At issue is whether Thomas, who gouged out his eyes after confessing to the 2004 murders of his estranged wife, their son and her daughter, is competent to be executed in April.
Texas death row
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas death row prisoners spend decades in solitary confinement. A lawsuit wants to end that “cruel” treatment.
Men sentenced to death in Texas are held in isolation until their execution dates, with little human contact, medical care or legal help, according to a lawsuit filed to improve treatment of the condemned.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas executes Robert Fratta after high courts reject challenges to expired lethal injection drugs
Fratta was convicted in the 1994 murder-for-hire of his wife. Lawyers unsuccessfully challenged Texas’ routine of extending the expiration dates of its lethal drugs, a practice begun when many pharmacies began refusing to provide doses for executions.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas’ execution of Stephen Barbee was prolonged while officials searched for a vein
Barbee, convicted in the 2005 murders of his pregnant ex-girlfriend and her child, was unable to straighten his arms, which caused the delay. Courts allowed Barbee’s execution despite concerns from his lawyer that his disability would make the process “torture.”
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas executes Tracy Beatty for strangling mother to death
Beatty’s lawyers argued unsuccessfully that the 2003 Smith County murder didn’t qualify for the death penalty. Neither the Supreme Court nor Texas Gov. Greg Abbott intervened on Wednesday.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas tries again to prove that Scott Panetti is just sane enough to be executed
The convicted murderer’s lengthy history of schizophrenia and delusions is well documented, from trying to call Jesus Christ as a trial witness to believing that prison dentists put a transmitter in his tooth.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
U.S. Supreme Court rejects request to review Texas death row inmate Andre Thomas’ case
Thomas’ attorneys appealed saying that some members of the jury that sentenced him had expressed racist views. In their dissent, the court’s three liberal justices wrote that Thomas’ conviction and death sentence were unconstitutional.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas executes John Ramirez for the 2004 murder of a Corpus Christi man
Earlier this year, Ramirez won a legal fight to have his pastor beside him at his execution.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas judge won’t let prosecutor cancel scheduled execution of John Ramirez
Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez said he is ethically opposed to the death penalty, but an employee wrongfully requested the execution date against his wishes. Gonzalez sought to cancel the execution two days later.
Posted in
TribCast
TribCast: Melissa Lucio gets a late reprieve
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Jolie about the stay of execution in Lucio’s case and with Josh about property taxes in Texas.
