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Jolie McCullough reports on criminal justice issues and policy for The Texas Tribune. She came to the Tribune in early 2015 from the Albuquerque Journal, where she worked for four years on breaking news and data-driven projects. She is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication; while there, she interned as a reporter and online producer at the Arizona Republic and served as the web editor of the student-run newspaper, the State Press.
The DPS officers' association sued the agency over a new policy to measure a trooper's physical readiness for the job not only by fitness tests, but by waist size. Thursday, the Public Safety Commission decided the policy is scientifically sound. Full Story
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Halprin's lawyers had requested the stay amid allegations that the judge who handled his case made racist and anti-Semitic comments during his time on the bench. Full Story
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Randall Mays was scheduled to be executed Oct. 16, but the judge removed the death warrant amid questions that Mays may not be mentally competent to be put to death. Full Story
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The incident highlights differences in GPS monitoring for defendants released from jail on money bonds and no-cash bonds. One department has arrestees pay vendors directly, the other has costs go through them. Full Story
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Hours after the former Dallas police officer was sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing Botham Jean, the city's top cop vowed to launch an internal investigation into police behavior exposed at trial. Full Story
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Guyger could have received as few as five years or a sentence of up to life in prison. Full Story
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The state's highest criminal court rejected the judge's finding that Storey should be resentenced to life in prison after prosecutors falsely said at trial that the murder victim's family wanted the death penalty. Full Story
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Sparks was convicted in the 2007 stabbing deaths of his family members in his Dallas home. His lawyers sought to stop his execution with arguments of intellectual disability and a jury tainted by a bailiff wearing a syringe tie. Full Story
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A trauma-informed reentry program was unveiled after the Texas Department of Criminal Justice received criticism for a lack of growth opportunities for women. Full Story
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The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay in Barbee's case. He was scheduled to be executed Oct. 2. Full Story
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Galveston County, like Harris and Dallas, was sued for bail practices that lawyers and judges have said discriminate against poor criminal defendants. Full Story
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Texas Department of Criminal Justice Executive Director Bryan Collier was questioned in court for about two hours for not complying with a court order to keep some Texas prisoners in air conditioned housing. Full Story
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Soliz and another man were convicted in the shooting death of a Johnson County woman during a robbery in her home. His lawyers pushed to stop his execution, saying fetal alcohol spectrum disorder should be treated like an intellectual disability. Full Story
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A federal judge was visibly frustrated Friday as he suggested that putting state officials in uncooled cells might be the only way to get their attention after they broke a settlement agreement to keep some inmates in air conditioning. Full Story
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In a motion Thursday, the prisoners' lawyers asked the judge to hold prison officials in contempt and issue fines. They also accused the agency of hiding multiple instances of noncompliance with the court order. Full Story
Crutsinger had pushed to stop his execution based on claims of bad lawyering during his trial and in the appellate process. Full Story
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The governor tweeted Monday night that Texas is “working on a legislative package” and that “expedited executions for mass murderers would be a nice addition.” Full Story
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The white suspect in the racist massacre told El Paso police he bought the gun from Romania and picked it up at a Dallas-area store. Experts say guns imported from overseas are often cheaper than those from the U.S. Full Story
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Swearingen consistently maintained his innocence in the strangling death of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter. Texas prosecutors, however, had no doubt he was her killer. Full Story
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In his recent appeals, Johnson has claimed he is intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for the death penalty. He was convicted of a double murder in Harris County that took place in 2006. Full Story
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