Texas juries imposed new death sentences only twice in 2015 — the fewest since the death penalty was reinstated nationwide almost 40 years ago.
death penalty
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Criminal Justice
High Court: Texas Death Row Inmate Can’t Add Another Lawyer
The Supreme Court on Monday denied Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson III’s petition to add another attorney to his team. Roberson has one more shot at delaying his execution with a petition arguing his rights were violated.
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Faces of Death Row App Gets an Update
William Mason was again sentenced to death in Harris County last month after being granted a new punishment trial. He was originally sent to death row in 1992 for the kidnapping and murder of his wife. There are now 253 people in Texas living with a death sentence. See our updated database of these men and women.
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Criminal Justice
Lawyers Fight For, and Over, Death Row Inmate
Two sets of attorneys who believe their client doesn’t belong on death row are fighting not only the state of Texas but also each other as his case arrives at the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Criminal Justice
Report: Veteran Mental Health Ignored in Capital Cases
Veterans sentenced to death in Texas murder cases — and nationwide — might have escaped the punishment if juries had been told about their military service and any ensuing mental health problems, says a report released Tuesday.
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Criminal Justice
Commission Begins Study of Wrongful Convictions
The Timothy Cole Exoneration Review Commission Thursday paid tribute to its namesake – who was wrongfully convicted in a 1985 rape case – and began setting a vision for its role in prevent further wrongful convictions in Texas.
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Faces of Death Row App Updated
Gabriel Hall and James Calvert have joined the 251 other inmates living with death sentences in Texas. See our updated database of these men and women, which you can filter by age, race, sex and length of stay on death row.
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Criminal Justice
Roundup: Planned Parenthood, Cruz-Bush, Death Row
In the Roundup: Planned Parenthood gets the boot from Texas Medicaid, tensions between George W. Bush and Ted Cruz emerge in news reports, and the state is on track to see a lower number of death sentences handed down in 2015 than it has in decades.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas Poised to See a New Low in Death Sentences
Texas is on track to see fewer death sentences handed down in 2015 than in any other year since the state’s death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Panetti Case Highlights Cracks in Execution Law
The complex and protracted path Scott Panetti’s death row case has traveled illustrates how few safeguards Texas has to protect mentally ill killers from being executed.
