The latest Texas Court Of Criminal Appeals news from The Texas Tribune.
Months after the problems became apparent, migrants are still being kept in prison in violation of state laws under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security crackdown. Full Story
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Republicans from Gov. Greg Abbott on down are pressuring the all-GOP Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reverse a December ruling that gutted the attorney general’s power to go after election cases on his own. Full Story
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Rick Rhoades was convicted of killing two brothers 30 years ago, the day after he'd been released from prison on parole. His attorneys argued that racial bias in jury selection denied him a fair trial. Full Story
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Clinton Young was convicted in a 2001 Midland County murder in which he insists he was framed. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said he was denied the right to a fair trial and an impartial judge. Full Story
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Riles has been deemed mentally incompetent for execution repeatedly in his decades on death row. Full Story
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The Tarrant County woman faces a five-year prison sentence for casting a provisional ballot in the 2016 election while on supervised release for a federal conviction. Her vote was never counted. Full Story
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The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals took the rare step Wednesday in the landmark case of Roy Oliver, who was convicted of murder in the death of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. Full Story
McClure will replace Judge Michael Keasler, 78, who is retiring at the end of this year. Full Story
Wright defeated Democrat Chrysta Castañeda. The commission's elected, three-member board has been entirely Republican for at least 25 years. Full Story
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Democrats argue the high court's pandemic-related decisions show GOP incumbents should be unseated in November. Republicans say the virus is another argument for sticking with the status quo. Full Story
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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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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
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Gutierrez has long fought for DNA testing he says could prove his innocence in a 1998 Brownsville murder and home robbery. But the high court's ruling centered on Texas prison officials' recent decision to keep religious advisers out of the execution room. Full Story
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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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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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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Women got more votes than men in all of the roughly 30 gender-split primary contests for high court, court of appeals and district court. Rarely was it even close. Full Story
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A PAC with close ties to Perry is backing Gina Parker’s campaign to oust incumbent Judge Bert Richardson in the GOP primary. Full Story
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Fourteen Democrats are competing for seven seats on the Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals. How do you win when no one knows your name? Full Story
Fierro was sentenced to death in El Paso in 1980 for the murder of a taxi driver. Full Story
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