TribCast: Melissa Lucio gets a late reprieve
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Jolie about the stay of execution in Lucio’s case and with Josh about property taxes in Texas. Full Story
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![State Rep. Victoria Neave Criado, D-Dallas, speaks at a rally organized at Dallas City Hall to free Melissa Lucio on April 7…]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texas executes Carl Buntion, the state’s oldest death row prisoner, for Houston police officer’s murder
Buntion, 78, was sentenced to death for the 1990 murder of a Houston police officer. His Thursday execution was the first Texas has carried out this year. Full Story
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![Huntsville, Texas: Exteriors of the Texas State Penitentiary “Walls Unit” August 20, 2020 in Huntsville, Texas.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Prosecutor moves to stop execution of inmate whose religious freedom case reached U.S. Supreme Court
The Nueces County district attorney, Mark A. Gonzalez, has moved to withdraw the death warrant for John Henry Ramirez, convicted of a 2004 robbery and murder. Full Story
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![Nueces County District Attorney Mark A. Gonzalez speaks at a panel during the 2019 Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 28, 2019.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: Two death penalty cases draw attention in Texas
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Andrew and Jolie about Texans’ role in the confirmation hearing of Ketanji Brown Jackson and two important death penalty cases. Full Story
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![Maggie Luna from Texas Center for Justice and Equity watches a press conference discussing the case of Melissa Lucio and the…]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Supreme Court tells Texas to let a condemned man’s pastor touch him and pray aloud during execution
The Supreme Court ruled that the state likely violated death row inmate John Ramirez’s religious liberties when it denied his request to have his pastor lay his hands on him and pray during his upcoming execution. Full Story
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![The Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 1, 2021. Today, the Supreme Court will hear cases regarding abortion in Texas.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Rejecting claims of innocence, judge says Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed should not get a new trial
Doubts over Reed’s guilt in the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites have lingered for more than 20 years and gained international attention. But a judge decided against recommending a new trial. 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 executed Quintin Jones for murdering his great aunt. Supporters questioned if race played a factor in his clemency rejection.
Relatives of Jones and his victim pleaded for the state to spare his life, but the Texas parole board declined. His lawyer argued that was because Jones was Black, since a white man in a similar situation was spared. Full Story
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![Interior of execution chamber.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Texas court tosses death sentence in police killing due to intellectual disability
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals resentenced Juan Lizcano to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is at least the sixth death row inmate whose sentence was reduced after the U.S. Supreme Court slammed Texas' methods for determining intellectual disability. Full Story
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![Telford prison in New Boston.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Texas executes Billy Wardlow, who was 18 when he killed a man. Experts argued that's too young for a death sentence.
Wardlow had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that he was too young to get the Texas death penalty. His execution was the first in Texas to proceed during the pandemic as the coronavirus rages across the state. Full Story
![Interior of execution chamber.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
U.S. Supreme Court rules Texas death row inmate had an ineffective lawyer, orders new review
In a 6-3 opinion, the justices said Terence Andrus had ineffective assistance from his lawyer and that it was unclear if the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals properly considered whether that could have affected his sentence. Full Story
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![The United States Supreme Court in Washington on June 11.]()
Credit: Reynolds Stefani/CNP/ABACA via REUTERS -
Texas inmate Bobby Moore granted parole after decades on death row
Moore was resentenced from the death penalty to life in prison last year after the U.S. Supreme Court determined he was intellectually disabled. Since he had already served 40 years, he was immediately eligible for parole. Full Story
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![Birds fly overhead at the Hilltop prison unit in Gatesville, Texas, Nov. 25, 2019.]()
Credit: Angela Piazza for The Texas Tribune -
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.]()
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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.]()
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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.]()
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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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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 -
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 -
"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 extradi…]()
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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]()
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Texas executes Billy Crutsinger in Fort Worth slayings of two elderly women
Crutsinger had pushed to stop his execution based on claims of bad lawyering during his trial and in the appellate process. Full Story
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![Billy Crutsinger.]()
Credit: Jenevieve Robbins