The textual record the TDJC provides of the conviction and execution of these 220 men and two women serves the same purpose as the photographic record. When information is omitted, an incomplete portrait of the subject is drawn. Yet, further investigation reveals that the victim's last sexual intercourse was 48 hours prior to her murder. But it was not true. A forensic expert also tested the blood on Barnes' clothing and found that it contained 40 times the amount of citric acid that human blood would ever naturally contain.
Citric acid lines the inside of test tubes in which blood samples are kept.
This and other evidence was brought forward before the execution and presented to the court and Gov. Bush by attorneys Gary Taylor, Phillip Wischkaeper, and Michael Carlton. But the TDJC record is static, so none of this information is included in this book. It exists outside the official record of the execution of Odell Barnes, and therefore lies beyond the scope of Texas Death Row . Alan Pogue is a documentary photographer who has extensive experience taking photos inside Texas prisons. Austin Chronicle Corp. All rights reserved.