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State And Federal Info

Texas

Famous Cases

Karla Faye Tucker (November 18, 1959 – February 3, 1998) was convicted of murder in Texas in 1984 and put to death in 1998. She was the first woman to be executed in the United States since 1984, and the first in Texas since 1863.

Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in 2004 for arson in a 1991 house fire that killed his three daughters. The arson theories used as evidence in his case have since be repudiated by scientific advances, and arson experts now believe the fire may have been accidental.

Notable Cases

Anthony Graves spent 16 years in prison before being released on October 27, 2010. He was convicted based on the testimony of Robert Carter, who said Graves was his accomplice. Two weeks before Carter was scheduled to be executed in 2000, he provided a statement saying he lied about Graves’s involvement in the crime. He repeated that statement minutes before his execution. Graves’ conviction was overturned in 2006 due to prosecutorial misconduct, and the special prosecutor assigned to his new trial dropped the charges against him, saying “We found not one piece of credible evidence that links Anthony Graves to the commission of this capital murder…He is an innocent man”

Randall Dale Adams was convicted of killing a police officer. Another suspect, David Harris, was heard bragging about the murder, but said that Adams was the killer. The witnesses in Adams’ case were never cross-examined because they disappeared after testifying. After Adams’ conviction and death sentence were overturned, prosecutors did not seek a new trial due to evidence of Adams’ innocence. This case is the subject of the movie The Thin Blue Line.

Several death row inmates in Texas have been executed despite serious doubts about their guilt, but they have not been officially exonerated. (Names link to details of that case.)

  • Cameron Todd Willingham
  • Gary Graham
  • Carlos De Luna
  • Ruben Cantu
  • Frances Newton

Milestones in Abolition/Reinstatement

In September 2005, Texas implemented life without parole sentencing in capital cases. Prior to that, juries had a choice between the death penalty and life in prison with a possibility of parole after 40 years.

Texas “Firsts”

Texas was the first U.S. state to carry out an execution by lethal injection, executing Charles Brooks on December 7, 1982.

Texas is first in the number of executions carried out in the United States since 1976.

Other Interesting Facts

One Texas county (Harris) accounts for 280+ death sentences and 127 executions since 1982.

The Texas Governor cannot impose a moratorium on executions, as this authority is not allowed in the Texas Constitution. To give the Governor this power would require a constitutional amendment approved by voters.

Clemency process: The governor has clemency authority on the advice of the Board of Pardons and Paroles and needs a favorable recommendation from the Board in order to be able to grant clemency. The governor is not obligated to follow the recommendation of the Board, however. The governor also has the power to grant a one-time 30 day reprieve. The governor appoints the members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Of Texas’ 254 counties, 136 have never sent a single offender to death row (1976-present). See a map of death sentences in Texas by county.

Texas has the Law of Parties, which allows offenders to be sentenced to death if present while a capital crime is being committed based on the offender being “criminally responsible for the conduct of another.”

13 juveniles were executed in Texas before the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roper v. Simmons. 29 juveniles awaiting execution were sentenced to Life In Prison and removed from death row in response to the decision.

Although the U.S. Supreme Court prohibited the application of the death penalty to persons with mental retardation in Atkins v. Virginia (2002), the Texas Legislature still has not enacted statutory provisions governing the standards and procedures to be followed in these cases.

Graphic by The Texas Tribune based upon data as of June 24, 2015.
Graphic by The Texas Tribune based upon data as of June 24, 2015.

Resources

  • Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (TCADP)
  • American Bar Association Texas Death Penalty Assessment Report
  • TCADP 2017 Annual Report
  • Texas Defender Service
  • Department of Criminal Justice
  • State Prosecuting Attorney
  • Task Force on Indigent Defense
  • Victims’ services
  • The StandDown Texas Project
  • Death Penalty News & Updates from Professor Rick Halperin of Southern Methodist University
  • Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions
  • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
  • Texas Criminal Justice Integrity Unit
  • Texas Death Row Information from the Dept. of Criminal Justice
  • ExecutionWatch, a radio show with live coverage of every Texas execution
  • Texas After Violence Project
  • List of current Texas death row prisoners, from the Texas Tribune
  • Faces on death row, a project of the Texas Tribune, featuring photographs and demographic data for Texas’ death row prisoners

Texas Execution Totals Since 1976

News & Developments


Human Rights

Feb 01, 2023

Texas Death Row Prisoner Commits Suicide

On January 21, 2023, Texas death row pris­on­er Terence Andrus hanged him­self at the age of 34, a lit­tle more than 6 months after the U.S. Supreme Court denied review of his case for a sec­ond time. His lawyer,Gretchen Sween, told the Los Angeles…

Texas Death Row Prisoner Commits Suicide

Innocence

Jan 13, 2023

Supreme Court Reverses Texas Court Decision Based on Prosecutor’s Admission About Flawed Forensic Evidence

The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed the denial of relief to a Texas death-row pris­on­er whose request for new tri­al is sup­port­ed by local pros­e­cu­tors. In a two-sen­tence deci­sion, the Court grant­ed cer­tio­rari to Areli Escoba…

Supreme Court Reverses Texas Court Decision Based on Prosecutor’s Admission About Flawed Forensic Evidence

Upcoming Executions

Jan 05, 2023

Texas Appeals Court Denies Death-Row Prisoners Stays of Execution, Judicial Review of State’s Use of Expired Drugs in Upcoming Executions

