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TCADP Press Release: Did Texas Execute an Innocent Man?

A book-length article published today in the Columbia University Human Rights Law Review sheds new light on the case of Carlos DeLuna – who was executed by the State of Texas on December 7, 1989 for the 1983 murder of convenience store clerk Wanda Lopez in Corpus Christi – and seeks to answer haunting questions as to whether he was in fact innocent of this crime.

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Court of Criminal Appeals Grants Stay to Steven Staley

Update as of 5:00 PM on May 14: We just learned that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has granted a stay of execution to Steven Staley. The court did not provide a reason for the reprieve, saying only that “it had determined the execution should be halted “‘pending further order by this court.'”

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abolition Bexar County Bob Ray Sanders capital punishment death penalty execution Fort Worth Star-Telegram San Antonio Express News Texas wrongful execution Wrongfully Convicted

Two New Op-Eds Call for Abolition of Death Penalty

This week, two major Texas newspapers featured op-eds calling for the abolition of the death penalty. In the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (“‘Myth of violence’ drives capital punishment,” May 1, 2012), […]

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5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Stay of Execution for Anthony Bartee

Ninety minutes after he was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection in Huntsville, Anthony Bartee learned that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had declined to […]

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Anthony Bartee Receives Stay of Execution; May be Temporary

The Associated Press is reporting that Anthony Bartee has received a stay of execution from a federal judge in San Antonio. Prosecutors have appealed the decision, however, so the stay may only be temporary. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down Bartee’s appeal late this afternoon.

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Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles Votes Unanimously Against Anthony Bartee

Thank you to everyone who has taken action to stop tonight’s scheduled execution of Anthony Bartee, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of David Cook in […]

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The Final Collapse of the Deterrence Argument?

In upholding the revised capital punishment statutes of several states back in 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized two main purposes of the death penalty: 1.) deterrence (to stop people […]

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Anthony Bartee Beunka Adams death penalty DNA testing execution Texas Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit U.S. Supreme Court

State of Texas Executes Beunka Adams

Last night, April 26, 2012, the State of Texas carried out its fifth execution of the  year.  Beunka Adams was executed for the murder of Kenneth Vandever, 37, outside Rusk in […]