Murder conviction thrown out for Steven Mark Chaney
The Court of Criminal Appeals said Steven Mark Chaney's conviction was based partly on faulty science. Full Story
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Texas sees uptick in executions, death sentences in 2018
The state put to death 13 men this year. That's more than half the total number of people executed in the entire country: 25. Still, the death row population — both here and nationwide — is at a historic low. Full Story
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![The clock nears 6 p.m. at the "Walls" unit in Huntsville, where Texas executes its prisoners, on Jan. 26, 2017.]()
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Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rules against prosecutors in Ken Paxton payment case
The court agreed in December to weigh in on an obstacle to Paxton’s long-running legal drama, a fight over more than a year’s payment for the prosecutors working on the case. Full Story
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![Ken Paxton speaks at the Texas State Rifle Association General Meeting in Round Rock on Feb. 25, 2017.]()
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In campaigns for Texas’ top courts, judicial candidates must rely on party ID
In these down-ballot, low-information races, judges' success often depends on the party leaders at the top of the ballot. Full Story
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![Judge Ravi K. Sandill smiles after he is introduced during a Meet & Greet at the Sweetwater Country Club in Sugar Land on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018.]()
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Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halts execution of Kwame Rockwell
It was the second time the appellate court has stopped an execution this month. Full Story
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![Kwame Rockwell, convicted in the 2010 deaths of a gas station clerk and delivery man in Fort Worth, was set for execution on Wednesday, Oct. 24.]()
Credit: TDCJ: Kwame Rockwell/Jolie McCullough: Walls Unit in Huntsville, Texas -
Texas court halts Juan Segundo execution amid questions of intellectual disability
For the second time this year, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday halted an execution based on a 2017 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Full Story
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![Juan Segundo was sentenced to death for the 1986 murder of 11-year-old Vanessa Villa in Fort Worth, Texas.]()
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Federal judge upholds Texas' partisan statewide judicial elections system
A federal judge has ruled for Texas in a long-running challenge to the state's system of electing judges to its two highest courts. Full Story
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Will a Texas law that overturns convictions based on bad science save this death row inmate?
The 2013 law was credited with stopping Robert Roberson's execution two years ago, and his conviction is now under review in county court. Full Story
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![Robert Roberson in court for the review of his 2003 conviction in the death of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in Palestine on August 14, 2018. His attorneys are asking for a new trial based on new scientific evidence.]()
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Texas court upholds Bobby Moore’s death sentence, rejecting broadly supported claim of intellectual disability
After the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Texas' method for determining intellectual disability in Moore's death penalty case last year, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals decided on Wednesday to change its standards but said Moore still didn't qualify. Full Story
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![The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Bobby Moore, a man who has been on death row since 1980, in March 2017.]()
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Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stops scheduled execution over claims of intellectual disability
Clifton Williams was set to be executed June 21 for the East Texas home robbery and murder of a 93-year-old woman. Full Story
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![Clifton Williams was sentenced to death for the 2005 murder of a 93-year-old woman during a home robbery in Smith County.]()
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Lawsuit claims one of Texas' top Republican judges fired his secretary for supporting Democrats on social media
Olga Zuniga, who worked as a secretary on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for 14 years, claims she was fired by her Republican boss for her social media posts favoring Democrats. Full Story
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![Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Kevin Yeary.]()
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Judge says Texas death row inmate's sentence should be reduced due to false evidence at trial
Paul Storey's case had been granted another review less than one week before he was scheduled to be executed. Full Story
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![Paul Storey]()
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Presiding Judge Sharon Keller narrowly wins Texas Court of Criminal Appeals primary race
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller narrowly won the Republican primary Tuesday night, overcoming a challenger who knocked her for her multiple ethical controversies. Full Story
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![Sharon Keller and David Bridges are both running in the 2018 Republican primary for presiding judge of the state's Court of Criminal Appeals.]()
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In Texas Republican judicial primaries, do Hispanic-sounding surnames spell loss?
Hispanics rarely win seats on Texas' two highest courts. Some experts blame the "surname challenge." Full Story
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![Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals justices listen to Chief Justice Nathan Hecht's State of the Judiciary speech to legislators on Feb. 18, 2015.]()
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Three Republicans vie for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals seat, replacing death penalty critic
Judge Elsa Alcala of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is a zealous opinion writer and critic of death penalty law. But after seven years on the bench, she's stepping down. Here are the three Republicans who are vying for her seat. Full Story
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![Left to right: Jay Brandon, Michelle Slaughter and Dib Waldrip, the three Republican candidates for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 8.]()
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Trial begins in case targeting Texas' statewide elections of judges
Both sides revealed the outlines of their cases Monday in a federal court trial testing Texas' nearly 150-year-old system of statewide elections to the state's two highest courts. Full Story
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Heat and a hurricane had a big impact on Texas criminal justice in 2017
Weather-related prison evacuations, legal battles over execution drugs and death sentences, and reform efforts at the Texas Legislature led the state's criminal justice headlines in 2017. Full Story
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![Inmates shuffle past new fans in the Darrington prison's main hallway on a hot July day.]()
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Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halts state's last execution of 2017
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stopped the state's last remaining execution of 2017, sending the San Antonio case back to court to resolve claims of false testimony at trial. Full Story
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![Juan Castillo]()
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In race against Keller, Republican highlighting infamous death row call
Sharon Keller, the longtime presiding judge of Texas' Court of Criminal Appeals, has tried to move on from several past ethical controversies — including blocking the last-minute appeal of a 2007 execution. A primary challenger hopes voters will reconsider them. Full Story
![Sharon Keller and David Bridges are both running in the 2018 Republican primary for presiding judge of the state's Court of Criminal Appeals.]()
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Death row inmate gets new sentencing hearing because lawyer refused to present his case
Hector Medina was sentenced to death in 2008 after killing his two young children. Now, he's getting a new sentencing trial because his lawyer refused to present evidence to persuade jurors to opt for the lesser sentence of life without parole. Full Story
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![Hector Medina was convicted and sentenced to death in the shooting deaths of his 3-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter.]()
Credit: TDCJ/iStock
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