The latest Texas Court Of Criminal Appeals news from The Texas Tribune.
The impeached attorney general appeared in a Houston courtroom, where lawyers from both sides agreed to return in October to set an expected trial date on charges that have been pending since 2015. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/cdcc5a57027f995a8fdb4bec8c32bc47/0803%20Paxton%20Houston%20CHRON%20TT%2006.jpg)
Overlooked in the churn of one of the country’s busiest courthouses, the forgotten appeals included two death penalty cases, and one from a man who’s already finished his 20-year sentence. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/5e9c459c0f9cee4597aaed38b9cbabac/Harris%20County%20Jail%20CR%20TT%2001.jpg)
Reed, a Black man on death row for more than 25 years, has gained international support for his claims that he did not kill 19-year-old Stacey Stites, a white woman. Another appeal over DNA testing of evidence is still pending. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/bb83d676afd0c20ce5b65b0164f6d8c1/Rodney%20Reed%20KXAN%20TT.jpg)
Some local district and county attorneys have said they will not pursue abortion-related cases, or prioritize certain drug, property and election crimes. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/482181562326f58b71adb9eff7fbe44d/Texas%20Supreme%20Court%20MG%20TT%2015.jpg)
Look up information about every statewide elected official, every member of the Texas Legislature and every Texan in Congress and see who represents you. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/22fe8fb60b9794503a08cac73b214798/0110%20Lege%20Opening%20EL%20TT%2006.jpg)
Though he confessed to the murders, Balentine’s lawyers argued he might have been spared a death sentence if not for pervasive racial bias at his trial. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f1f64241c4d6170d5baf1d796f00eea5/01%20Death%20Chamber%20TDCJ%20GR%20TT.jpg)
Robert Roberson was sentenced to death for killing his 2-year-old daughter. Experts have since backtracked on the science used in part to win his conviction. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/cef9f7c2eb4311fde8f61f0b7843513d/Robert_Roberson_hearing_1_SK_TT.jpg)
Fratta was convicted in the 1994 murder-for-hire of his wife. Lawyers unsuccessfully challenged Texas’ routine of extending the expiration dates of its lethal drugs, a practice begun when many pharmacies began refusing to provide doses for executions. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/06/04/TCJD-Execution.jpg)
Areli Escobar was sentenced to death in 2011 for an Austin murder, but even prosecutors now agree his conviction relied heavily on faulty DNA testing by the discredited Travis County crime lab. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/93bcf67bedd3bb59731c303f3f5cf9ed/1104%20SCOTUS%20File%20JG%2014.jpg)
The Court of Criminal Appeals scuttled nearly 450 cases, saying migrants arrested for trespassing in Kinney County can’t ask Austin judges to hear their appeals. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/c3e7603b943a3f886948a3b3d30cfebf/20220404%20Operation%20Lone%20Star%20Trespassing%203.jpg)
Three seats were up for election in the Texas Supreme Court, which handles civil cases, and three in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Democrats haven’t been elected to either court since the late 1990s. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/68bf3c2d3f121d9fd226edf1377ba9f9/Texas%20Supreme%20Court%20MG%20TT%2003.jpg)
Texans will vote on three seats for the state’s highest criminal court in November. Here’s what the court does, who is running for office and what issues candidates are running on. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/bbe71ba10f29b1bc51d8ff678f5c028b/Texas%20Court%20of%20Criminal%20Appeals%20MG%20TT%2001.jpg)
The jury sentenced Gonzales to death after a prosecution expert testified that he posed a future danger to society. The expert now says his data was wrong. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ae097367fe050ecee5488c751a0fdc8e/HuntsvilleJail%20MF%20TT%2002%20REEDIT.jpg)
Mason said she didn’t know she was ineligible to vote when she cast a provisional ballot in 2016, but she was sentenced to five years in prison. Now, the Court of Criminal Appeals says an appellate court that affirmed her conviction must look again at the evidence of Mason’s intent. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/145abb4aabd8e5a67a98c612aa59639b/Crystal%20Mason%20LBS%20TT%2002.jpg)
Months after the problems became apparent, migrants are still being kept in prison in violation of state laws under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security crackdown. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/337f7eb871dbbc274df9b959359473e3/Del%20Rio%20Migrant%20Processing%20CS%20TT%2030.jpg)
Republicans from Gov. Greg Abbott on down are pressuring the all-GOP Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reverse a December ruling that gutted the attorney general’s power to go after election cases on his own. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/db203bbcbb4e4ebfd9840edd83d5392b/Ken%20Paxton%20File%20MF%20TT%2004.jpg)
Rick Rhoades was convicted of killing two brothers 30 years ago, the day after he'd been released from prison on parole. His attorneys argued that racial bias in jury selection denied him a fair trial. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/cfaaee317cdac2ee22fcd5b617bbb11d/Texas_Death_Row_Illustration.jpg)
Clinton Young was convicted in a 2001 Midland County murder in which he insists he was framed. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said he was denied the right to a fair trial and an impartial judge. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f0dd172928dd3c5e1ee374d265258876/Texas%20Court%20of%20Criminal%20Appeals%20TT%20MG%2003.jpg)
Riles has been deemed mentally incompetent for execution repeatedly in his decades on death row. Full Story
The Tarrant County woman faces a five-year prison sentence for casting a provisional ballot in the 2016 election while on supervised release for a federal conviction. Her vote was never counted. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/642ab6ae80513ba91aa94803dd0e15ca/05%20Crystal%20Mason%20LBS%20TT.jpg)