Entries by Hayley Bedard

Recent legislation signed by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry drastically restricts the ability of prisoners to challenge their convictions, which those opposed to the law have argued could lead to the execution of innocent prisoners. HB 675, signed into law in June 2025, imposes strict time limits on post-conviction relief applications and introduces “abandonment” rules that cut off appeal options for prisoners who fail to meet the law’s strict deadlines. The law goes into effect on August 1…

On July 7, 2025, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of former Virginia death-sentenced prisoner Justin Wolfe, vacating a lower court dismissal of his most recent habeas petition, and paving the way for a new hearing where Mr. Wolfe will have the opportunity to provide new evidence in support of his innocence. Mr. Wolfe was convicted and sentenced to death in 2002 for the 2001 murder-for-hire of his cannabis supplier in Northern Virginia. In his most recent petition, counsel for…

On June 26, 2025, the United States Supreme Court issued a rare 6 – 3 ruling in favor of a Texas death row prisoner, Ruben Gutierrez, holding that he may proceed with his lawsuit challenging Texas’s post-conviction DNA statute on constitutional grounds. Mr. Gutierrez was convicted and sentenced to death in 1999 for the murder and robbery of an 85-year-old woman but has long maintained he did not know his codefendants would kill the victim. According to the decision, “Gutierrez has standing to…

On June 9, 2025, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced that his office will retry death row prisoner Richard Glossip but will not seek the death penalty. AG Drummond’s decision to retry Mr. Glossip follows the February 2025 United States Supreme Court ruling in Glossip v. Oklahoma, in which the high court threw out Mr. Glossip’s 2004 conviction and ordered a new trial because prosecutors allowed a key witness to lie in court and withheld crucial information about the same…

Charles Flores (pictured) was convicted and sentenced to death in 1999 for the 1998 robbery and murder of Elizabeth “Betty” Black in her Texas home. Mr. Flores was convicted because of the testimony of Jill Barganier, the victim’s neighbor, who only identified Mr. Flores after being hypnotized by police. No DNA or physical evidence connects Mr. Flores to the crime. Attorneys for Mr. Flores argue that he should be granted a new trial because of changes in the understanding of witness testimony…

Benjamin Ritchie’s execution in Indiana on May 20, 2025, has raised new concerns about the use of pentobarbital after defense counsel reported their client displayed an unusual physical reaction after being injected with the drug. But because Indiana officials bar media witnesses from observing executions, the public has no independent witness reports on what transpired. Steve Schutte, an attorney for Mr. Ritchie, told the Indiana Capital Chronicle that Mr. Ritchie made what appeared to be…

On May 15, 2025, the Utah Supreme Court unanimously upheld a lower court’s decision vacating Douglas Carter’s (pictured) conviction and death sentence and ordering a new trial. The Court found that Utah County prosecutors violated Mr. Carter’s constitutional rights on multiple occasions with their “intentional misconduct” during his 1985 trial that accused him of causing the death of Eva Olesen during a home invasion. In November 2023, Utah County District Court Judge Derek P. Pullan ordered a…

The Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) has admitted to spending $200,000 on lethal injection execution drugs since 2023, all of which have since expired without use. Josh Tewalt, the former director of IDOC said in recent court filings that the drugs in IDOC’s possession expired because of repeated delays associated with scheduling an execution. Sanda Kuzeta-Cerimagic, an IDOC spokesperson, told the Idaho Statesman that the department does not currently have lethal injection drugs in its…