NEWS (4/​1/​20) — Texas: The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has grant­ed a 60-day stay of exe­cu­tion to Fabian Hernandez, the third stay of exe­cu­tion it has grant­ed dur­ing the coro­n­avirus State of Disaster declared by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Although the court’s order does­n’t spec­i­fy a rea­son for the stay, Hernandez’s coun­sel filed a motion seek­ing to delay his exe­cu­tion based on ​“the cur­rent health cri­sis, the enor­mous resources need­ed to address the emer­gency,” and coun­sel’s inabil­i­ty to pro­vide mean­ing­ful rep­re­sen­ta­tion at this time. 

Texas had sched­uled Hernandez’s exe­cu­tion for April 23. In March, the Texas appeals court grant­ed 60-day stays of exe­cu­tion to John Hummel and Tracy Beatty, cit­ing ​“the cur­rent health cri­sis and the enor­mous resources need­ed to address that emergency.”

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