Texas Supreme Court weighs whether state should reveal execution drug supplier
Justices questioned whether revealing the name would risk physical harm to the supplier — or only hurt its business. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/26c9f8fe06a378c9d61a16d90db20fe4/05_Supreme_Court_EW_TT.jpg)
-
![The Justices of the Texas Supreme Court hear the Texas Department of Criminal Justice v. Maurie Levin, et al. case on Jan. 23, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver / The Texas Tribune -
Eight years on Texas' highest criminal court turned Elsa Alcala into a death penalty skeptic. How will the court change without her?
Judge Elsa Alcala ended her tenure critical of the death penalty and often pleading for policy changes from the state Legislature. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/bc1093ff39278bd3efaaa149610237f7/05_Judge_Elsa_Alcala_MG.jpg)
![Judge Elsa Alcala at the swearing-in ceremony for incoming Judge Michelle Slaughter at the state Capitol on Jan. 11, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./ The Texas Tribune -
Texas court stops first execution of 2019, citing changes in intellectual disability law and bite-mark science
Blaine Milam was convicted in the 2008 East Texas death of his girlfriend's 13-month-old baby. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/90b3276f76cd59fc8f53c52921884c0e/Blaine_Milam.jpg)
![Blaine Milam was sentenced to death for the 2008 murder of 13-month-old Amora Carson during an alleged exorcism.]()
Credit: TDCJ -
What does race have to do with the death penalty in Texas?
More than 72 percent of those on death row in Texas are people of color. Studies show race plays a role in the state's harshest punishment. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/06/06/Witness_Viewing_RoomCrop.jpg)
![The execution chamber seen from one of two witness viewing rooms at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Huntsville Unit.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/01/26/Huntsville_execution_JMc_TT.jpg)
![The clock nears 6 p.m. at the "Walls" unit in Huntsville, where Texas executes its prisoners, on Jan. 26, 2017.]()
Credit: Jolie McCullough -
Convicted murderer Alvin Braziel executed for killing Mesquite man and raping his wife
Braziel's attorneys failed to secure a delay in the execution after last-minute argument that prosecutorial conduct tainted his trail. He was the 13th and final inmate Texas put to death this year. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/d643a01907e3d08fa1fdbcab483b3ea2/ALVIN_BRAZIEL_JR_TT.jpg)
![Alvin Braziel was sentenced to death for the 1993 murder of Doug and Lora White on a Mesquite jogging trail.]()
Credit: TDCJ -
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturns death sentence for inmate Kenneth Wayne Thomas
Thomas' conviction stands, but he is entitled to a new punishment hearing based on modern standards for assessing intellectual disabilities, the court ruled. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/88dd2c006a6eae3dcf0b44a976f240ae/SCOTX_exterior_cloudy_day_RZ_TT.jpg)
![Exterior of the Texas Supreme court building in Austin on Oct. 17, 2018.]()
Credit: Rachel Zein for The Texas Tribune -
Report: Houston-based pharmacy is supplier of state's execution drugs
Greenpark Compounding Pharmacy has been selling Texas drugs for lethal injections for three and a half years, according to a BuzzFeed News report. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/01/03/LethalInjection.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: iStock.com -
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rules against death row inmate Jeff Wood
The court denied relief on Wednesday to Wood, who never killed anyone, granting the state the opportunity to set another execution date for the 1996 murder of a store clerk in Kerrville. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/08/10/Jeff-Wood-Death-Row.jpg)
![Texas death row inmate, Jeffrey Lee Wood.]()
-
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals grants new trial for death row inmate Albert James Turner
The court threw out Turner's conviction because his defense attorneys said at trial that he had committed murder, even though Turner wanted to maintain his innocence. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Gavel003.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
Texas executes Robert Moreno Ramos, amid pleas for case review
Lawyers for Ramos had argued that he wasn’t aware of his rights under an international treaty, and therefore didn't receive proper legal counsel during his trial and sentencing. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/796cb5cd306be1de77cf922bb9a54557/ROBERT_RAMOS_death_row_TDCJ_TT.jpg)
![Mexican national Robert Ramos is scheduled to be executed on Nov. 14, 2018, for the Feb. 1992 murder of his wife and their two children.]()
Credit: TDCJ -
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/94911e71ccf188d6cf5fb9fac01f2683/Kwame_Rockwell_JOLIETT.jpg)
![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 Supreme Court reverses course, will hear case over whether state can keep execution drug supplier secret
The court will hold oral arguments on whether to name a past supplier of the execution drug in January. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/09/09/DeathChamber-Texas.jpg)
![Texas' execution chamber in Huntsville.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Judge recommends new trial for Texas death row inmate Rigoberto Avila
The state's highest criminal court will now weigh the recommendation. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/a4d3adca1c8d64679c3d8a80eadcff67/Rigoberto_Avila_TT.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: TDCJ -
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/754923fa4e084865bd5e561c4ddb159e/Juan_Segundo_TT.jpg)
![Juan Segundo was sentenced to death for the 1986 murder of 11-year-old Vanessa Villa in Fort Worth, Texas.]()
Credit: TDCJ -
Texas puts Daniel Acker to death, the second execution in two days
Acker was convicted in the 2000 murder of his girlfriend in East Texas. Her body was found on the side of the road after neighbors said they saw him abduct her. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/3838a45346833692ebab9ecefe1111c3/Daniel_Acker_3_TDCJ_TT.jpg)
![Daniel Acker is set for execution on Thursday, Sept. 27 for the 2000 death of his girlfriend in Hopkins County.]()
Credit: TDCJ -
Texas executes Troy Clark, the first of two scheduled executions in two days
Clark was convicted in the Tyler murder of Christina Muse, whose body was found stuffed in a cement-filled barrel months after her death. Death penalty opponents say his conviction rested too heavily on a co-defendant's testimony. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/bdbfb818560287ee8571cd9e41c0b6ea/Troy_Clark_TDCJ_TT.jpg)
![Troy Clark is set to be executed on Wednesday, Sept. 26 for the 1998 drowning death of a woman in Tyler.]()
Credit: TDCJ -
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/7e0e20770ab63bc74e09c99b2d79607c/Robert_Roberson_hearing_2_SK_TT.jpg)
![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.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
After loss at state Supreme Court, Texas keeps fighting to conceal its execution drug supplier
With new execution drugs in stock, the state is fighting a June Texas Supreme Court decision that would identify a 2014 supplier, claiming it would disrupt the state's ability to carry out the death penalty. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Lethal-Injection_Split.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
Texas executes Chris Young, who fought the state parole board in a final appeal
The death row inmate claimed that the parole board likely rejected his clemency petition because he was black. The argument highlighted a long-standing criticism of clemency in Texas. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/c7f91668f7267db4b2965a8476331112/Chris_Young_death_chamber.jpg)
![Chris Young, sentenced to death for the 2004 shooting of Hasmukh Patel.]()
Credit: TDCJ