In this edition:
Scheduled executions: No executions set in Texas for the next three months
Update on innocence cases: Charles Don Flores asks court not to set execution date
In case you missed it: Remembering Scott Panetti; new report on late adolescence and the death penalty; TCADP Executive Director & attorney Gretchen Sween to be honored for their work on death penalty cases; staff changes at TCADP
Texas legislative updates: Last day of the 89th Regular Session
Featured events: Mid-year membership meeting on June 11; Summer lunch series kickoff in Austin on June 12; Justice Reform Meetup in Grapevine and TCADP Book Group meeting on June 25
Quote of the month
“Instead of a long-overdue new trial, the Attorney General seems to believe it would be more convenient to kill Charles Flores. Texans cannot stand by while their government willfully abuses its power like this. No Texan benefits from our State being known as a ‘leader’ in executing individuals with substantial innocence claims.”
– Gretchen Sween, attorney for Charles Don Flores, May 13, 2025
Texas will not carry out any executions this summer. There is one execution now scheduled for September. Blaine Milam faces execution on September 25, 2025; he also had an execution date in January 2021 but received a stay from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to consider evidence of his intellectual disability.
To date in 2025, 19 people have been executed nationwide in nine states. This includes four men in Texas. Six people face execution this month by other states.
Charles Don Flores has asked the 195th District Court in Dallas County to not set an execution date as he litigates his claim that his wrongful conviction is based solely on an identification by an eyewitness who was hypnotized. Flores has steadfastly maintained his innocence throughout his 25 years on death row. He is objecting to an unlawful request by the Office of the Attorney General for an execution date.
Hear Flores in his own words in this powerful hour-long video podcast, “Watching the Dallas Cowboys on Death Row,” which was recently nominated for a prestigious Peabody Award.
Remembering Scott Panetti
TCADP is deeply saddened by the news that Scott Panetti died on Monday, May 26, 2025, at the TDCJ-contracted prison hospital in Galveston, Texas. Panetti, a man with a long history of severe mental illness, spent more than 30 years on death row for killing his in-laws Amanda and Joe Alvarado while in the throes of psychosis. During his 1995 trial, he was allowed to represent himself while dressed in a purple cowboy costume.
Despite his well-documented psychiatric hospitalizations and diagnoses of schizophrenia, Panetti faced multiple execution dates, most recently in December 2014. On the day he was set to be put to death, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a stay to review the issues surrounding his competency. In September 2023, a federal district judge finally determined that Panettiwas not competent for execution due to the profound distortions in his perception of reality, disorganized thinking and speech, paranoid and grandiose delusions, and auditory hallucinations.
We express our condolences to the Panetti family and our appreciation to his legal team and to the many mental health professionals and advocates who supported the decades-long effort to keep the State of Texas from killing him. Their efforts raised awareness of how the criminal justice system treats individuals with severe mental illness. To understand more about the case, watch this short documentary from 2007: “Executing the Insane: The Case of Scott Panetti.”
New report on late adolescence and the death penalty
In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Roper v. Simmons that the application of the death penalty to juveniles was unconstitutional because juveniles’ brains were still developing, and they did not possess the necessary culpability. The Death Penalty Information Center’s (DPI) recent report, Immature Minds in a “Maturing Society”: Roper v. Simmons at 20, examines the updated scientific understanding of brain development, finding that the same rationale the Supreme Court used in Roper should also be applied to late adolescents. Their analysis found that while there is no significant difference in decision-making between late adolescents and adults in non-emotionally charged situations, late adolescent brains perform poorly in emotionally-charged situations that require quick decision-making. Furthermore, the report found that 18- to 20-year-olds are prone to greater risk-taking when in a group.
In Texas, nearly two-thirds of executed late adolescent defendants were tried for crimes committed alongside one or more other people. According to the DPI report, just five states – Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, and Oklahoma – carried out nearly 80% of the executions of those who were 18, 19, or 20 at the time of the crime, with Texas alone accounting for half of those executions.
TCADP highlighted several cases on Instagram earlier this year and hosted a special webinar featuring attorneys, professors, students, and friends of individuals who were sentenced to death for crimes that occurred when they were 18, 19, or 20 years old. A recording of the webinar, “Marking 20 Years of Roper v. Simmons and Redrawing the Line,” is available on the TCADP website.
Death Penalty Focus to honor two Texans
Death Penalty Focus will hold its 33rd Annual Awards Dinner on June 5, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. This year’s honorees include attorney Gretchen Sween, who will receive the Rose Elizabeth Bird Commitment to Justice Award for her representation of Robert Roberson and others on death row. TCADP Executive Director Kristin Houlé Cuellar will receive DPF’s Abolition Award in recognition of her three decades of involvement in the movement to abolish the death penalty and her leadership on death penalty cases in Texas.
Staff changes at TCADP
After more than two and a half years as TCADP’s Deputy Director, Tiara Cooper has embarked on a new chapter as a Senior Organizer with the NAACP-Legal Defense Fund. Her last day with TCADP was May 26, 2025. Tiara was a tremendous asset, bringing energy and positivity to our work for justice. Her credibility as a community leader opened new doors for TCADP and strengthened our organization, especially in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. We are grateful for Tiara’s many contributions to TCADP and wish her the very best in her new role.
Today, June 2, 2025, is the last day of the 89th Texas Legislature Regular Session. Last month, TCADP Executive Director Kristin Houle Cuellar testified before the Subcommittee on New Offenses and Changed Penalties (under the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee) in opposition to Senate Bill 990. Authored by Senator Paul Bettencourt and passed by the Senate by a vote of 26 to 5, SB 990 would make more capital offenses eligible for the death penalty based on the age of the victim. This is the third time since 2011 TCADP has fought against any expansion of the death penalty. While the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee later voted 6 to 5 in support of the bill, it was not placed on the House Calendar for a vote by the full House and thereby did not advance.
Other bills that TCADP supported also failed to advance this session, including bills to abolish the death penalty. We are grateful to those bill sponsors, to the members of the TCADP Lobby Corps for their advocacy efforts this session, and to everyone who contacted lawmakers at our request. We will continue to provide you with opportunities to engage with elected officials during the interim.
Mid-Year Membership Meeting
TCADP will hold a Mid-Year Membership Meeting on Zoom on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, from 6:30 to 7:30 PM Central Time for all TCADP members in good standing. Participants will hear about recent death penalty developments in Texas, including cases and legislative outcomes, and about current campaigns in three other states. If you have questions about your membership status, contact TCADP Executive Director Kristin Cuellar at kristin@tcadp.org, or make your first donation to TCADP today at https://tcadp.org/donate/.
TCADP Summer Lunch Series in Austin
TCADP’s summer lunch series for supporters in the Austin area is back by popular demand! These gatherings take place at the TCADP office in North Austin and feature a special guest speaker. Our first luncheon is scheduled for Thursday, June 12, 2025, when we will host Nan Tolson, the Director of Texas Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty. Lunch will be provided; pre-registration is required. Join us from 12:00 to 1:00 PM for an hour of education and connection.
Justice Reform Meetup
TCADP members in DFW will host a Justice Reform Meetup on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM at RE:defined Coffee House in Grapevine (200 W Northwest Hwy, Grapevine, TX 76051). Come by anytime to meet other supporters in the area and discuss upcoming activities in DFW. Folks will be in the “Nook”. Questions? Contact Lee Harbaugh at leeharbaugh@gmail.com.
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 Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions by John Grisham & Jim McCloskey. We will discuss the book on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at 7:00 PM CT. Register here. (Note: If you have signed up for previous book group meetings, you do not need to register again.)