Court Stays Execution of Mentally Ill Inmate
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday stayed the execution of a severely mentally ill inmate convicted of a 1989 robbery and murder at a Fort Worth Steak and Ale restaurant. Full Story
The latest death penalty news from The Texas Tribune.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday stayed the execution of a severely mentally ill inmate convicted of a 1989 robbery and murder at a Fort Worth Steak and Ale restaurant. Full Story
Defense lawyers argue that judges in Harris County — ordered to review a psychologist's work in two death penalty cases — are simply rubber-stamping the conclusions of the psychologist, who was reprimanded last year. Full Story
The latest installment in death row inmate Hank Skinner's quest for DNA testing comes today as his lawyers argue to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that a change in state law should allow for testing in his case. Full Story
Two men on Monday became the 31st and 32nd individuals to be exonerated by DNA evidence in Dallas County since 2001. Era Sundar of KUT News reports on the faulty eyewitness identification system that may have led to their incarcerations. Full Story
UPDATED: Former Smith County District Attorney A.D. Clark III denies allegations by Kerry Max Cook's lawyers that Clark had kept the knife linked to Linda Jo Edwards' fatal stabbing at his home. Full Story
A judge today granted Kerry Max Cook's request for more DNA testing in the 1977 murder of Linda Jo Edwards, but the former death row inmate will have to fight to prove his innocence in the same place where he was twice sentenced to death. Full Story
The state's highest criminal court on Wednesday ordered a lower court to review a death penalty case that involved a psychologist reprimanded last year for using unscientific methods. Full Story
Kerry Max Cook was released from death row in 1997 but has never officially been declared an exoneree. Michael Hall of Texas Monthly reports on Cook's complex case and his challenging fight to move on with his life. Full Story
A Tuesday U.S. Supreme Court ruling could open the door for claims from at least two Texas death row inmates who argue that their lawyers did shoddy work. Full Story
Former death row inmate Anthony Graves and his fight to be compensated for the time he spent wrongfully imprisoned will be the subject of an episode on the CBS news show 48 Hours Mystery this Saturday. We've got a sneak peak. Full Story
A federal judge said in a recent ruling that he has serious concerns about whether Rob Will committed the murder he was sent to death row for, but the law prevented him from doing anything about it. Full Story
At the national level, voters are concerned about pocketbook issues, while at home immigration is the top problem. Full Story
Root on the end of Rick Perry's presidential campaign, Murphy on what happens to his campaign cash, Ramsey on his next act, Ramshaw, Aaronson, Murphy, Chang and Seger interactively chart the rise and fall of his run, Aguilar talks Juárez violence with a documentary filmmaker, Galbraith on the tug-of-war over surface water, Grissom and Murphy on three decades of capital punishment in Texas, Hamilton and Aaronson on our workforce needs in 2018 and Tan on the state's much-reduced list of women's health clinics: The best of our best content from January 16-20, 2012. Full Story
Ross, Reeve, Brandi and Thanh look ahead to the South Carolina primary, look back on the history of the death penalty in Texas, and discuss the current state of women's health clinics in the state. Full Story
Thirty-five years ago today, the state of Utah restarted the death penalty in the United States when Gary Gilmore was executed. Texas followed suit in 1982 and since then has executed 477 men and women, more than any other state. Full Story
As we prepare to ring in the new year, we take a look back at some of our most-viewed videos of 2011. Full Story
Michael Morton's tragic wrongful conviction for his wife's murder 25 years ago illustrates the best and worst of science in the courtroom, a judge said on Monday. Full Story
Root's scoop on Rick Perry's working retirement, Aaronson maps poverty in Texas, Aguilar on a voting rights warning shot from the U.S. Attorney General, Galbraith on the disclosure of chemicals used in fracking operations, Grissom on the drop in executions, Hamilton and M. Smith on UT-Austin President Bill Powers' rough year, Murphy and Tan and Dehn on the shortage of psychiatrists and Ramshaw on the federal refusal to exclude operators like Planned Parenthood from family planning programs: The best of our best content from December 12 to 16, 2011. Full Story
Leading a national downward trend in the use of the death penalty, Texas has executed just 13 prisoners so far in 2011, the lowest number in more than a decade. And juries meted out only eight new death sentences. Full Story
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals took some heat off of Gov. Rick Perry when it issued a stay of execution for Hank Skinner this week. And the governor has avoided any link to another case involving two of his appointees and a botched murder prosecution in Williamson County. Full Story