Entries tagged with “Jeff Leach

Research

Apr 21, 2023

Texas House Advances Bill to Limit Law of Parties’ in Capital Cases

On April 20, 2023, Texas leg­is­la­tors ini­tial­ly approved House Bill (HB) 1736 to lim­it the appli­ca­tion of the death penal­ty in cas­es where a defen­dant com­mits a felony that was accom­pa­nied by a mur­der car­ried out by some­one oth­er than the defen­dant. Many states have a​“felony mur­der” rule, sim­i­lar to Texas’​“Law of Parties,” which pro­vides that if one per­son is found guilty of mur­der, the offend­er’s accom­plices or co-con­spir­a­­tors may also be found guilty of…

Research

New Voices

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May 12, 2022

Every Option Will Be on the Table’: Republican Leader of Texas House Justice Reform Caucus Says He Would Support Moratorium on Executions

Saying that recent events in **Texas**’ attempt to exe­cute death-row pris­on­er **Melissa Lucio** had shak­en his faith in the crim­i­nal legal sys­tem, an influ­en­tial Republican state leg­is­la­tor has said that he would now sup­port a mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions in the state. In an April 29, 2022 inter­view on WFAA-TV’s *Inside Texas Politics with Jason Whitely*, **Representative Jeff Leach** (pic­tured), co-chair of the Texas House of Representatives’ bi-par­ti­san Criminal Justice…