The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied Texas death row inmate Charles Flores’ petition seeking to compel the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reconsider his appeal under the state’s “junk science” law, according to court records.
The Supreme Court issued the denial without comment.
Flores, who was convicted in 1999 for the murder of 64-year-old Elizabeth “Betty” Black in Dallas County, argued that his conviction relied on testimony from an eyewitness whose identification was influenced by police-administered hypnosis. He asked courts to review his case under a Texas law that allows post-conviction challenges when scientific evidence used at trial is later shown to be unreliable or discredited.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals previously declined to review Flores’ claims, ruling that he did not meet the statute’s requirement that newly presented evidence be previously unavailable. The Supreme Court declined to intervene in that decision.
Court filings state that neighbor Jill Barganier told investigators she saw two men enter Black’s home on the morning of the killing. Barganier later requested hypnosis to assist her memory, which Farmers Branch police officer Alfredo Roen Serna conducted. Flores’ petition stated that Serna had no prior experience performing hypnosis.
According to the filings, Barganier initially described both suspects as white men with long hair. Flores, who is Hispanic, had short hair at the time of the crime. She also did not identify Flores in a photographic lineup. She later identified him during trial testimony.
In 2023, the Texas Legislature passed a law prohibiting the use of evidence obtained through investigative hypnosis conducted by law enforcement.
In 2016, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Flores a stay of execution after questions arose regarding the hypnosis procedure. However, the court later declined to overturn his conviction under the junk science statute.
Flores’ attorney, Gretchen Sween, said the conviction relied on testimony that would be inadmissible under current law. She said courts should not rely on hypnotically influenced identification testimony in criminal convictions.
Sween said she will continue to pursue legal remedies for Flores.
