The Timothy Cole Exoneration Review Commission Thursday paid tribute to its namesake – who was wrongfully convicted in a 1985 rape case – and began setting a vision for its role in prevent further wrongful convictions in Texas.
Texas Department Of Criminal Justice
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Criminal Justice
Judge Moves “Bernie” Trial to Neighboring County
Convicted murderer Bernie Tiede’s new sentencing trial will be moved from Carthage — where he killed 81-year-old Marjorie Nugent nearly two decades ago — to Henderson, in a neighboring East Texas county.
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Criminal Justice
“Bernie” Back in Court Tuesday for Murder
As the 19th anniversary of Marjorie Nugent’s murder looms, her killer, Bernhardt “Bernie” Tiede II, returns to an East Texas courtroom Tuesday as attorneys spar in advance of a new sentencing hearing.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Poised to See a New Low in Death Sentences
Texas is on track to see fewer death sentences handed down in 2015 than in any other year since the state’s death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Appeals Court Stays Julius Murphy Execution
East Texas inmate Julius Murphy’s execution is off the November calendar – for now. The Texas Criminal Court of Appeals on Monday stayed the 36-year-old’s execution, after his legal team presented claims of prosecutorial misconduct in his 1998 capital murder trial.
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Criminal Justice
Cornyn: Mental Health Legislation Provides New Tools
In Austin on Monday, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn promoted federal legislation that would require mental health checks before denying anyone the ability to purchase firearms.
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Criminal Justice
Death Row Inmate Claims Witnesses Coerced
Attorneys for East Texas inmate Julius Jerome Murphy, scheduled for execution in early November for killing a stranded motorist, claimed in court papers filed Friday that prosecutors threatened and coerced witnesses to unjustly convict him.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Prisons Deny Making Execution Drugs
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice on Friday shot down allegations that it is manufacturing its own hard-to-find execution drugs after federal defense attorneys in an Oklahoma death row case accused the Texas prison system of doing exactly that.
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Criminal Justice
Dip in Prison Population Continues Trend
The number of men and women being held in Texas prisons fell by more than one percent in 2014, a slight dip that continues a downward trend aided by new diversion programs and a reluctance by state lawmakers to add more prison beds.
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Criminal Justice
Panetti Lawyers Want His Competence Evaluated
Lawyers for death row inmate Scott Panetti will get a chance Wednesday to argue that their client’s ongoing mental illness — and the state’s failure to evaluate his mental state — should forestall his execution for two 1992 killings.
