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death penalty Texas

American Bar Association Releases Texas Capital Punishment Assessment

Today the American Bar Association’s Texas Capital Punishment Assessment Team released the results of its more than two-year study of the fairness and accuracy of the death penalty system in […]

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Ford v. Wainwright incompetency severe mental illness Steven Staley Texas. Court of Criminal Appeals

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rules that death row inmate cannot be forcibly medicated

A ruling by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals today, September 11, 2013, finds that a state district judge does not have the authority to order Texas death row inmate […]

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Cathy Henderson Travis County

Death Penalty Off the Table for Cathy Lynn Henderson

Today the Travis County District Attorney’s Office announced that it will not seek another death sentence for Cathy Lynn Henderson, who will be retried on charges of capital murder in […]

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El Paso forensic science

Petition for Rigoberto Avila, Jr. Seeks Evidentiary Hearing Based on New Science

*Update 09/11/13*: State District Judge Anna Perez has withdrawn the January 2014 execution date for Robert Avila in light of his new petition for an evidentiary hearing.  Read more from […]

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incompetency Panetti severe mental illness U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit

5th Circuit Deems Scott Panetti Competent for Execution

This week, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Texas death row inmate Scott Panetti is competent to be executed.  Panetti was convicted and sentenced to death for […]

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execution international law

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Accepts Petition from Robert Garza

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has accepted a petition alleging serious human rights issues in the case of Texas death row inmate Robert Garza.  Mr. Garza is scheduled to […]

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Dallas execution

State of Texas Executes Douglas Feldman

Last night, July 31, 2013, the State of Texas executed Douglas Feldman for the 1998 road-rage slayings of truck drivers Nicholas Velasquez, 62, and Robert Everett, 36, in two separate incidents. […]

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jury rejection Life in prison without parole mental illness

Austin County Jurors Reject Death Penalty

On July 11, 2013, an Austin County jury determined that Maron Thomas should spend the rest of his life in prison for the 2010 capital murders of his brother and […]