Texas executes Wesley Ruiz despite ongoing fight over state’s use of old lethal injection drugs
Ruiz was convicted in the 2007 shooting death of Dallas police Senior Cpl. Mark Nix after a high-speed chase. Full Story
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![Texas' execution chamber in Huntsville.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Texas death row prisoners spend decades in solitary confinement. A lawsuit wants to end that “cruel” treatment.
Men sentenced to death in Texas are held in isolation until their execution dates, with little human contact, medical care or legal help, according to a lawsuit filed to improve treatment of the condemned. Full Story
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![The Allan B. Polunsky Unit in Livingston, TX.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Questions about validity of shaken baby syndrome not enough to give Texas death row inmate new trial, court rules
Robert Roberson was sentenced to death for killing his 2-year-old daughter. Experts have since backtracked on the science used in part to win his conviction. Full Story
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![Robert Roberson seeks a new trial for the 2003 conviction of the murder of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in Palestine, Texas on August 14, 2018.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Texas executes Robert Fratta after high courts reject challenges to expired lethal injection drugs
Fratta was convicted in the 1994 murder-for-hire of his wife. Lawyers unsuccessfully challenged Texas’ routine of extending the expiration dates of its lethal drugs, a practice begun when many pharmacies began refusing to provide doses for executions. Full Story
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![The view of Texas' execution chamber from a witness viewing room.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
U.S. Supreme Court tells Texas to reconsider executing man convicted with faulty DNA evidence
Areli Escobar was sentenced to death in 2011 for an Austin murder, but even prosecutors now agree his conviction relied heavily on faulty DNA testing by the discredited Travis County crime lab. Full Story
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![The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 4, 2022.]()
Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ execution of Stephen Barbee was prolonged while officials searched for a vein
Barbee, convicted in the 2005 murders of his pregnant ex-girlfriend and her child, was unable to straighten his arms, which caused the delay. Courts allowed Barbee’s execution despite concerns from his lawyer that his disability would make the process “torture.” Full Story
![Texas' execution chamber in Huntsville.]()
Credit: Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Texas executes Tracy Beatty for strangling mother to death
Beatty’s lawyers argued unsuccessfully that the 2003 Smith County murder didn’t qualify for the death penalty. Neither the Supreme Court nor Texas Gov. Greg Abbott intervened on Wednesday. Full Story
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![Huntsville, Texas: Exteriors of the Texas State Penitentiary “Walls Unit” August 20, 2020 in Huntsville, Texas.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Texas tries again to prove that Scott Panetti is just sane enough to be executed
The convicted murderer’s lengthy history of schizophrenia and delusions is well documented, from trying to call Jesus Christ as a trial witness to believing that prison dentists put a transmitter in his tooth. Full Story
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![The Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville, also known as the "Walls Unit,” near downtown Huntsville, on Aug. 16, 2022.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Rodney Reed pleads before U.S. Supreme Court for DNA testing that might establish his innocence
The nation’s high court heard arguments Tuesday on whether Reed can seek DNA testing of crucial evidence in the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop County. Full Story
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![In the center, from left: RJ Reed, 5, Rodrick Reed, and Sanda Reed, join hands as they pray during a rally at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 11, 2022. The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments of Rodney Reed vs. Bryan Goertz, examining the statute of limitations for a claim seeking DNA testing of crime-scene evidence after Reed was sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Texas may delay trial for alleged Walmart shooter if federal prosecutors want to seek death penalty
A state district judge in El Paso said Tuesday that he’ll wait to see what federal prosecutors decide in their case before moving ahead with a state trial for the man accused of killing 23 shoppers in 2019. Full Story
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![A group of people carry crosses bearing the names of the victims lost in the Walmart shooting during a memorial service on the third anniversary of the Walmart mass shooting that left 23 dead, at Ponder Park in El Paso on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Supreme Court rejects request to review Texas death row inmate Andre Thomas’ case
Thomas’ attorneys appealed saying that some members of the jury that sentenced him had expressed racist views. In their dissent, the court’s three liberal justices wrote that Thomas’ conviction and death sentence were unconstitutional. Full Story
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![The Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 1, 2021. Today, the Supreme Court will hear cases regarding abortion in Texas.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Texas executes John Ramirez for the 2004 murder of a Corpus Christi man
Earlier this year, Ramirez won a legal fight to have his pastor beside him at his execution. Full Story
![Huntsville, Texas: Exteriors of the Texas State Penitentiary “Walls Unit” August 20, 2020 in Huntsville, Texas.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Texas executes Kosoul Chanthakoummane for the 2006 murder of a real estate agent
DNA evidence tied Chanthakoummane to Sarah Walker’s murder at a model home in Collin County. In last-minute appeals, his attorneys argue the evidence was not conclusive. Full Story
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![The exterior of Huntsville Unit, a prison in Huntsville, on Nov. 14, 2019.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Execution halted as court questions whether Ramiro Gonzales should have been sentenced to life in prison
The jury sentenced Gonzales to death after a prosecution expert testified that he posed a future danger to society. The expert now says his data was wrong. Full Story
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![The Huntsville Unit in Huntsville on August 20, 2020.]()
Credit: Mark Felix/The Texas Tribune -
Texas judge won’t let prosecutor cancel scheduled execution of John Ramirez
Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez said he is ethically opposed to the death penalty, but an employee wrongfully requested the execution date against his wishes. Gonzalez sought to cancel the execution two days later. Full Story
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![Nueces County District Attorney Mark A. Gonzalez speaks at a panel during the 2019 Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 28, 2019.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: Melissa Lucio gets a late reprieve
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Jolie about the stay of execution in Lucio’s case and with Josh about property taxes in Texas. Full Story
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![State Rep. Victoria Neave Criado, D-Dallas, speaks at a rally organized at Dallas City Hall to free Melissa Lucio on April 7, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Supreme Court will consider appeal for DNA testing in Rodney Reed death penalty case
Reed has long professed his innocence in the 1996 murder for which he faces execution. Key evidence in the case has not been tested for DNA, including the ligature used to strangle 19-year-old Stacey Stites. Full Story
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![Rodney Reed was sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop.]()
Credit: Courtesy KXAN -
Listen as Melissa Lucio learns her life has been spared
Lucio learned of her reprieve in a phone call from state Rep. Jeff Leach. Full Story
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![Melissa Lucio prays with a group of Texas lawmakers.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Jeff Leach -
Melissa Lucio’s execution halted by Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Acknowledging substantive questions about Lucio’s guilt and the fairness of her conviction, the appeals court blocked her Wednesday execution so the case can be further investigated. Full Story
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![Melissa Lucio.]()
Credit: Courtesy of the Lucio family -
Texas executes Carl Buntion, the state’s oldest death row prisoner, for Houston police officer’s murder
Buntion, 78, was sentenced to death for the 1990 murder of a Houston police officer. His Thursday execution was the first Texas has carried out this year. Full Story
![Huntsville, Texas: Exteriors of the Texas State Penitentiary “Walls Unit” August 20, 2020 in Huntsville, Texas.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune
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