AUSTIN, Texas, June 12 (UPI) -- A Texas woman sentenced to die for killing a boy she was babysitting got a reprieve after a key witness said his testimony at her trial might have been wrong.
Cathy Lee Henderson's execution was scheduled for Wednesday. On Monday, the Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay and sent the case back to Travis County, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
At her trial, Henderson said she dropped Brandon Baugh by accident on a concrete floor in her Pflugerville home in 1994, causing fatal injuries in the 3-month-old boy. But Travis County Medical Examiner Robert Bayardo testified the boy's injuries were so severe he would have had to be slammed violently against a hard surface.
Henderson's lawyers presented evidence that falls as short as four feet can cause severe injuries in babies and a statement from Bayardo, who has retired since the trial.
"Had the new scientific evidence been available to me in 1995, I would not have been able testify the way I did," Bayardo said.
The appeals court ruled 5-3. One judge lambasted the majority, saying Henderson's actions, including burying Brandon's body in a field, were not those of an innocent woman.
