Overview

• The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Areli Escobar's appeal, upholding his conviction and death sentence for the 2009 murder of Bianca Maldonado.
• Escobar's trial relied heavily on DNA evidence from the now-shuttered Austin Police Department lab, which was later found to have systemic errors and bias.
• A Travis County judge ruled in 2020 that the flawed DNA evidence violated Escobar's due process rights and recommended a new trial, but state courts upheld the conviction twice.
• Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza supported a retrial, citing the state's obligation to address injustices caused by unreliable evidence.
• The decision raises questions about judicial consistency, as the Supreme Court recently overturned a similar death row conviction in Oklahoma due to prosecutorial misconduct.