Publications & Testimony

On July 18, 2024, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey asked the state Supreme Court to block a scheduled evidentiary hearing for Marcellus Williams and deny him the opportunity to establish his innocence before his scheduled execution on September 24, 2024. The Circuit Court of St. Louis County scheduled the August 21^st hearing to assess the “clear and convincing” evidence of Mr. Williams’ actual innocence that prompted St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell to file a motion to vacate…

Attorneys for Warren King (pictured), who was convicted and sentenced to death in Georgia in 1998 for the murder of a convenience store clerk, have uncovered evidence that shows the prosecutor, John B. Johnson, withheld critical evidence from Mr. King’s defense team at the time of trial. A new court filing indicates that ADA Johnson failed to disclose a plea deal reached with Mr. King’s co-defendant, Walter Smith, the only eyewitness to the crime. Both Mr. King and Mr. Smith were charged with…

Biography: Unwritten by Toby Lee Greenberg highlights the ruined lives of those exonerated from U.S. death rows through an art installation of books. According to a press release from the artist, the installation of empty books at The Gallery at Penn College reflects the “fragile lives wasted and lost within a system” and prompts viewers to “consider the simple moments so often taken for granted.” Each book highlights the life of an exoneree as a biography, including the name of the exoneree…

The state of Texas was scheduled to execute Ruben Gutierrez (pictured) on July 16, 2024; however, the United States Supreme Court issued a rare, last-minute stay of execution just 20 minutes before he was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection. This is the first stay of execution granted by the Supreme Court since it issued a stay for Richard Glossip in 2023. In a petition filed with the Supreme Court, attorneys for Mr. Gutierrez asked the Court to intervene because Texas has denied…

On Thursday, July 18, 2024, the state of Alabama is scheduled to execute Keith Gavin (pictured left) by lethal injection, despite court findings that his trial counsel was ineffective. Mr. Gavin was convicted and sentenced to death in 1999 for the shooting death of a delivery driver. A non-unanimous jury voted 10 – 2 in favor of the death penalty for Mr. Gavin, and the trial court accepted the jury’s sentencing outcome. During the penalty phase of trial, Mr. Gavin’s defense team did not present…

This July, in honor of Disability Pride Month, the Death Penalty Information Center is posting a weekly feature highlighting issues related to the death penalty and disability and profiles of individuals who have played key roles in changing the laws to protect prisoners with disabilities. Distinguished Professor of Law James W. Ellis has spent his career defending the rights of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), including arguing the landmark case Atkins v.

A July 7, 2024 op-ed in the Tennessean argues that the recent enaction of SB 1834, which makes the rape of a child punishable by death, “does more harm than good.” Sarah McGee (pictured), coordinator for Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, explains that during her work as a victim-witness coordinator for Davidson County District Attorney’s Office, probation officer, and assistant public defender, she “learned that when child service providers and experts, the people caring for…

A July 10, 2024, National Public Radio (NPR) investigation has revealed that Rite Away, a small chain of pharmacies located around San Antonio and Austin, Texas, compounded and provided pentobarbital for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) between 2019 and late 2023 to carry out lethal injection executions. During the same time period, records at the Texas Board of Pharmacy and federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) indicate the pharmacy was cited for multiple safety and cleanliness…

On June 21, 2024, China announced that courts, prosecutors, public, and state bodies should use the death penalty against Taiwan separatists. The state-run Xinhua news agency reported that the new guidelines recommend “severely punish[ing] Taiwan independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession crimes in accordance with the law, and resolutely defend national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.” Critics say that the vagueness of the legal language in the new…

This July, in honor of Disability Pride Month, the Death Penalty Information Center is posting a weekly feature highlighting issues related to the death penalty and disability, as well as individuals who have played key roles in changing the laws to protect prisoners with disabilities. This year, at least 4 of the 9 individuals executed presented strong evidence of serious mental health impairments. In light of longstanding concerns from experts and defense counsel, some state legislatures…