TCADP

A Dallas County jury has sentenced Naim Rasool Muhammad to death for drowning his two young sons, Elijah and Naim, in 2011.  The jury deliberated for less than 10 minutes before convicting Naim Muhammad of capital murder.  After hearing closing arguments in the penalty phase of the trial earlier today, the jury returned three hours later [...]

On May 15, 2015, the State of Texas put Jeffrey Williams to death for the murder of plainclothes Houston police officer Troy Blando in 1999 while being arrested for stealing a car.  The U.S. Supreme Court denied his last appeal regarding a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.  Read more from the Associated Press, via the [...]

*Updated on May 15, 2013* A state district judge has formally withdrawn the May 21 execution date for Robert Pruett. A hearing will take place on June 3 regarding testing of DNA evidence.

On May 7, 2013, the State of Texas put Carroll Parr to death for the 2003 drug-related robbery and killing of Joel Dominguez in Waco. It was the fifth execution to take place in Texas this year. Earlier in the day, a Galveston County jury sentenced Bartholomew Granger to death for the murder of 79-year-old Minnie Ray Sebolt outside the Jefferson County Courthouse in 2012.

Moments ago, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed into law a bill that repeals the death penalty.  Maryland is now the  18th death penalty-free state.   According to the Baltimore Sun, the death penalty had been on the books in Maryland for more than 300 years. Congratulations to our colleagues in Maryland and everyone who worked [...]

We are grateful to everyone who contacted the members of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee last month to urge hearings on House Bills 1703, 2458, and 2614, and to the intrepid members of the TCADP Lobby Corps who stayed with us at the Capitol until midnight on Monday. Please make one more call (or email) to the Committee members this week to thank them for conducting fair and open hearings on HB 1703 and HB 2458 and urge their support for repealing the death penalty in Texas.

The State of Texas is scheduled to carry out the following executions in May: On May 7, Carroll Parr is scheduled to be put to death for the 2003 drug-related robbery and killing of Joel Dominguez in Waco.  According to a 2012 article in the Houston Chronicle, Parr sought to end his appeals. *Update* Parr [...]