Tonight, January 26, 2017, Terry Edwards is scheduled to be put to death for the 2002 murders of Tommy Walker and Mickell Goodwin in Dallas County. His May 2016 execution date was withdrawn to allow time for new attorney assignments, after Edwards told a Dallas court that his attorney had abandoned him.
Edwards current legal team has highlighted a variety of concerns in their appeals. In a recent editorial, the Dallas Morning News reports:
Edwards’ lawyers have raised questions about forensic evidence said to have connected the gun to Edwards. In addition, some 30 or more prospective jurors who were minorities were removed from the pool that made up Edwards’ jury, leaving him with an all-white panel. Finally, their investigation has found reason to believe that the prosecutor withheld potentially exculpatory evidence from both the jury and the defense team.
According to the Texas Tribune, “A new motion Edwards filed Tuesday asked the Dallas district court that set his execution to withdraw or change the date, claiming the Dallas DA’s Conviction Integrity Unit has blocked Edwards’ lawyers from looking into the former prosecutor’s past cases.”
Read more about his case from the Tribune and the The Dallas Morning News.
There currently are seven other executions scheduled to take place in Texas through July.