Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stops another scheduled execution because of the coronavirus
Tracy Beatty requested the court stay his execution, set for next week, after the court halted this week's execution. Full Story
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![Tracy Beatty's execution was halted because of coronavirus.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stops an execution because of coronavirus
John Hummel’s lawyer requested a stay of execution in a unique court filing Friday, but Tarrant County officials opposed it. Full Story
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![John Hummel.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejects new death penalty trial requested under "junk science" law
Rigoberto Avila Jr. was sentenced to death in 2001 in the death of his girlfriend's 19-month-old son. In 2018, an El Paso judge recommended he get a new trial because of outdated science used at his trial. Full Story
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![Rigoberto Avila was sentenced to death in 2001.]()
Credit: TDCJ -
Texas executes Abel Ochoa, who killed five family members in Dallas shooting
Ochoa was sentenced to death after the slayings in Dallas of his relatives, including his two young daughters. His defense argued he was in a cocaine-induced delirium. Full Story
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![Abel Ochoa was sentenced to death for the murder of five relatives, including his wife and two young daughters.]()
Credit: TDCJ -
Texas carries out nation's first execution of 2020 for domestic violence slaying in Collin County
John Gardner, 64, was put to death for the 2005 murder of his estranged wife. His lawyers had argued the crime wasn't eligible for the death penalty. Full Story
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![John Gardner was sentenced to death for the 2005 murder of his estranged wife, Tammy Dawn Gardner.]()
Credit: TDCJ -
Cesar Fierro spent 40 years on Texas death row. A court tossed his sentence Wednesday for faulty jury instructions.
Fierro was sentenced to death in El Paso in 1980 for the murder of a taxi driver. Full Story
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![Cesar Fierro has been on death row in Texas since 1980 for the 1979 murder of a cab driver in El Paso.]()
Credit: TDCJ -
Texas executed Travis Runnels for a prison murder. His lawyers said false testimony put him on death row.
A Texas court has twice overturned death sentences because of one man’s false testimony on restrictions placed on prisoners. Runnels argued the same man’s testimony should have stopped his death, too. Full Story
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![Travis Runnels was sentenced to death for the 2003 murder of prison employee Stanley Wiley.]()
Credit: TDCJ -
Rodney Reed's execution was set for Wednesday. A Texas court stopped it last week.
The Texas Tribune takes a look at Reed's case as it is sent back to the local court, which will review claims that he is innocent of the murder that put him on death row. Full Story
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![Rodney Reed was sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop.]()
Credit: Courtesy KXAN -
Texas court stops Rodney Reed’s execution to further review claims of innocence
The ruling came hours after the Texas parole board recommended that Gov. Greg Abbott delay Reed’s death for 120 days. Full Story
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![Rodney Reed is scheduled to be executed next Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019.]()
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Pressure is mounting to stop Rodney Reed's execution. Where does his case stand?
Dozens of lawmakers — both Republicans and Democrats — have asked Gov. Greg Abbott and the parole board to stop Reed's execution. There are also multiple appeals in the courts. Full Story
![Rodney Reed was sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop.]()
Credit: Courtesy KXAN -
Federal judge delays execution of “Texas Seven” prisoner over claims of religious discrimination
For the second time, a court has stopped Murphy's execution over concerns that the Texas prison system's execution procedures discriminate against non-Christian inmates. Full Story
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![Patrick Murphy.]()
Credit: Illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Bobby Moore's death sentence is changed to life in prison after lengthy court fights over intellectual disability
Moore was sentenced to death in 1980 in the fatal shooting of an elderly store clerk during a Houston robbery. Full Story
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![Bobby Moore.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Texas executes Justen Hall for murder of woman in El Paso
Hall told a trial judge he needed "to be put down" in 2016. Lawyers questioned his mental health and asked an El Paso court to delay the execution until Hall's competency can be evaluated. Full Story
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![Justen Hall is scheduled to be executed on Nov. 6, 2019.]()
Credit: Jenevieve Robbins for Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Texas lawmakers ask Gov. Greg Abbott to stop execution of Rodney Reed, whose guilt is widely doubted
Rodney Reed's guilt in the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites has been questioned for decades. A bipartisan group of lawmakers join national calls to stop his upcoming execution. Full Story
![Rodney Reed was sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop.]()
Credit: Courtesy KXAN -
Clerical concern prompts the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to halt Ruben Gutierrez's execution
Gutierrez was sentenced to death in the 1998 Brownsville killing of an elderly woman. Full Story
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![Death row inmate Ruben Gutierrez.]()
Credit: Via the Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
"Texas Seven" member Randy Halprin wins stay of execution amid claim of anti-Semitic judge
Halprin's lawyers had requested the stay amid allegations that the judge who handled his case made racist and anti-Semitic comments during his time on the bench. Full Story
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![Randy Halprin, then 23, one of the "Texas Seven" prison escapees, is led out of the Teller County Courthouse after a extradition hearing in Cripple Creek, Colorado on Jan. 26, 2001.]()
Credit: REUTERS -
Judge halts execution for man convicted of killing two Henderson County deputies
Randall Mays was scheduled to be executed Oct. 16, but the judge removed the death warrant amid questions that Mays may not be mentally competent to be put to death. Full Story
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![Randall Mayes]()
Credit: TDCJ -
Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger sentenced to 10 years in prison in murder of Botham Jean
Guyger could have received as few as five years or a sentence of up to life in prison. Full Story
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![With her new Bible in hand, former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger leaves the 204th District Court for jail after receiving a hug from Botham Jean's brother Brandt Jean at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on Oct. 2, 2019.]()
Credit: Tom Fox/Pool via REUTERS -
A trial judge recommended taking Paul Storey off death row. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said no.
The state's highest criminal court rejected the judge's finding that Storey should be resentenced to life in prison after prosecutors falsely said at trial that the murder victim's family wanted the death penalty. Full Story
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![Paul Storey.]()
Credit: Jenevieve Robbins/TDCJ -
Texas executes Robert Sparks after brutal deaths of his stepsons, wife
Sparks was convicted in the 2007 stabbing deaths of his family members in his Dallas home. His lawyers sought to stop his execution with arguments of intellectual disability and a jury tainted by a bailiff wearing a syringe tie. Full Story
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![Robert Sparks.]()
Credit: TDCJ