In response to the new appeal, filed on March 4, the court issued an order stating that the request for a new petition for habeas corpus must be filed directly with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to determine if, procedurally, it is a “new appeal” or a “successive” petition. On March 9, Hank’s attorneys filed a new petition to the Court of Criminal Appeals asking that the new appeal to be processed by the trial court. On March 11, the lawyers sent a letter to Governor Rick Perry asking him to grant a stay of execution for 30 days and to order DNA testing.
