• 11
  • February
    2012

As A.C. Thompson reports for ProPublica and PBS Frontline, the Texas appeals court had given a man, Ernie Lopez, a second chance by setting aside his conviction in a case that involved the sex assault and murder of a six-month-old child.

The court ruled that because Lopez's defense lawyers did not attempt to challenge the medical evidence - evidence that several experts have now seriously questioned - his conviction would be set aside and prosecutors would have the option to charge him again or drop the case altogether.

As it turns out, prosecutors have opted to charge Lopez again.

"The case is not going to get dismissed," says the prosecutor, as Thompson reports. "He's coming back on the exact same charge."

The prosecutor seems pretty confident about the case, despite growing evidence that the six-month-old child may have died from a particular type of infection and blood disorder that could "mimic the symptoms" of abuse.

In Texas, law enforcement and prosecutors take sex crimes and felony-level crimes very seriously - and it's clear, for Ernie Lopez anyway, that questionable medical evidence can still result in a conviction.

Source: Ernie Lopez to Face Charges Again