Riles has been deemed mentally incompetent for execution repeatedly in his decades on death row.
death penalty
Posted in
Criminal Justice
In rush of federal executions, Brandon Bernard and Alfred Bourgeois were put to death for Texas murders
Bernard and Bourgeois were the ninth and 10th people executed by President Donald Trump’s administration this year.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
As part of revived federal death penalty, Christopher Vialva executed for Texas double murder
Vialva was the seventh man executed in the federal execution chamber this year after a 17-year hiatus of the federal death penalty. Texas, meanwhile, is expected to have a comparatively low number of state executions this year because of the pandemic.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas court tosses death sentence in police killing due to intellectual disability
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals resentenced Juan Lizcano to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is at least the sixth death row inmate whose sentence was reduced after the U.S. Supreme Court slammed Texas’ methods for determining intellectual disability.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas executes Billy Wardlow, who was 18 when he killed a man. Experts argued that’s too young for a death sentence.
Wardlow had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that he was too young to get the Texas death penalty. His execution was the first in Texas to proceed during the pandemic as the coronavirus rages across the state.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
U.S. Supreme Court halts Texas execution of Ruben Gutierrez during legal fight over religious advisers’ access to death chamber
Gutierrez has long fought for DNA testing he says could prove his innocence in a 1998 Brownsville murder and home robbery. But the high court’s ruling centered on Texas prison officials’ recent decision to keep religious advisers out of the execution room.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
U.S. Supreme Court rules Texas death row inmate had an ineffective lawyer, orders new review
In a 6-3 opinion, the justices said Terence Andrus had ineffective assistance from his lawyer and that it was unclear if the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals properly considered whether that could have affected his sentence.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Bobby Moore’s Supreme Court case changed how Texas defines intellectual disabilities. After 40 years in prison, he’s just been granted parole.
Moore was resentenced from the death penalty to life in prison last year after the U.S. Supreme Court determined he was intellectually disabled. Since he had already served 40 years, he was immediately eligible for parole.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stops another scheduled execution because of the coronavirus
Tracy Beatty requested the court stay his execution, set for next week, after the court halted this week’s execution.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stops an execution because of coronavirus
John Hummel’s lawyer requested a stay of execution in a unique court filing Friday, but Tarrant County officials opposed it.
