Todd Smith’s plea comes days before he was set to go to trial, where Miller was subpoenaed to testify.
Criminal Justice
Get the latest Texas Tribune coverage on criminal justice, including crime, courts, law enforcement, and reforms shaping the state’s justice system.
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Robert Roberson
Robert Roberson’s final efforts to stop Texas execution dwindle as support for clemency grows
Few options to avoid death remain for the Palestine man, who is set to be executed Thursday on the basis of a shaken baby syndrome diagnosis.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller subpoenaed to testify in his former political consultant’s criminal trial
Todd Smith was indicted in 2022 on felony charges of theft and commercial bribery related to taking money in exchange for hemp licenses that are issued by Miller’s office.
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Uvalde school shooting
Uvalde city officials release missing footage from officers responding to 2022 Robb Elementary shooting
The new videos largely affirm prior reporting and investigations that detailed law enforcement’s failures to confront the gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers.
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Criminal Justice
Supreme Court to review death penalty appeal challenging Texas’s DNA testing law
Ruben Gutierrez was sentenced to death for the 1998 Brownsville murder of an elderly woman. His execution was stayed in July.
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2024 Texas Elections
Texas prisoners, including death row inmates, may be able to vote under little-known elections law
Texas elections law says state prison inmates who are appealing their convictions are eligible to register. Many lawyers and voting rights advocates were unaware of the rule.
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Criminal Justice
Texas executes Harris County man tied to five killings
Garcia White, who killed twin sisters, became the fifth Texas inmate put to death in 2024 after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to issue a stay of execution.
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Criminal Justice
Texas prison system’s staffing crisis and outdated technology endanger guards and inmates
A new state report says the prison population will outgrow capacity by the end of next year.
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Criminal Justice
Texas executes Brazoria County man for stomping death of infant son
Travis James Mullis was sentenced to death in 2011 for killing his 3-month-old son in Galveston. He was the fourth person executed in Texas this year.
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Criminal Justice
Texas prisons and jails are recruiting more teenagers to shore up guard shortage
Two counties house training programs in local high schools as officials pitch corrections jobs as gateways to criminal justice careers.