Lawyers for Randy Halprin, a member of the “Texas Seven,” are requesting a stay of his execution amid allegations that the judge who handled his case made racist and anti-Semitic comments during his time on the bench.
death penalty
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas executes Billy Crutsinger in Fort Worth slayings of two elderly women
Crutsinger had pushed to stop his execution based on claims of bad lawyering during his trial and in the appellate process.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas executed Larry Swearingen for a 1998 Texas slaying. His lawyer says bad science got him on death row.
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.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Federal court stops execution of Dexter Johnson within 24 hours of his scheduled death
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.
Posted in
El Paso shooting
Gunman in El Paso shooting faces death penalty, federal domestic terrorism charges
Police say the gunman legally purchased the weapon he used in the shooting that left 20 people dead and more than two dozen wounded at an El Paso Walmart.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
In restarting the federal death penalty, AG William Barr looks to Texas
The federal death penalty hasn’t been carried out since 2003. Now the U.S. attorney general wants to adopt the method used in Texas executions to put five men to death.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Despite bipartisan support, Texas bill tackling intellectual disability in death penalty cases fails
Negotiators in the House and Senate couldn’t come to an agreement on a bill addressing how Texas handles capital murder defendants who may be intellectually disabled. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing people with intellectual disabilities amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
In a nod to Texas, U.S. Department of Justice says FDA can’t regulate execution drugs
Texas has been fighting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s ban on the state’s attempted import of lethal injection drugs. But the Justice Department says federal law doesn’t give the FDA oversight.
Posted inCriminal Justice
After state Supreme Court ruled execution drug supplier can stay secret, Texas obtains more lethal doses
The prison system’s existing doses were all set to expire before the state’s five currently scheduled executions. See our updated lethal drug tracker for the latest movement in the state’s supply.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2019
Texas House OKs bill to ban death penalty for those with severe mental illness
Under the measure, defendants who have active psychotic symptoms of certain mental illnesses at the time of the crime would be ineligible for capital punishment. The bill now heads to the more conservative Senate.
