Categories
Ineffective assistance of counsel U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Supreme Court remands case of Terence Andrus based on woefully inadequate legal representation

On Monday, June 8, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court remanded the death penalty case of Terence Andrus to Texas for further review, finding that his trial attorney provided inadequate and deficient legal representation. Among his many failings were neglecting to investigate or present readily-available mitigating evidence of Andrus’s troubled upbringing, which could have persuaded the jury to spare his life.

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Stay of execution U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Supreme Court stays the execution of Ruben Gutierrez

Just an hour before he was scheduled to be executed by the State of Texas, Ruben Gutierrez received a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court. Gutierrez had asked the U.S. […]

Categories
execution U.S. Supreme Court

Ruben Gutierrez seeks 30-day stay from Governor Greg Abbott; appeal also pending with U.S. Supreme Court

Today, Ruben Gutierrez, who is scheduled to be executed by the State of Texas on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his execution in order to consider his request to allow a Christian chaplain in the execution chamber, a request that was routine in hundreds of Texas executions until April 2019, when the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) changed the rules. The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops filed an amicus brief in support of Gutierrez.

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execution U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit

Fifth Circuit lifts stay of execution for Ruben Gutierrez

Late Friday night, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas’s stay of execution of Ruben Gutierrez, who seeks DNA testing […]

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execution

Texas Bishops support 1st Amendment Rights of Ruben Gutierrez; case pending at the Fifth Circuit

Today, the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops (TCCB) filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in support of death row prisoner Ruben Gutierrez. […]

Categories
DNA testing Stay of execution

Federal judge grants stay of execution to Ruben Gutierrez

Update: The Texas Attorney General has appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to overturn the stay. Check back for new developments. Earlier today, a federal […]

Categories
intellectual disabilities Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles

Bobby Moore, who spent 40 years on death row, granted parole

Bobby Moore was removed from death row in December 2019 after years of legal wrangling and two reversals by the U.S. Supreme Court related to his intellectual disability, which made […]

Categories
COVID-19 execution prosecutorial misconduct

TCADP June 2020 Newsletter: State of Texas scheduled to execute Ruben Gutierrez in two weeks

In this edition of our monthly newsletter, you’ll find information on the scheduled execution of Ruben Gutierrez and how you can support his application for clemency or a reprieve. You’ll also find updates on other Texas death penalty cases and the results of the 2020 Houston Area Survey, which measured record-low support for the death penalty.