The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has halted the execution of Jeff Wood — a man who never killed anyone — six days before he was set to die by lethal injection.
death penalty
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Conservative Lawmaker Battling to Stop a Texas Execution
State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, a staunch conservative, is trying to stop the upcoming execution of Jeff Wood, who was sentenced to death even though he killed no one.
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Criminal Justice
Prison Guard’s Convicted Killer Wins Another Execution Stay
Robert Lynn Pruett, convicted in the 1999 stabbing death of a state correctional officer, has won another stay of execution from a Court of Criminal Appeals judge. His lethal injection was set for August 23.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Prepares to Execute A Man Who Killed No One
Jeff Wood was outside in a pickup when his partner killed a Kerrville convenience store clerk in 1996, but he was sentenced to death under Texas’ felony murder statute, commonly known as the law of parties.
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Criminal Justice
Report Finds Almost 7,000 In-Custody Deaths in Texas
Almost 7,000 individuals in Texas have died in police custody or behind bars over the past 10 years, according to an online report released Wednesday by a University of Texas at Austin research institute. Nearly 2,000 of them had not been convicted of a crime.
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Criminal Justice
Rally Questions Death Penalty for Texas Man Who Didn’t Pull Trigger
Relatives and supporters of death row inmate Jeff Wood rallied Saturday outside the Governor’s Mansion, saying that Wood should not be executed for capital murder under Texas’ law of parties.
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Criminal Justice
Investigators Identify Inmate Suspected in Prison Guard’s Death
Inmate Dillion Gage Compton, 21, who worked in the prison’s kitchen area, attacked and killed correctional officer Mari Johnson, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice alleged in a statement Monday.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Greg Abbott: Targeted Killing of Police Officers Should Be a Hate Crime in Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott’s proposal comes after weeks of targeted killings of police officers and growing tension over disproportionate encounters between black Americans and law enforcement.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Execution Delayed After State Didn’t Retest Lethal Drugs
A Texas execution set for next week has been delayed indefinitely because the state wasn’t able to retest the purity of the lethal drugs in time.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Wrongful Convictions Have Cost Texans More Than $93 Million
Texas has paid 101 men and women who were wrongfully sent to prison $93.6 million over the past 25 years, state data shows. The tab stands to grow as those wrongfully imprisoned individuals age and more people join the list.
