The latest courts news from The Texas Tribune.
Siding with a decision made a year ago by a lower appeals court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday refused to reinstate money-laundering convictions against former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Full Story
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A multistate effort urging churches and other places of worship to provide sanctuary for undocumented immigrants began this month. The effort could come to Texas, where some leaders say such shelter is already being provided. Full Story
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The DWI case of Republican Jack Stick, the top lawyer for the stateās health care agency, is scheduled for a pretrial hearing next week after two years of delay. But it has received little attention from politicians or the media. Full Story
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A federal program that transfers surplus military equipment to local communities is drawing a mix of responses from border officials whose regions have benefited from the initiative. Full Story
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Michael McCrum, the special prosecutor who secured an indictment against Gov. Rick Perry in August, said he expected to reply in October to a challenge filed by Perry's legal team. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry should not be excused from all hearings leading up to his felony trial, the special prosecutor in the criminal case said in a motion filed Wednesday. Full Story
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The Travis County district attorney's office investigation into whether state Sen. Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee for Texas attorney general, committed a crime when he violated the Texas Securities Act will not proceed until after the Nov. 4 election. Full Story
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Following opposition from gun rights organizations, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission this week dropped proposed rules changes that would have allowed alcohol sales alongside gun sales. Full Story
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Texas' voter ID law was designed to thwart emerging minority voting power in the state and should be dropped, attorneys for the law's opponents said during closing arguments in a federal court on Monday. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry, speaking on Sunday at The Texas Tribune Festival, said he still supports a Texas law that grants in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants. He also said he would not decide whether he was going to run for president until 2015. Full Story
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U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said on Saturday that he lamented his partyās contribution to what he said was a dysfunctional government, and he criticized the Obama administration's handling of the current crisis over the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Full Story
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We're liveblogging the sessions from the 2014 Texas Tribune Festival's Immigration track. The sessions include panels on border security, Latinos and the Republican Party, the comprehensive immigration reform debate, and what to do with the DREAMers. Full Story
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We're liveblogging the sessions from the 2014 Texas Tribune Festival's Open Government track. The sessions include panels on disclosures by legislators, open records in Texas, transparency and the Texas budget, and the issue of donor privacy. Full Story
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We're liveblogging the sessions from the 2014 Texas Tribune Festival's Justice track. The sessions include panels on criminal justice reform, the Texas Supreme Court, same-sex marriage and the death penalty. Full Story
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Four years after fleeing Somalia, Dekha Hassan-Mohamed is living in El Paso after winning an asylum claim and bucking a national trend. Her lawyer is seeking the same protection for another client who fled Nigeria. Both women are grateful for the new chapters of their lives in El Paso. Full Story
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UPDATED: A 38-year-old Arlington woman was executed Wednesday for the starvation death of her girlfriendās son. Lisa Ann Coleman is the sixth woman to be executed in the state since 1982. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday invited Mexican President Enrique PeƱa Nieto to witness for himself the operations of the National Guard patrolling the Texas side of the Rio Grande. Full Story
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When Texas Gov. Rick Perry was indicted last month for allegedly overstepping his authority, the charges came from a type of grand jury that is not the norm in Austinās criminal courts: one whose members were chosen at random. Full Story
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst issued a harsh rebuke of the Mexican government on Thursday for issuing what he called an āoffensiveā statement on the border surge that coincided with the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Full Story
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UPDATED: Texas death row inmate Willie Tyrone Trottie was executed by lethal injection Wednesday evening in Huntsville for the 1993 murders of his ex-girlfriend and her brother. Full Story
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