A federal judge’s decision on whether to consider new evidence in a case that resulted in the capital murder conviction of a Portland man almost a decade ago could determine whether he was wrongfully imprisoned.
In 2016, a San Patricio County judge sentenced David Strickland, 38, to life in prison without parole for killing 19-year-old Mollie Olgin and sexually assaulting Mary Kristene Chapa, 31, at a park on June 22, 2012.
Thirteen years later, his attorney, Cynthia Orr, is challenging a recommendation that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals made on Feb. 14, 2024, to deny the defendant’s state writ of habeas corpus that he filed in 2021…