Texas Sees an Unusual Lull in Executions
It's been more than five months since the last execution in Texas, an unusual gap for the nation's most prolific death penalty state. Full Story
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![Texas' execution chamber in Huntsville.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Execution Halted for Jeff Wood, Who Never Killed Anyone
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has halted the execution of Jeff Wood — a man who never killed anyone — six days before he was set to die by lethal injection. Full Story
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![Texas death row inmate, Jeffrey Lee Wood.]()
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Conservative Lawmaker Battling to Stop a Texas Execution
State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, a staunch conservative, is trying to stop the upcoming execution of Jeff Wood, who was sentenced to death even though he killed no one. Full Story
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![State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, is hoping to stop the upcoming execution of Jeff Wood.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Prison Guard's Convicted Killer Wins Another Execution Stay
Robert Lynn Pruett, convicted in the 1999 stabbing death of a state correctional officer, has won another stay of execution from a Court of Criminal Appeals judge. His lethal injection was set for August 23. Full Story
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![Robert Pruett, seen here in a 2013 interview, was sentenced to death in 2002 for the murder of correctional officer Daniel Nagle.]()
Credit: Tamir Kalifa -
Texas Prepares to Execute A Man Who Killed No One
Jeff Wood was outside in a pickup when his partner killed a Kerrville convenience store clerk in 1996, but he was sentenced to death under Texas' felony murder statute, commonly known as the law of parties. Full Story
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![Mitzie and Danny Wood, parents of Jeff Wood, at a rally in July 2016 at the Governor's mansion. Their son, Jeff, was sent to death row under the controversial law of parties statute.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond -
Report Finds Almost 7,000 In-Custody Deaths in Texas
Almost 7,000 individuals in Texas have died in police custody or behind bars over the past 10 years, according to an online report released Wednesday by a University of Texas at Austin research institute. Nearly 2,000 of them had not been convicted of a crime. Full Story
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Credit: Rob Crow -
Rally Questions Death Penalty for Texas Man Who Didn't Pull Trigger
Relatives and supporters of death row inmate Jeff Wood rallied Saturday outside the Governor's Mansion, saying that Wood should not be executed for capital murder under Texas' law of parties. Full Story
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![Supporters of Jeff Wood gathered on July 23, 2016, in front of the Governor's Mansion to rally against his scheduled August execution.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond -
Investigators Identify Inmate Suspected in Prison Guard's Death
Inmate Dillion Gage Compton, 21, who worked in the prison's kitchen area, attacked and killed correctional officer Mari Johnson, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice alleged in a statement Monday. Full Story
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![Dillion Gage Compton allegedly attacked and killed Correctional Officer Mari Johnson on Saturday, July 16th, 2016, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.]()
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Greg Abbott: Targeted Killing of Police Officers Should Be a Hate Crime in Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott's proposal comes after weeks of targeted killings of police officers and growing tension over disproportionate encounters between black Americans and law enforcement. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott accepts Site Selection's 2015 Governor's Cup Award on behalf of the state of Texas on March 9, 2016.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Execution Delayed After State Didn't Retest Lethal Drugs
A Texas execution set for next week has been delayed indefinitely because the state wasn't able to retest the purity of the lethal drugs in time. Full Story
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Wrongful Convictions Have Cost Texans More Than $93 Million
Texas has paid 101 men and women who were wrongfully sent to prison $93.6 million over the past 25 years, state data shows. The tab stands to grow as those wrongfully imprisoned individuals age and more people join the list. Full Story
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![Michael Morton sits beside his mother, Patricia Morton, during an emotional press conference in October 2011 after a judge agreed to release him on personal bond after he spent nearly 25 years in prison for the murder of his wife. Recently tested DNA indicates another man committed the 1986 killing.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond -
Appeals Court Halts Texas Man's Execution in Shaken Baby Syndrome Case
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Thursday halted the upcoming execution of Robert Roberson. Roberson's legal team argues that Roberson's conviction in the death of his daughter was based on junk science. Full Story
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![Robert Roberson III is a Texas death row inmate.]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Former Officer Escapes Death Sentence in Police Chief's Murder
After a five-day sentencing trial, David Risner, a former police officer, was sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the shooting death of Little River-Academy Police Chief Lee Dixon. Full Story
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![David Risner (left) and Chief Lee Dixon.]()
Credit: Bell County Jail records / Courtesy Family -
Appeals Court Changes Texas Death Row Inmate's Sentence to Life
A man who sexually assaulted and fatally stabbed a 68-year-old woman during a 1995 burglary in Hidalgo County will no longer face execution after he has been determined to be intellectually disabled. Full Story
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![Jose Noey Martinez]()
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U.S. Supreme Court to hear Texas Death Penalty Cases
The cases of death row inmates Duane Buck and Bobby James Moore will be heard next term. Full Story
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Issue of Mental Health Assessment a Focus as 3 Fight Death Sentences
Criminal justice experts say that determining mental health can be hard for anyone, including judges, defense attorneys, prosecutors and jurors. They say the issues revealed in three cases are key in furthering the discussion in how mental health is gauged when weighing the death penalty for killers. Full Story
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![Scott Panetti, Randall Mays and Robert Roberson]()
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Texas Court Halts Execution in Dallas Murder
The execution of a man whose original trial included a hypnotized eyewitness was stopped by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Friday evening. Full Story
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![Charles Don Flores, on death row for the 1998 murder of 64-year-old Elizabeth Black during a burglary.]()
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State, Lawyers Debate Identifying Execution Drug Supplier
Revealing Texas' supplier of execution drugs could have a harmful effect on the provider and as a result leave the state empty-handed, a lawyer for the state suggested Wednesday during an appeals court hearing. Full Story
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![This gurney is used to perform executions at Terre Haute by lethal injection.]()
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Former Death Row Inmate Fights for Compensation
Freed after a decade on Texas death row for a murder he says he didn't commit, Alfred Dewayne Brown thinks he's entitled to compensation from the state, but Comptroller Glenn Hegar is saying no. Full Story
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![Alfred Dewayne Brown hugs his sister Connie Brown on the day of his release, June 8, 2015.]()
Credit: Karen Warren/ Houston Chronicle -
Webb County Sees Rare Death Sentence
A Webb County jury Thursday gave Demond Bluntson a death sentence for the 2012 shooting death of his 21-month-old son and his girlfriend's six-year-old boy. It was the county's first death sentence in almost 25 years. Full Story
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![Brandy Cerny, 28, with her six-year-old Jayden and 21-month-old Devian.]()
Credit: Facebook
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