Entries tagged with “Ken Paxton”
Upcoming Executions
,Jul 18, 2025
District Judge Sets “Unfortunate” New Execution Date for Texas Prisoner Robert Roberson, Despite Pending Petition in Support of His Innocence Claim
On July 16, 2025, Smith County District Judge Austin Reeve Jackson set an execution date of October 16, 2025 for Robert Roberson, a man with a strong innocence claim who has a habeas corpus petition pending at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA). Judge Jackson, after hearing arguments from both defense counsel for Mr. Roberson and attorneys from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office, ruled that there was no legal basis for not signing an execution order. “It doesn’t seem like…
Mar 27, 2025
U.S. Supreme Court Denies Review in Texas Faulty DNA Evidence Case, Despite Prosecutor Confession of Error
On March 24, 2025, the United States Supreme Court denied review of Areli Escobar’s (pictured) most recent appeal of his murder conviction, which argued for relief based on the fact that the Texas prosecutor had confessed error over the misleading use of inconclusive DNA evidence at trial. In his petition, Mr. Escobar’s legal team said Travis County prosecutors had relied heavily at trial on compromised evidence analyzed by the Austin Police Department’s crime laboratory. Additional DNA testing…
Dec 20, 2024
Texas Attorney General’s Office Refuses to Cooperate with Committee Subpoena for Robert Roberson, Blocking His Testimony for the 2nd Time
On December 17, 2024, a bipartisan group of Texas legislators in the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence issued a new subpoena for death-sentenced Robert Roberson to testify in person on December 20 about the state’s junk science law, under which he failed to receive relief. Gretchen Sween, attorney for Mr. Roberson, said that he was “eager to testify and grateful for the chance to be heard.” But just two days after the issuance of the subpoena, and a day ahead of Mr. Roberson’s scheduled…
Oct 28, 2024
“Simply Untrue”: Lawmakers Refute Unprecedented Attack by Texas Attorney General in Robert Roberson’s Case
On October 23, 2024, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released a press statement, the original autopsy report, and other case records in an effort to “set the record straight” and “correct falsehoods” that he accused state lawmakers of making about Robert Roberson (pictured). In this unprecedented attack, AG Paxton also characterized the defense efforts as “eleventh-hour, one-sided, extrajudicial stunts that attempt to obscure facts and rewrite his past.” Texas Governor Greg Abbott has also…