The state put to death 13 men this year. That’s more than half the total number of people executed in the entire country: 25. Still, the death row population — both here and nationwide — is at a historic low.
Texas death row
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Criminal Justice
Convicted murderer Alvin Braziel executed for killing Mesquite man and raping his wife
Braziel’s attorneys failed to secure a delay in the execution after last-minute argument that prosecutorial conduct tainted his trail. He was the 13th and final inmate Texas put to death this year.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturns death sentence for inmate Kenneth Wayne Thomas
Thomas’ conviction stands, but he is entitled to a new punishment hearing based on modern standards for assessing intellectual disabilities, the court ruled.
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Criminal Justice
Report: Houston-based pharmacy is supplier of state’s execution drugs
Greenpark Compounding Pharmacy has been selling Texas drugs for lethal injections for three and a half years, according to a BuzzFeed News report.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rules against death row inmate Jeff Wood
The court denied relief on Wednesday to Wood, who never killed anyone, granting the state the opportunity to set another execution date for the 1996 murder of a store clerk in Kerrville.
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Criminal Justice
Texas executes Robert Moreno Ramos, amid pleas for case review
Lawyers for Ramos had argued that he wasn’t aware of his rights under an international treaty, and therefore didn’t receive proper legal counsel during his trial and sentencing.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals grants new trial for death row inmate Albert James Turner
The court threw out Turner’s conviction because his defense attorneys said at trial that he had committed murder, even though Turner wanted to maintain his innocence.
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Criminal Justice
Judge recommends new trial for Texas death row inmate Rigoberto Avila
The state’s highest criminal court will now weigh the recommendation.
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Criminal Justice
Texas puts Daniel Acker to death, the second execution in two days
Acker was convicted in the 2000 murder of his girlfriend in East Texas. Her body was found on the side of the road after neighbors said they saw him abduct her.
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Criminal Justice
Texas executes Troy Clark, the first of two scheduled executions in two days
Clark was convicted in the Tyler murder of Christina Muse, whose body was found stuffed in a cement-filled barrel months after her death. Death penalty opponents say his conviction rested too heavily on a co-defendant’s testimony.
