Breaking News: Christa Pike is still alive after two doses of lethal injection drugs were administered by Tennessee officials. Her attorneys report that she is in critical condition and receiving life-saving care at a hospital. [As of the morning of October 5, there is no new public information; new information will be updated here]

Entries tagged with “Billie Wayne Coble”

Issues

Mar 31, 2020

Texas Appeals Court Rejects Recommendation for New Trial for Death-Row Prisoner

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) has once again rejected the findings of a trial court that a death-row prisoner was entitled to relief from his conviction or death sentence. Applying a narrow interpretation of a 2013 junk-science law, the court on March 11, 2020 set aside the recommendation of an El Paso County trial court that death-row prisoner Rigoberto Avila should be granted a new trial as a result of the prosecution’s reliance on false and outdated scientific evidence. The…

Issues

Feb 28, 2019

Texas Plans to Execute Prisoner Whose Death Sentence Was Influenced by False and Unreliable Testimony

Texas is scheduled to execute Billie Wayne Coble (pictured) on February 28, 2019, despite court findings that two expert witnesses who testified for the prosecution gave “problematic” and “fabricated” testimony at his trial. Coble was sentenced to death in 1990 and resentenced in 2008 after his original sentence was overturned as a result of constitutionally deficient jury instructions. At his resentencing, the issue of future dangerousness presented a serious problem for prosecutors. Under…