A Republican judge on Texas’ highest criminal court says he now opposes the death penalty.
death penalty
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Court Declines to Stay Execution of Schizophrenic Inmate
UPDATED: Texas’ highest criminal court has again refused to halt schizophrenic death row inmate Scott Panetti’s looming execution.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Crazy or Faking It? Panetti Case Highlights Lack of Sanity Standard
The fact that Scott Panetti is facing lethal injection on Dec. 3 despite a 30-year history of documented mental illness demonstrates that the ambiguities of the legal standard of “competency” he helped to define are far from resolved.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Woman Executed for Boy’s 2004 Starvation Death
UPDATED: A 38-year-old Arlington woman was executed Wednesday for the starvation death of her girlfriend’s son. Lisa Ann Coleman is the sixth woman to be executed in the state since 1982.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Death Row Inmate Trottie Executed for 1993 Murders
UPDATED: Texas death row inmate Willie Tyrone Trottie was executed by lethal injection Wednesday evening in Huntsville for the 1993 murders of his ex-girlfriend and her brother.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Death Row Inmate’s Attorneys Say Execution Drugs Have Expired
The latest battle over the efficacy of lethal injection drugs made by compounding pharmacies surfaced on Tuesday in an eleventh-hour appeal filed on behalf of a Texas inmate scheduled to be put to death on Wednesday.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
State Bar Moves Ahead on Grievance Against Anthony Graves’ Prosecutor
The former Burleson district attorney who sent Anthony Graves to death row in 1994 will now face a formal hearing on allegations prosecutorial misconduct by the State Bar of Texas.
Posted in
University of Texas/Texas Tribune Polls
UT/TT Poll: Voters Believe Men Get Paid More for Equal Work
Texas voters believe men make more than women for equal work, and they support three exceptions to abortion bans, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. But the overall numbers hide gender differences.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
AG, Lawyers for Hank Skinner Argue Over DNA in Death Penalty Case
Lawyers for the state and for death row inmate Henry Skinner on Friday filed proposed findings to a Pampa judge who is considering whether DNA tests on crime scene evidence should preclude his execution.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TDCJ Policy Reduces Witnesses to Executions
As public scrutiny of the state’s execution process is increasing, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is more strictly implementing a media viewing policy that means fewer witnesses to the controversial procedure.
