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.
Criminal Justice
Get the latest Texas Tribune coverage on criminal justice, including crime, courts, law enforcement, and reforms shaping the state’s justice system.
Posted in
Uvalde school shooting
Uvalde DA gets initial state police report on school shooting but doesn’t expect full investigation for months
The preliminary report has not been made public by either the district attorney’s office or the state. The Texas Rangers are conducting a criminal investigation into the shooting at Robb Elementary.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
U.S. Supreme Court tells Texas to reconsider executing man convicted with faulty DNA evidence
Areli Escobar was sentenced to death in 2011 for an Austin murder, but even prosecutors now agree his conviction relied heavily on faulty DNA testing by the discredited Travis County crime lab.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas prisoners launching hunger strike to protest state’s harsh solitary confinement practices
Hundreds of prisoners may participate in the protest beginning Tuesday, the first day of the state’s legislative session. Texas often keeps prisoners in solitary confinement for years or decades.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Watch: After the Uvalde shooting, one Texas school district increases focus on mental health
Round Rock ISD is thought to be among the first school districts in Texas where social workers and police officers work directly with one another to provide mental health support to students.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
State police terminate another officer for response to Uvalde mass shooting
Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw accused the suspended Texas Ranger of failing to perform his duty during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.
Posted in
Uvalde school shooting
Broken hearts lead to broken traditions in Uvalde as Mata family celebrates first holidays without Tess
The Matas never celebrated Day of the Dead before; this year they built an altar at the grave of 10-year-old Tess, surrounded by family. For Thanksgiving and Christmas, they broke their traditions.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
Texas GOP lawmakers warming to opioid harm-reduction policies they once opposed
Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans have expressed support for legalizing fentanyl test strips, which help users identify whether the drugs they are planning on taking contain the deadly synthetic opioid.
Posted in
Uvalde school shooting
Criminal cases in South Texas are unraveling because of a Texas Ranger’s suspension after the Uvalde shooting
After the Texas Department of Public Safety suspended Texas Ranger Christopher Ryan Kindell, one of hundreds of officers who responded to the May 24 mass shooting, felony cases he investigated are in jeopardy and experts have questioned the justification for his suspension.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Veterans groups plead Afghan soldier’s asylum case in letter to Biden
After surviving the fallout from a war in his home country and a global trek, Abdul Wasi Safi was arrested at the Texas-Mexico border on a misdemeanor charge, delaying his chance for asylum.