The latest texas court of criminal appeals news from The Texas Tribune.
Convicted of stomping a 19-month-old baby to death, Robert Avila faces execution in January. Under a law passed this year, Avila hopes to bring to court new scientific evidence that may show the death could have been a tragic accident. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/09/06/RA-Collage.jpg)
Megan Winfrey spent six years — nearly all of the 25-year-old's adult life — behind bars before she was acquitted of murder. She faces the colossal challenge of starting her life without compensation for the years she lost in prison. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/05/31/MW-2.jpg)
Attorneys presented oral arguments Wednesday at the Court of Criminal Appeals over whether Mark Fleming's rights were violated because prosecutors didn't have to prove he knew he was having sexual relations with a minor. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/021210-gavel.jpg)
The Texas Forensic Science Commission has concluded that the potential reversal of thousands of drug convictions by the Court of Criminal Appeals is due to a DPS employee's incompetence, but that not all of the drug samples are necessarily compromised. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/03/26/Drugs-2.jpg)
The Court of Criminal Appeals continued to reverse more convictions of drug offenders on Wednesday after a former employee with a DPS crime laboratory in Houston may have fabricated the results of thousands of drug tests. Full Story
A Dallas County judge in 2008 found Ben Spencer innocent of the 1987 robbery and murder for which he is serving a life sentence. The state's highest court disagreed, though, and this month he will mark 26 years behind bars. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/03/08/BenSpencer-CrimeScene.jpg)
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday issued an acquittal in the case of Megan Winfrey, 24, who has been behind bars since 2007 in a murder case in which her conviction was based almost entirely on evidence from dog-scent lineups. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/MEGAN_WINFREY1901.jpg)
Williamson County State District Judge Ken Anderson faces a court of inquiry, starting Monday, that will determine whether he should face charges over a wrongful murder conviction. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/02/01/Anderson.jpg)
Death row inmate Max Soffar says his 1980 murder confession was coerced. As his lawyers say his case highlights a broader debate about false confessions, police and prosecutors say he told them details only the killer would know. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/MaxSoffar.JPG)
Prosecutorial misconduct, the politics of immigration and continuing bloodshed in the Mexican drug war dominated Tribune headlines in 2012. Here's a look back at the crime, immigration and border stories of the year. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/YearInReview-Crime-Immigration.jpg)
State Rep. Richard Peña Raymond has filed a bill to abolish the Court of Criminal Appeals and bring all of its related cases under the Texas Supreme Court. He's triggering a debate that goes all the way back to Reconstruction. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TexasSupremeCourt.jpg)
Megan Winfrey has watched as her father and brother were released from jail because the dog-scent evidence used in the murder case against them was deemed faulty. But she remains in prison, awaiting a ruling on her plea for acquittal. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Winfrey.jpg)
Democrat Keith Hampton is focusing his campaign to lead the state’s top criminal court on winning over Republicans. That is the key, he says, to defeating controversial long-time Judge Sharon Keller. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Keller-Hampton-2.jpg)
Texas lawmakers passed a law they hoped would prevent faulty eyewitness identifications, which have been the leading cause of wrongful convictions. The Innocence Project of Texas is checking to see if the law is being implemented. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/IPOT-Lineup-1-No-Logo.jpg){kind=logo}
Michael Morton’s exoneration last year brought to a crescendo in Texas calls for change in the way that prosecutors are regulated. Morton and others discuss whether there is a need for more accountability for state lawyers and how it ought to be accomplished. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/ErrorsInJudgment-Split-TT-size.jpg)
At least 86 Texans' convictions were overturned between 1989 and 2011. A Tribune analysis finds that in nearly 25 percent of those cases, courts ruled that prosecutors made mistakes. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Errors-In-Judgement2.jpg)
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned a death sentence for Manuel Velez, citing inaccurate testimony during Velez's sentencing. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/velezmanuel2.jpg)
Attorneys for the state of Texas and death row inmate Hank Skinner have filed a joint motion with the Court of Criminal Appeals to send his case back to district court so he can obtain DNA testing. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/20100120-IMG_2761-2.jpg)
Researchers at two law schools Monday released an unprecedented listing of all the exoneration cases from the last 23 years. Only two states had more exonerations than Texas, according to the report. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-MMorton-CCR002.jpg)
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday stayed the execution of a severely mentally ill inmate convicted of a 1989 robbery and murder at a Fort Worth Steak and Ale restaurant. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Steven-Staley.jpg)