The latest death penalty news from The Texas Tribune.
Andre Thomas is among thousands of mentally ill inmates in a sprawling state prison system that is struggling to keep pace with the increasing need for mental health care. Medical staff say they need more state funding. Full Story
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Hospitals don't have authority to detain people in mental crisis who voluntarily enter their facilities. Advocates for reform say that is one of many holes in the state’s nearly 30-year-old mental health code. Full Story
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Grissom begins a gripping series on mental health and criminal justice, Hamilton and White on the Senate’s defense of UT-Austin, Murphy’s interactive look at public school test scores, Ramshaw finds the governor digging in on the Medicaid expansion, Rocha and Dehn visit a weapons maker with Ted Cruz, M. Smith explores another angle on unpopular standardized testing, Batheja on a car that drives right past state laws, Aguilar reports on the other immigration problem, Aaronson on a break in the race for a cancer cure: The best of our best for the week of February 18-22, 2012. Full Story
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During his troubled adolescence, lawyers for death row inmate Andre Thomas say he never received the mental health care he needed. In Texas, there are few mechanisms to diagnose and treat youths who suffer from mental illness. Full Story
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Harris County prosecutors will seek a new execution date on Monday for death row inmate Duane Buck. His defenders say race played a role in his death sentence. Prosecutors say courts have "thoroughly reviewed" and rejected his claims. Full Story
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Batheja on growing calls for infrastructure spending, Dehn and Rocha report on voters’ legislative wishes, Murphy counts noses in the new Legislature, KUT’s Philpott sniffs out a push for tax relief, M. Smith tracks House Speaker Joe Straus after his re-election, Kalifa’s lovely time-lapse look at the Legislature’s first day, Aaronson on the Medicaid expansion, Aguilar on hopes for immigration reform, Grissom on the tribulations of Kerry Max Cook, Hamilton looks into a college curriculum battle, and E. Smith’s TribLive interview with Michael Williams: The best of our best for the week of Jan. 7, 2013. Full Story
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Kerry Max Cook, who spent two decades on death row for a 1977 murder, says the prosecutor in Smith County is fighting dirty in his mission to stymie the ex-inmate's efforts to prove his innocence. Full Story
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Death row inmate Max Soffar says his 1980 murder confession was coerced. As his lawyers say his case highlights a broader debate about false confessions, police and prosecutors say he told them details only the killer would know. Full Story
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Mirroring a national trend, death sentences in Texas have declined over the last decade. Death sentences have fallen 75 percent since 2002, according to a new report. And the Texas death row population is the lowest in more than 20 years. Full Story
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Advocates for a bill requiring police to record interrogations argue it could prevent innocent people from confessing to crimes they didn't commit. Some in law enforcement worry the requirement would make it harder to try cases. Full Story
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Reform advocates argue that a bill banning "snitch" testimony would help prevent wrongful convictions. But critics of the measure say that current rules protect defendants and that eliminating such testimony could tie prosecutors’ hands. Full Story
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Preston Hughes was executed Thursday night for the fatal 1988 stabbing of two youths in Houston. Hughes was the second Texas inmate executed in two days. Full Story
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The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear the case of Carlos Trevino, who contends that the high court's decision last year's to guarantee effective habeas representation should apply in Texas as it does elsewhere. Full Story
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Preston Hughes III, who faces a Nov. 15 execution date, trusts several advocates without legal training more than his court-appointed attorney. The conflict between advocates and attorneys is not unusual in death penalty cases. Full Story
The surviving relatives of Cameron Todd Willingham have sent an application for pardon, hoping to clear his name eight years after his execution for a 1991 fire that killed his three young children. Full Story
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Prison investigator A.P. Merillat's court testimony about the violence inmates serving life sentences can inflict has helped send at least 15 murderers to death row. Now, his credibility has been condemned by the state’s highest criminal court. Full Story
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The U.S. Supreme Court denied death row inmate Cleve Foster's fourth request for a stay his execution, which is scheduled for Tuesday evening. Full Story
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Democrat Keith Hampton is focusing his campaign to lead the state’s top criminal court on winning over Republicans. That is the key, he says, to defeating controversial long-time Judge Sharon Keller. Full Story
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Recovering organs from willing convicted murderers may seem like a reasonable method to reduce the organ waiting list, but the proposal is fraught with challenges that make it unlikely to ever be an option. Full Story
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A judge in Montgomery County plans to recommend that the state move forward with the execution of Larry Swearingen, who argues that science proves he is innocent of the 1998 murder for which he was condemned to die. Full Story
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