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death penalty execution forced medication Ford v. Wainwright incompetency mental illness Steven Staley Tarrant County Texas Texas. Court of Criminal Appeals U.S. Supreme Court

Court of Criminal Appeals Grants Stay to Steven Staley

Update as of 5:00 PM on May 14: We just learned that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has granted a stay of execution to Steven Staley. The court did not provide a reason for the reprieve, saying only that “it had determined the execution should be halted “‘pending further order by this court.'”

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abolition Bexar County Bob Ray Sanders capital punishment death penalty execution Fort Worth Star-Telegram San Antonio Express News Texas wrongful execution Wrongfully Convicted

Two New Op-Eds Call for Abolition of Death Penalty

This week, two major Texas newspapers featured op-eds calling for the abolition of the death penalty. In the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (“‘Myth of violence’ drives capital punishment,” May 1, 2012), […]

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Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles Votes Unanimously Against Anthony Bartee

Thank you to everyone who has taken action to stop tonight’s scheduled execution of Anthony Bartee, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of David Cook in […]

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Anthony Bartee Beunka Adams death penalty DNA testing execution Texas Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit U.S. Supreme Court

State of Texas Executes Beunka Adams

Last night, April 26, 2012, the State of Texas carried out its fifth execution of the  year.  Beunka Adams was executed for the murder of Kenneth Vandever, 37, outside Rusk in […]

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New Developments in Anthony Bartee Case, Call for Action

Update as of 4:30 PM on May 1:  The San Antonio Express-News is reporting that “State District Court Judge Mary Román ruled the [DNA] results wouldn’t have impacted the outcome of […]

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Update on Beunka Adams: Court Lifts Stay, Execution Will Proceed

Update as of 5:30 PM: The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to intervene in the case of Beunka Adams, allowing his execution this evening to proceed as scheduled. This will be the 5th execution to occur in Texas in 2012.

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Anthony Bartee death penalty DNA testing execution Stay of execution Texas

Federal Judge Stays Execution of Beunka Adams

According to the Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Michael Schneider has granted a stay of execution to Beunka Adams.  Adams was scheduled to be executed on Thursday, April 26, 2012 for […]

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State of Texas Executes Jesse Hernandez

Last night, March 28, 2012, the State of Texas executed Jesse Hernandez for the murder of 10-month-old Karlos Borjas in 2001.   Hernandez and his wife were babysitting Karlos and his […]