, first told his wife about the conversation two years ago, according to the lawyers. He wrote out his affidavit last month. Last year, a private investigator hired by the defense confronted Mr. Routier, who first denied having...

Analyst: Print in Routier case may be adult's Routier's attorneys say evidence backs intruder theory; finding disputed 06/06/2002 By HOLLY BECKA / The Dallas Morning News A bloody fingerprint left on Darlie Routier's coffee table six years ago probably belongs to an adult not one of her slain children as alleged at trial, a forensic anthropologist hired by the death row inmate's defense said Wednesday. Ms. Routier's family and supporters hired Dr. Richard L. Jantz, a University of Tennessee professor, as part of their effort to overturn her conviction. "My comfort level is fairly high that it's consistent with...