Johnson was convicted in the 2007 murders of Maria Aparece and Huy Ngo in Harris County, a crime he committed at 18. He was set for execution Thursday before a court ruled that his new lawyer should have more time to look into federal appellate issues.
death penalty
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2019
Texas House offers a new way to determine whether a defendant has intellectual disabilities — and is ineligible for execution
The lower chamber gave initial approval to a bill creating a pretrial process to determine if a capital murder defendant is intellectually disabled — more than 15 years after the U.S. Supreme Court said executing such prisoners is cruel and unusual punishment.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas executes John William King in racist dragging death of James Byrd Jr.
King and two other white men were convicted in the brutal East Texas murder of Byrd, who was black. King was the second man executed for the crime; another man is serving a life sentence.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
State Supreme Court rules Texas can hide the identity of execution drug supplier
Citing security concerns, the state has fought for years to keep the supplier’s name secret.
Posted inState Government
Texas court stops execution of Mark Robertson after claims of racist jury selection
The court issued a stay of Thursday’s execution after his lawyers argued that Robertson’s original trial lawyer discriminated against potential jurors who were black.
Posted inState Government
In last-minute ruling, U.S. Supreme Court stops execution of “Texas Seven” prisoner
Patrick Murphy was one of the escaped convicts sentenced to death for the murder of Irving police officer Aubrey Hawkins during a robbery. The high court stopped his execution because Texas officials wouldn’t let a Buddhist chaplain into the death chamber with him.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Prosecutor declares freed Texas death row inmate Alfred Dewayne Brown innocent, paving way for state compensation
Brown was freed from nearly a decade on death row in 2015, but because he was never declared “actually innocent,” he couldn’t get compensation for wrongful imprisonment — until Friday.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas executes Billie Coble, the oldest man put to death in the state during modern era of the death penalty
As the state put the 70-year-old to death, his son banged on the death chamber window. After an altercation with law enforcement, Coble’s son and another relative were removed from the witness room and arrested.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2019
After Texas’ second Supreme Court loss in a death penalty case, reform bill lands key GOP support
The chairs of two House committees signed on as joint authors of a bill that would set the method of determining if a capital murder defendant is intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for execution.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
For the second time, U.S. Supreme Court reverses death sentence decision for Texas inmate Bobby Moore
This time, the majority of the justices said Moore has shown he is intellectually disabled.
