The latest death penalty news from The Texas Tribune.
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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The U.S. Supreme Court declined a request to stay the execution of Marvin Wilson scheduled for this evening. Wilson's lawyers argue that he is mentally disabled and should be exempted from the death penalty. Full Story
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Delma Banks Jr., one of Texas death row's longest residents, on Wednesday agreed to a life sentence for the 1980 murder of Richard Whitehead. He will be eligible for parole in 12 years. Full Story
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Williamson County officials have arrested a 53-year-old former Garland resident in the 1980 murder of Mildred McKinney. The Williamson County Sheriff's Office says it identified the DNA and a fingerprint of Steven Alan Thomas at the crime scene. Full Story
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For Yokamon Hearn's scheduled execution on July 18, officials plan to administer a lethal dose of pentobarbital instead of the three-drug cocktail that has been used since Texas reinstated the death penalty in 1982. Full Story
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Kerry Max Cook is battling with prosecutors to clear his name of a 1978 murder conviction, and says his mission is doomed if he must fight in Smith County. That's where a court ruled misconduct had “tainted this entire matter from the outset.” Full Story
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The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned a death sentence for Manuel Velez, citing inaccurate testimony during Velez's sentencing. Full Story
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Our primary night scoreboard and liveblog, Aguilar on runoff strategy, Root and Batheja on Round two of Dewhurst vs. Cruz, M. Smith on how public education candidates fared, Ramshaw on what surprised pundits and pollsters, Galbraith on concerns over our electric grid, Aaronson on which government entities have access to your personal info, Grissom with the latest on the Hank Skinner case, Ramsey on Hispanic Republicans and part three of Tan's family planning series: The best of our best content from May 28 to June 1, 2012. Full Story
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Texans favor the death penalty, even with the alternative of life without parole. They are also nominally in favor of abortion rights and are more likely than not to favor medically assisted suicide for terminal patients. Full Story
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