State Rep. Toni Rose, D-Dallas, has filed long-shot House Bill 3080, which would prevent offenders proven to have had a severe mental illness at the time of their crime from being sentenced to death in a capital murder case.
death penalty
Texas executes triggerman in San Antonio murder-for-hire case
Texas executed hitman Ronaldo Ruiz late Tuesday night, 25 years after he killed a San Antonio woman for $2,000.
U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of Texas death row inmate
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Texas death row inmate Duane Buck, agreeing that his case was prejudiced by an expert trial witness who claimed Buck was more likely to be a future danger because he is black.
Despite state budget woes, Republican lawmaker wants funds for death penalty attorneys
Rep. James White’s House Bill 1676 would create a state-funded office to represent death-sentenced inmates who can’t afford their own lawyer in their direct appeals to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Execution halted days before Fort Worth man was set to die
Tilon Carter, 37, received a stay Friday afternoon from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. His execution was set for Tuesday.
Texas lawmakers aim to eliminate death penalty for convicts who didn’t kill
At least two Texas Democrats and one Republican are pushing to reform the death penalty under the law of parties, which holds those involved in a murder equally responsible, even if they weren’t directly involved in the actual killing.
Execution halted for man convicted in Corpus Christi stabbing death
Two days before death row inmate John Ramirez was scheduled to be executed, a federal district court in Corpus Christi halted the execution.
With executions down, will the death penalty disappear?
The death penalty has been slowly on the decline in the U.S. Tough-on-crime Texas has also seen a decline in its use. What could that mean for the future of the penalty here?
Texas executes man convicted in double murder
After a nearly four-hour delay while waiting on final appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court, Terry Edwards was executed Thursday night for a robbery turned murder he claimed he did not commit.
Late appeals denied, man’s execution set for murder he says he didn’t commit
A man who claims he is innocent is set to be executed Thursday evening in a robbery turned double murder in Dallas County.

