State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and other advocates want a new law to ensure that Texas doesn’t execute offenders who are intellectually disabled. Prosecutors say the existing law already does that.
death penalty
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Court Reverses Death Row Inmate’s 2003 Conviction
Death row inmate Nelson Gongora’s conviction was reversed by a federal appeals court, which said that a prosecutor’s comments regarding his decision to not testify denied him a right to a fair trial.
Posted in
Trouble in Mind
Andre Thomas: A Struggle for Sanity Behind Bars
Andre Thomas is among thousands of mentally ill inmates in a sprawling state prison system that is struggling to keep pace with the increasing need for mental health care. Medical staff say they need more state funding.
Posted in
Trouble in Mind
Andre Thomas: Gaps in the Mental Health Code
Hospitals don’t have authority to detain people in mental crisis who voluntarily enter their facilities. Advocates for reform say that is one of many holes in the state’s nearly 30-year-old mental health code.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Grissom begins a gripping series on mental health and criminal justice, Hamilton and White on the Senate’s defense of UT-Austin, Murphy’s interactive look at public school test scores, Ramshaw finds the governor digging in on the Medicaid expansion, Rocha and Dehn visit a weapons maker with Ted Cruz, M. Smith explores another angle on unpopular standardized testing, Batheja on a car that drives right past state laws, Aguilar reports on the other immigration problem, Aaronson on a break in the race for a cancer cure: The best of our best for the week of February 18-22, 2012.
Posted in
Trouble in Mind
Andre Thomas: Services Scarce for Troubled Youth
During his troubled adolescence, lawyers for death row inmate Andre Thomas say he never received the mental health care he needed. In Texas, there are few mechanisms to diagnose and treat youths who suffer from mental illness.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Call for a New Execution Date Revives Race Debate
Harris County prosecutors will seek a new execution date on Monday for death row inmate Duane Buck. His defenders say race played a role in his death sentence. Prosecutors say courts have “thoroughly reviewed” and rejected his claims.
Posted in
Higher Education
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Batheja on growing calls for infrastructure spending, Dehn and Rocha report on voters’ legislative wishes, Murphy counts noses in the new Legislature, KUT’s Philpott sniffs out a push for tax relief, M. Smith tracks House Speaker Joe Straus after his re-election, Kalifa’s lovely time-lapse look at the Legislature’s first day, Aaronson on the Medicaid expansion, Aguilar on hopes for immigration reform, Grissom on the tribulations of Kerry Max Cook, Hamilton looks into a college curriculum battle, and E. Smith’s TribLive interview with Michael Williams: The best of our best for the week of Jan. 7, 2013.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Kerry Max Cook’s 30-Year Exoneration Fight Takes Another Nasty Turn
Kerry Max Cook, who spent two decades on death row for a 1977 murder, says the prosecutor in Smith County is fighting dirty in his mission to stymie the ex-inmate’s efforts to prove his innocence.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Death Row Inmate’s Case Adds to Debate on Recorded Interrogations
Death row inmate Max Soffar says his 1980 murder confession was coerced. As his lawyers say his case highlights a broader debate about false confessions, police and prosecutors say he told them details only the killer would know.
