A Dallas County judge has signed an order for DNA testing on nearly 30 items in the appeal of Darlie Routier of Rowlett.
Routier has been fighting her death sentence since 1997 when she was found guilty of murdering one of her two boys. Routier has always claimed a stranger had broken into the home and killed the kids. She also had knife wounds. Prosecutors say those were self-inflicted and that she was the killer.
The defense team has been trying to get DNA testing on a bloody fingerprint left on a glass table and on other items. Now the list of things that will be sent to a lab in California include the knife, clothing, bedding samples, and hairs that were found in the carpet, but that have so far been unidentified
Routier's two boys were killed in her Rowlett home in 1996. She was found guilty of murdering one son, Damon, back in 1997. She was never charged with the murder of the second child, Devon, although the second murder played a role in the state’s case for the death penalty. Routier claimed an unidentified person had broken into her home and stabbed the two boys
The case has drawn national attention with the publication of several books and numerous television shows.
Over the last couple of years, teams of attorneys have pored over old files from the case, raising questions over DNA testing that was not available. But the testing has been slow and the case has languished. For Cooper, the new legal firepower underscores his contention that Routier was not the killer.
Although the case may be under review, prosecutors stand by the conviction
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