Entries tagged with “Charles Flores”
What to Know Series
,Aug 11, 2026
What to Know: Junk Science in Death Penalty Cases
DPI’s “What to Know” series examines capital punishment from multiple angles, one topic at a time. Each installment provides essential facts and data on specific aspects of the death penalty. This installment looks at junk science: how flawed or overstated forensic evidence has contributed to wrongful capital convictions, and what happens when the understanding of evidence underlying a conviction changes. Why this Matters: Forensic evidence is often presented to juries as objective scientific…
Jun 17, 2026
U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Consider Fairness of Hypnotizing Key Prosecution Witness in Texas Death Penalty Case
On June 15, 2026, the United States Supreme Court declined to consider the appeal of Texas death-sentenced prisoner Charles Flores, whose death sentence was obtained through the use of a hypnotized prosecution witness. Mr. Flores has spent more than 25 years on death row for a murder he maintains he did not commit. His conviction relied on the testimony of a neighbor who identified him — for the first time, at trial — only after being hypnotized by police. Mr. Flores argued in his petition that his…
Mar 24, 2026
Amici Supporting Texas Prisoner Charles Flores Urge U.S. Supreme Court to Hear His Innocence Claims, Including Those Based on Discredited ‘Investigative Hypnosis’ Evidence
On March 12, 2026, a diverse group of voices filed amicus curiae briefs in support of Charles Flores (pictured), a Texas death-sentenced prisoner, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case. Mr. Flores has spent more than 25 years on death row for a murder he maintains he did not commit. His conviction relied on the testimony of a neighbor who identified him — for the first time, at trial — only after being hypnotized by police. The briefs were filed by a coalition including the entertainers…
Executions
Mar 16, 2026
The New York Times Editorial Board Condemns Secrecy, Arbitrariness of U.S. Death Penalty
The New York Times editorial board published an article on March 13, 2026, condemning use of the death penalty in the country as secretive, arbitrary, and unjust. Relying heavily on research and data maintained by the Death Penalty Information Center, the board describes the events of 2025, with its sharp increase in executions, as a “dark new period” in the nation’s history. The board attributes much of the surge to Florida, which alone carried out 19 executions in 2025 alongside broader…
Feb 09, 2026
Football, Death Row, and Hypnotized Witness Testimony: The Case of Charles Flores
Among the more than 100 million Americans watching the Super Bowl on Sunday, Charles Flores (pictured) watched from a 9‑by-12-foot cell in Livingston, Texas, marking his 27th Super Bowl on death row for a crime he has maintained he did not commit. In a podcast interview with Pablo Torre, a journalist and sportswriter, Mr. Flores sat down at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston to discuss his love of the Dallas Cowboys, watching the Super Bowl on death row, the intricacies of his fight to prove his…
Issues
May 13, 2020
Texas Appeals Court Declines to Apply Junk-Science Law to Review Death Sentence Based Upon Hypnotically Assisted Identification Testimony
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) has upheld the ruling of a Dallas trial court that denied a new trial to death-row prisoner Charles Flores (pictured), whose conviction and death sentence were the product of hypnotically assisted testimony. The TCCA said its decision was “[b]ased upon the trial court’s findings and conclusions,” which the appeals court acknowledged had simply “adopted the State’s proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law.” No physical evidence links Flores, a…
Issues
May 07, 2020
Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of May 4, 2020
NEWS (5/7/20) — Florida: The Florida Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence imposed on Leonardo Franqui, denying post-conviction challenges to his death sentence based upon claims that he is ineligible for the death penalty because of intellectual disability and that his death sentence was unconstitutionally imposed after some members of his jury voted for life. The court rejected Franqui’s claim of intellectual disability, saying he had not proven by clear and convincing evidence that he…
Issues
Victims' Families
,Executions Overview
,Apr 10, 2017
Texas Court Stays Execution of Paul Storey Based on False Argument About Wishes of Victim’s Family
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has issued an order staying the scheduled April 12 execution of Paul Storey. The unpublished April 7 order sends Storey’s case back to the trial court to consider whether the prosecution knowingly presented false evidence about the victim’s family’s views on the death penalty. Storey had been scheduled to be executed on April 12. His lawyers argued that “the State denied him his right to due process because it argued “evidence it knew to be false” when…