Court Declines to Stay Execution of Schizophrenic Inmate
UPDATED: Texas’ highest criminal court has again refused to halt schizophrenic death row inmate Scott Panetti’s looming execution. Full Story
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Crazy or Faking It? Panetti Case Highlights Lack of Sanity Standard
The fact that Scott Panetti is facing lethal injection on Dec. 3 despite a 30-year history of documented mental illness demonstrates that the ambiguities of the legal standard of “competency” he helped to define are far from resolved. Full Story
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![Death row inmate Scott Panetti.]()
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Woman Executed for Boy's 2004 Starvation Death
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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![In 2004, Davontae Marcel Williams, on the left, was found starved to death. Lisa Ann Coleman, on the right, is scheduled to be executed Wednesday night for her role in the boy's death. If carried out, she would be the sixth woman to be executed in Texas since 1982.]()
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Death Row Inmate Trottie Executed for 1993 Murders
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 death row inmate Willie Trottie, scheduled for execution Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2014.]()
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Death Row Inmate's Attorneys Say Execution Drugs Have Expired
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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State Bar Moves Ahead on Grievance Against Anthony Graves' Prosecutor
The former Burleson district attorney who sent Anthony Graves to death row in 1994 will now face a formal hearing on allegations prosecutorial misconduct by the State Bar of Texas. Full Story
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UT/TT Poll: Voters Believe Men Get Paid More for Equal Work
Texas voters believe men make more than women for equal work, and they support three exceptions to abortion bans, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. But the overall numbers hide gender differences. Full Story
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AG, Lawyers for Hank Skinner Argue Over DNA in Death Penalty Case
Lawyers for the state and for death row inmate Henry Skinner on Friday filed proposed findings to a Pampa judge who is considering whether DNA tests on crime scene evidence should preclude his execution. Full Story
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TDCJ Policy Reduces Witnesses to Executions
As public scrutiny of the state's execution process is increasing, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is more strictly implementing a media viewing policy that means fewer witnesses to the controversial procedure. Full Story
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![The execution chamber seen from one of two witness viewing rooms at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Huntsville Unit.]()
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AG: Prisons Can Keep Information About Execution Drugs Secret
Reversing his stance in three previous rulings, Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott on Thursday ruled that the state prison system can withhold information about the suppliers of drugs used in lethal injections. Full Story
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![Attorney General Greg Abbott speaks to press after voting in the primary on March 4th, 2014 at South Austin church. Abbott is running for the Republican nomination for Governor of Texas]()
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Last-Minute Stay for Texas Death Row Inmate
A federal appeals court halted the Texas execution of Robert James Campbell just hours before he was to be put to death Tuesday based on questions about whether the 41-year-old inmate is mentally disabled. Full Story
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Lawsuits Challenge Transparency of Texas Execution Process
Defense lawyers say that information about the drug Texas uses in executions – pentobarbital — is shrouded in secrecy. And they worry a dearth of information could lead to cruel and unusual executions. Full Story
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TDCJ Has Supply of the Drug Used in Botched Oklahoma Execution
Texas Department of Criminal Justice is storing dozens of vials of the drug used in Tuesday’s botched execution in Oklahoma, raising concerns about the state’s secretive lethal injection process. Full Story
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Willingham Won't Get Posthumous Pardon
UPDATED: The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has voted not to recommend a posthumous full pardon for Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed a decade ago after being convicted of setting a fire that killed his daughters. Full Story
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![September 17, 2010 - Activist Jamie Bush attends the Texas Forensic Science Commission board meeting on September 17, 2010 in Dallas, Texas.]()
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TDCJ Will Appeal Judge's Ruling on Execution Drugs
Amid national debate over disclosure of information about execution drugs, Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials said they will appeal a judge’s order to reveal the supplier of its execution drugs. Full Story
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State Bar Opens Investigation Into Prosecutor
UPDATED: The State Bar has begun an investigation of a complaint filed against the prosecutor of former death row inmate Anthony Graves, who who spent 18 years behind bars before being exonerated. Full Story
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DNA Hearing Brings Death Row Inmate's Case Closer to Resolution
During a two-day DNA hearing that ended Tuesday, prosecutors argued tests confirmed Hank Skinner’s guilt in a 20-year-old triple murder, but his lawyers said the results raised too many questions to allow him to be executed. Full Story
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Hearing to Look at DNA Evidence in Skinner Case
After more than a decade of fighting for DNA tests and two years of analysis on decades-old evidence, a court in Pampa will hear evidence that death row inmate Hank Skinner says should stop his execution. Full Story
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Advocates Urge Prison Officials to Reconsider Death Row Isolation
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is reviewing its Death Row Plan, and inmates' rights advocates, along with the prison employees union, are urging less restrictive housing for the condemned. Full Story
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AG Candidates Weigh In on Execution of Mexican National
Wednesday night’s execution in Texas of a Mexican national convicted of killing a Houston police officer has given the candidates vying to be the state’s next attorney general an opportunity to weigh in on the death penalty. Full Story
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![GOP attorney general candidates from left to right: Ken Paxton, Dan Branch, Barry Smitherman.]()
Credit: C. Richmond / M. Stravato / D. Kramer