The justice system in Texas will no longer be going to the dogs.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed the case of a man convicted of murder on the sole evidence of a canine "scent lineup" this week.

The evidence came from a trio of bloodhounds trained by retired Fort Bend County deputy sheriff Keith Pikett, who has consulted with law enforcement around the state on hundreds of cases since 1993, despite critics, including the Innocence Project of Texas, long arguing that the scent evidence is "junk science."

The court did not rule that scent lineups are inadmissible in court; just that they must be corroborated by other evidence.

The ruling meant an acquittal for Richard Winfrey Sr., who was convicted three years ago of the murder of Murray Burr. The only evidence against him was the matching of his scent by three of Pikett's bloodhounds, Quincy, James Bond, and Clue, to a scent on the victim's clothes three years after the murder.

The unanimous opinion, by Judge Barbara Hervey, noted that no witnesses saw Winfrey at the scene of the crime, and he did not match the DNA, fingerprints, bloody footprint or 73 hairs left at the scene of the crime, and had none of the victim's stolen property in his possession.

Winfrey's dauther was also convicted for the same crime, and her lawyer says he is filing the appropriate papers to have her conviction overturned as well. Winfrey's son was acquitted after his lawyer aggressively challenged the "scent lineup" methodology and evidence.