In this edition:
Scheduled executions: We have 30 days to stop the execution of James Broadnax
Case updates: Competency hearing for Andre Thomas called off due to concerns about his severe mental illness; support continues to build for Charles Flores
TCADP 2026 Annual Conference recap: Thanks to everyone who joined us in Houston
Organizational announcements: TCADP welcomes two new board members
Featured events: Virtual panel discussion about the case of Charles Flores on April 6; TCADP Book Group meeting on April 22 on Zoom
Scheduled executions
James Broadnax is scheduled to be executed by the state of Texas on April 30, 2026, despite compelling evidence that he did not commit the murders for which he was convicted and a trial tainted by racial bias. Prosecutors systematically excluded Black jurors and weaponized James’s teenage rap lyrics to secure a death sentence.
His cousin, Demarius Cummings—the actual shooter—was sentenced to life without parole and has now admitted he committed the murders of Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler during a robbery in Dallas in 2008. DNA evidence supports Demarius’s admission.
The new evidence in James’s case fundamentally undermines the State’s argument for his murder conviction and death sentence. If the jury had known that Demarius shot the victims instead of James, he likely would not have been sentenced to death. James should not receive a more severe punishment than the person who actually committed the killings.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Texas Governor Greg Abbott have the power to intervene in James’s case. Please sign and share the petition urging these authorities to stop the execution of James Broadnax and commute his sentence!
Here is the URL for the petition if you have any problems with the embedded link: bit.ly/savejamesbroadnax
To date in 2026, seven people have been executed nationwide, including Charles Thompson and Cedric Ricks in Texas. Florida, which put 19 people to death in 2025, has executed four people this year and has two more executions scheduled this month. Alabama was scheduled to execute Charles “Sonny” Burton on March 12, but Governor Kay Ivey commuted his sentence due to concerns that he participated in the crime but was not the shooter. Thanks to everyone who signed the petition for Mr. Burton – your voices made a difference!
Texas currently has scheduled the executions of three more people, including Edward Busby, who faces execution on May 14, 2026. We will share information about his case soon.
Case updates
Competency hearing for Andre Thomas called off due to concerns his mental illness renders him incapable of being transported safely
You may recall the tragic case of Andre Thomas, who was set to be executed by the State of Texas in April 2023 despite overwhelming evidence of his severe mental illness. A hearing regarding his competency to be executed was scheduled to take place in Sherman, Texas in early March, but was called off after the State’s expert was unable to reevaluate him. As Austin Sarat explains in his piece for The Hill, that’s because Thomas is too mentally ill to be transported safely from the prison to the courthouse. Read “Not even Texas should want to execute this death row inmate.”
Support builds for Charles Flores
Last month, a diverse group of supporters—including the magicians Penn & Teller, the American Psychological Association, crime survivor Jennifer Thompson, Texas Defender Service, and exoneree Christopher Scott—urged the United States Supreme Court to review the case of Charles Don Flores. Charles is an innocent man on Texas’s death row whose conviction was based on an unreliable “identification” made by a witness who was “hypnotized” by law enforcement.
These “friend of the court” briefs explain, among other things, that “investigative hypnosis” is not a reliable memory-retrieval tool but instead instills false confidence in contaminated and imagined memories. The use of this discredited technique is one of many reasons inaccurate eyewitness identifications are a leading cause of wrongful convictions. The amici all urge the Court to review the case, offering their perspectives on why it presents an exceptionally important constitutional question and involves a grave injustice.
Like Houdini and James Randi before them, Penn & Teller believe it would be a “failure of integrity” not to speak up and use their skills as manipulators of perception to expose flim-flam when they see it. And they see it in the case of petitioner Charles Don Flores, in which law enforcement conducted an investigative hypnosis session that was junk science of the worst sort.
Link to the Penn & Teller brief.
Want to learn more about the case of Charles Flores?
- Listen to The Unforgotten podcast, Season Five: “Riding Shotgun,” which looks into the investigation of the murder of Betty Black and the prosecution of Charles, who has spent more than 25 years on death row for a crime he did not commit. The podcast is a partnership between the Texas Observer and Free Range Productions and will have six episodes.
- Read “I interviewed the inmate in the ‘hypnotized witness’ case. There’s still time to stop his execution.” by sports journalist Pablo Torre, who met Charles on death row earlier this year.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
- Please join us in urging the authorities in Texas to grant Charles a new trial. Sign the petition.
- Attend the virtual panel discussion on April 6, 2026; see below for details.
TCADP 2026 Annual Conference recap
The TCADP 2026 Annual Conference: Overcoming Legacies; Reimagining Justice took place on March 7, 2026, in Houston, Texas, with more than 130 supporters and guests from across the state, as well as several out-of-state friends. Thanks to everyone who joined us for our signature statewide event!
During the day, we heard from criminal justice experts in Harris County, as well as from capital defense attorneys, law professors, restorative justice practitioners, and individuals who have been directly impacted by executions. We honored seven people who have raised awareness of the death penalty and criminal justice issues, including filmmakers, exonerees, advocates, and defense attorneys. And we heard an impassioned keynote address by Professor Corinna Barrett Lain, the author of Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection.
View photos courtesy of A.T. Olson Photography.
New TCADP Board Members
The TCADP Board of Directors has welcomed two new members: Lee Harbaugh and Hollie Toups, who were elected during the General Membership Meeting on February 19, 2026.
Lee Harbaugh is a professional pianist and real estate agent from Arlington, Texas. In 2012, he served as the foreman of a Tarrant County capital jury that sent Kwame Rockwell to death row. In the years following that trial, Lee experienced an inner transformation that ultimately led him to conclude that the death penalty is never beneficial for anyone. Today, he devotes much of his spare time to raising awareness about the destructive nature of capital punishment.
Hollie Toups is a lifelong advocate working at the intersection of the criminal justice and child welfare systems to expand access to justice and uplift impacted communities. She currently serves as Director of Pro Bono Services at Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas, where she leads attorney recruitment, develops trainings, and oversees pro bono legal clinics that connect underserved Texans with representation. She earned a Master’s in Criminal Justice from Lamar University and has served as co-chair of the Austin Bar Association’s Pro Bono Committee.
TCADP extends its gratitude to outgoing Board Treasurer Tammy Van Dunk for her six years of service on the Board.
Featured events
When Due Process Fails: How the Death Penalty Ensnares the Innocent
Students at Georgetown Law, in partnership with the University of Texas School of Law’s Capital Punishment Center and George Washington Law, are hosting an online panel on Monday, April 6, 2026, at 5:00 PM CT. The discussion will examine the case of Charles Flores, which is currently pending before the U.S Supreme Court, and explore the due process concerns it raises.
The panel brings together leading voices in the field, including Georgetown Law Professor Cliff Sloan, Harvard Law Professor Carol Steiker, death row exoneree Anthony Graves, and Charles’s attorney, Gretchen Sween. This event is free and open to the public. Register here.
Webinar Link to the Event: https://georgetown.zoom.us/j/94064394827
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 reading selection is Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America by Gilbert King. We will discuss this book on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at 7:00 PM CT on Zoom.
Register here to receive book group announcements and meeting links. (Note: If you have signed up for previous book group meetings, you do not need to register again.)