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) has grant­ed an appli­ca­tion by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to block a state tri­al court from review­ing a civ­il law­suit filed by three death-row pris­on­ers who chal…

Texas Appeals Court Denies Death-Row Prisoners Stays of Execution, Judicial Review of State’s Use of Expired Drugs in Upcoming Executions

Arbitrariness

Jan 03, 2023

Court Recommends New Trial for Texas Death-Row Prisoner, Finding Rights Violated by Trial Judge’s Virulent Anti-Semitism

A Dallas County judge has rec­om­mend­ed that the con­vic­tion and death sen­tence of a Jewish death-row pris­on­er be over­turned because his tri­al was poi­soned by the vir­u­lent anti-Semitic big­otry of the Texas judge who …

Court Recommends New Trial for Texas Death-Row Prisoner, Finding Rights Violated by Trial Judge’s Virulent Anti-Semitism

History of the Death Penalty

Dec 07, 2022

As Lethal Injection Turns Forty, States Botch a Record Number of Executions

On December 7, 1982, Texas strapped Charles Brooks to a gur­ney, insert­ed an intra­venous line into his arm, and inject­ed a lethal dose of sodi­um thiopen­tal into his veins, launch­ing the lethal-injec­tion era of American exe­cu­tions. In the precisely …

As Lethal Injection Turns Forty, States Botch a Record Number of Executions

Public Opinion

Dec 06, 2022

Midterm Elections: Moratorium Supporters, Reform Prosecutors Post Gains Despite Massive Campaign Efforts to Tie Reformers to Surge in Violent Crime

In a year that fea­tured mas­sive cam­paign adver­tis­ing attempt­ing to por­tray legal reform­ers as respon­si­ble for increas­es in vio­lent crime, can­di­dates com­mit­ted to crim­i­nal legal reform or who promised to con­tin­ue statewide mora­to­ria on exe­cu­tions p…

Midterm Elections: Moratorium Supporters, Reform Prosecutors Post Gains Despite Massive Campaign Efforts to Tie Reformers to Surge in Violent Crime

Mental Illness

Nov 29, 2022

Texas Schedules Execution of Mentally Ill Prisoner Who Ate His Eye, After SCOTUS Refuses to Review Evidence of Racial Bias

Texas is plan­ning to exe­cute a seri­ous­ly men­tal­ly ill pris­on­er who has gouged out both of his eyes because of his para­noid schiz­o­phre­nia. On November 7, 2022, the District Court of Grayson County, Texas set an April 5, 2023 exe­cu­tion date for 

Texas Schedules Execution of Mentally Ill Prisoner Who Ate His Eye, After SCOTUS Refuses to Review Evidence of Racial Bias

Upcoming Executions

Nov 14, 2022

Week of Four Scheduled Executions Highlights Continued Concerns With the Use of the Death Penalty

The four exe­cu­tions sched­uled for the week of November 17th high­light cur­rent trends in exe­cu­tions and death sen­tenc­ing and the con­tin­ued use of the death penal­ty against vul­ner­a­ble pop­u­la­tions. The pris­on­ers sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed by four state…

Week of Four Scheduled Executions Highlights Continued Concerns With the Use of the Death Penalty

Innocence

Nov 11, 2022

U.S. Supreme Court Asks for Record of Texas Case Where Relief Denied Despite Agreement of Prosecutor and Trial Judge that Death-Row Prisoner Should Get New Trial

The United States Supreme Court has request­ed the pro­duc­tion of the appel­late record of a death penal­ty case in which the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) refused to grant a new tri­al to a death-row pris­on­er despite the agre…

U.S. Supreme Court Asks for Record of Texas Case Where Relief Denied Despite Agreement of Prosecutor and Trial Judge that Death-Row Prisoner Should Get New Trial

Mental Illness

Nov 09, 2022

Texas Executes Mentally Ill Man After Denying Him Access to Mental Health Testing

Texas exe­cut­ed Tracy Beatty (pic­tured) on November 9, 2022, after the United States Supreme Court declined to review his chal­lenge to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s refusal to unhandcu…

Texas Executes Mentally Ill Man After Denying Him Access to Mental Health Testing
View More

View Information by State

Additional Information


  • Death Penalty: Yes
  • Number of Executions Since 1976: 575 state executions, 6 federal executions
  • Number of Executions Before 1976 (may include federal and military executions): 755
  • Current Death Row Population: 199
  • Women on Death Row: 6
  • Number of Innocent People Freed From Death Row: 16
  • Number of Clemencies Granted: 34
  • Date of Reinstatement (following Furman v. Georgia): January 1, 1974
  • First Execution After Reinstatement: 1982
  • Location of Death Row (Men): Polunsky Unit, Livingston
  • Location of Death Row (Women): Mountain View Unit (DR), Gatesville
  • Location of Execution: Walls Unit, Huntsville
  • Capital: Austin
  • Region: South
  • Population: 29,145,505*
  • Murder Rate (per 100,000 population): 4.86
  • Is Life Without Parole an Option?: Yes
  • Can a defendant get death for a felony in which s/he was not responsible for the murder?: Yes
  • Method of Execution: Injection
  • How is Sentence Determined?: Jury
  • Clemency Process: Governor must have the Board of Pardons and Paroles' recommendation for clemency.
  • Governor: Greg Abbott

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