In this edition:
Scheduled executions: Five states set to carry out executions this month; less than 50 days to save Robert Roberson
TCADP 2025 Annual Conference: Seeking nominations for our Annual Awards
In case you missed it: New York Times video series features junk science case of Charles Don Flores; remembering the defense attorney who helped exonerate Clarence Brandley
Featured events: TCADP Book Group; Open Congress in Austin to feature exoneree Kerry Max Cook; Community & Coffee in Fort Worth; World Day Against the Death Penalty
Quote of the Month
“As the clock ticks toward Roberson’s execution, the need for action is urgent. But so is the work that remains to be done to undo the scandalous delays and barriers to getting the people off death row who do not belong there.”
-Austin Sarat, “Why is it so hard to correct mistakes on death row?”, The Hill, August 19, 2024
Scheduled executions
Five executions set six days apart in September
Five states—Alabama, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas—have scheduled executions between September 20 and 26, 2024. If it proceeds, it would be the first execution in South Carolina since 2011.
On September 24, 2024, Texas is scheduled to execute Travis Mullis. In 2011, a jury in Galveston County convicted and sentenced Mullis to death for killing his three-month-old son, Alijah. Because Mullis waived his rights to both a direct appeal and state habeas petition, there has been no constitutional review regarding his conviction and sentence, according to his current attorney.
There are no requests for public action in this specific case. In these situations, we encourage you to express your general opposition to the death penalty by contacting the Governor’s Office and/or participating in a vigil on the day of the execution. We will post any updates on Mullis’s case on TCADP’s social media platforms.
Less than 50 days to stop the execution of Robert Roberson
The State of Texas also has scheduled two executions in October. Of gravest concern is the case of Robert Roberson, who faces the very real threat of becoming the first person executed in the United States based on the debunked and discredited Shaken Baby Syndrome hypothesis. There is overwhelming new scientific and medical evidence that his chronically ill two-year-old daughter, Nikki, died of natural and accidental causes. Convicted in 2003, Roberson has spent more than 20 years on death row for a crime that never occurred. His execution is set for October 17, 2024.
We need YOU to join the eminent scientists and medical doctors, innocence groups, best-selling novelist John Grisham, and Brian Wharton, the lead detective who testified for the prosecution at trial but now believes in Roberson’s innocence, in calling on Texas to stop this execution.
Here are three things you can do right now to support Robert Roberson:
1. Add your name to the petition sponsored by the Innocence Project.
2. Share Roberson’s story far and wide! Either repost from TCADP or the Innocence Project or use the templates provided in this social media toolkit.
3. Watch and share the New York Times video in which Brian Wharton visits Roberson on death row to apologize for the role he played in Roberson’s wrongful conviction.
Thank you for raising your voice to #SaveRoberson.
To date this year, there have been 13 executions nationwide, including three in Texas. Executions have occurred in six other states: Alabama (three); Florida (one); (Georgia (one); Missouri (two); Oklahoma (two); and Utah (one).
TCADP is accepting nominations for our annual Courage, Appreciation, and Media Awards. With these awards, we recognize outstanding individuals and organizations who have made significant and selfless contributions towards ending the death penalty in Texas (read about previous recipients). All award recipients will be honored during the TCADP 2025 Annual Conference, which will take place in Austin, Texas on Saturday, February 22, 2025. Stay tuned for more details about this informative and inspirational day of advocacy!
The deadline for submitting award nominations is October 17, 2024.
New York Times video series features junk science case of Charles Don Flores
Last month, the New York Times posted a powerful video featuring Charles Don Flores. Flores was convicted in Dallas and has spent more than 25 years on death row for a crime he maintains he did not commit. There is no physical evidence linking him to the crime scene. The police used “investigative hypnosis” on an eyewitness who claimed, for the first time at trial 13 months after the crime, to place Flores at the house where Elizabeth Black was killed. Although the use of testimony induced by police-conducted hypnosis is no longer allowed in Texas courtrooms, Flores has not benefited from this change in the law.
Dallas has seen its fair share of wrongful convictions. Just last week, on August 29, 2024, Ben Spencer was officially exonerated after spending more than three decades in prison for a crime he did not commit. A judge approved a motion by the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office to dismiss the case against him. Spencer is the 46th person to be declared innocent and exonerated in Dallas County since 2001. As with the case of Charles Flores, flawed witness identification testimony and prosecutorial misconduct played a role in Spencer’s wrongful conviction.
Remembering Mike DeGeurin, who helped exonerate Clarence Brandley
TCADP expresses its condolences to the family and friends of prominent Houston defense attorney, Mike DeGeurin, who passed away on August 10, 2024. Among other cases, DeGeurin is known for his successful effort to exonerate Clarence Brandley, who was wrongly convicted in Montgomery County in 1981 and spent nearly a decade on death row until new evidence helped free him in 1990. Brandley, whose case sparked an international outcry, is one of 18 death row exonerees in Texas.
TCADP Book Group
The TCADP Book Group meets every six to eight weeks on Zoom and reads a mix of fiction, non-fiction, and memoirs. Our next selection is The Power of One, a novel by Bryce Courtenay. We will discuss the book with members of the Charles Flores Book Club on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, at 7:00 PM CT. Register here.
Open Congress at The Texas Tribune Festival
Open Congress at The Texas Tribune Festival will take place in Austin on Saturday, September 7, 2024. This free event, which includes numerous panels and interactive experiences, will take over Congress Avenue between 7th and 11th Streets. Of special interest are these two panels:
– “Uncool” Don’t triple-digit temperatures in Texas prisons count as cruel and unusual punishment? at 2:45 PM in the Palo Duro Tent @ Open Congress, featuring filmmaker and director Richard Linklater and justice advocates.
– “Texas Monthly Presents: An Innocent Man” Why it took 46 years to clear Kerry Max Cook’s name, at 4:00 PM at 800 Congress, featuring defense attorneys, journalist Michael Hall, and Kerry Max Cook, who was declared actually innocent by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals this summer after a legal odyssey that included three trials and nearly 20 years on death row.
Community & Coffee in Fort Worth
TCADP Deputy Director Tiara Cooper will host Community & Coffee on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, at Hustle Blendz Coffee (120 St Louis Ave #101, Fort Worth, TX 76104). Come by anytime between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM to meet other TCADP supporters in DFW and connect with our efforts and upcoming events. To RSVP, email TCooper@TCADP.org.
World Day Against the Death Penalty
Since 2003, the global community has recognized October 10 as World Day Against the Death Penalty. If you would like to organize an event in your community, on campus, or with your faith community to observe World Day, please contact TCADP Deputy Director Tiara Cooper at TCooper@tcadp.org.