A psychologist who examined 14 inmates now on Texas’ death row — and two others who were subsequently executed — and found them intellectually competent enough to face the death penalty has agreed never to perform such evaluations again.
Texas death row
Posted inState Government
Recommendations, But No Ruling, Issued in Willingham Case
The Texas Forensic Science Commission has released its draft report on the Cameron Todd Willingham case without ruling on the central question before it — whether fire investigators were negligent or committed professional misconduct.
Posted inState Government
Interactive: Annotated Forensic Commission Report
The Texas Forensic Science Commission is meeting to discuss a draft report on the controversial arson convictions and death sentences of Cameron Todd Willingham and Ernest Ray Willis. Read and search the report here.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Cameron Todd Willingham: A Timeline
Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in 2004, convicted of igniting the 1991 blaze that destroyed his home and killed his three young daughters. Click here for a timeline of the major events in the Willingham saga.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Supreme Court Stays First Pentobarbital Execution
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a 30-day stay for death row inmate Cleve Foster, who was scheduled tonight to become the first Texas inmate executed using the state’s new three-drug lethal injection cocktail.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Appeals Court Denies Request to Delay Execution
The 3rd Court of Appeals today denied two death row inmates’ request to stop the state from using a new lethal injection drug.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
ACLU: Texas Law Protects Lizards More Than Humans
Texas laws more strictly regulate euthanasia of animals than the lethal injection of death row inmates, according to a report released Sunday by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas and the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University Law School.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Death Row Inmates Sue Over Lethal Injection Drug
Two death row inmates sued the state today, arguing that the decision to use a new lethal injection drug was made too secretly and too hastily.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Rev. Carroll Pickett: The TT Interview
Rev. Carroll Pickett holds the world record for witnessing the most state executions as a chaplain. He saw 95 men die by lethal injection during his career as the death house chaplain.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Rev. Carroll Pickett: The TT Interview
The onetime death house chaplain on what it was like to witness the most state executions of anyone in his job (95, by lethal injection), what changed his mind about the death penalty and why lawmakers should continue to fund the chaplain program.
