The latest courts news from The Texas Tribune.
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 girlfriend’s 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 Peña 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 Austin’s criminal courts: one whose members were chosen at random. Full Story
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Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst issued a harsh rebuke of the Mexican government on Thursday for issuing what he called an “offensive” 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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Texas Senate Democrats say their request for more mobile units on Texas streets to give voters without an acceptable photo ID a chance to get one before November's election have been virtually ignored. Full Story
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The latest battle over the efficacy of lethal injection drugs made by compounding pharmacies surfaced on Tuesday in an eleventh-hour appeal filed on behalf of a Texas inmate scheduled to be put to death on Wednesday. Full Story
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They served their country, then ended up on the wrong side of the law. But many of Texas' veterans serving time behind bars are getting the guidance to stay out of the legal system upon their release, thanks to a new Texas Department of Criminal Justice program. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry’s lawyers have filed a second challenge to the governor’s indictment on Monday, asking a judge to dismiss the charges against him as unconstitutional. Full Story
UT/Texas Tribune pollsters Jim Henson and Joshua Blank take a look at whether the indictment, in calling attention to Gov. Rick Perry’s view of the governor’s authority, will affect the power of the office after his departure. Full Story
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Members of the Senate Democratic Caucus, concerned over the low number of residents eligible to vote who have no photo indentification to do so have asked Secretary of State Nandita Berry to work on making mobile ID units more available between now and November. Full Story
Former Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño, a Democrat, was sentenced to prison in July for taking money from a drug trafficker. But analysts say it's unlikely that the case will lead to a Republican taking the reins as sheriff after the next election. Full Story
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In a trial that's expected to last two weeks, plaintiff's lawyers are arguing that Texas' voter ID law is designed to neutralize the voting power of Texas’ growing minority population. But lawyers with the AG's office say that the law is focused on stamping out fraud. Full Story
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The three-year-old Texas voter ID law heads to federal court on Tuesday, where a judge will determine whether the measure requiring voters to present photo identification at polling places is unfair to minority voters. Full Story
If Bert Richardson remains on the bench for the criminal case against Gov. Rick Perry, those who know the former prosecutor say trial watchers will be treated to an engaged judge. Full Story
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Accusations about criminalizing politics go hand in hand with indictments of political figures. But prosecutors in Travis County have fumbled enough big cases to give the officeholders they chase some room for argument. Full Story
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From the charges to a post-booking ice cream stop, we recap the headlines since a Travis County grand jury handed down an indictment against Gov. Rick Perry related to his threat to veto funding for the state’s public integrity unit. Full Story
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A lawyer for Gov. Rick Perry told a judge Friday that he will challenge felony charges that arose from Gov. Rick Perry's threat to veto state funding for public corruption prosecutions if the Travis County District Attorney would not resign. Full Story
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Texas immigration lawyers are scrambling to coordinate representation for the thousands of Central American migrants who have crossed into Texas illegally. Full Story
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