Innocence
,Feb 01, 2019
A federal appeals court has found 80-year-old Charles Ray Finch (pictured) “actually innocent” of the murder for which he was convicted and sentenced to death in North Carolina 42 years ago. The pronouncement came…
Arbitrariness
,Jul 26, 2019
The U.S. Supreme Court has said the death penalty must be reserved for the worst of the worst murders and be imposed only on the worst of the worst offenders. But what of an accomplice to a felony in which someone was killed but the accomplice nei…
Innocence
,Representation
,Upcoming Executions
,Jun 05, 2020
Texas death-row prisoner Ruben Gutierrez (pictured) has asked the Texas state courts to stay his execution because of the COVID-19 pandemic as federal litigation continues on his efforts to obtain DNA testing and …
Clemency
,Religion
,Mar 27, 2019
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied clemency for Patrick Murphy (pictured) on March 27, 2019, moving the state one step closer to executing him on March 28 for a murder he neither commit…
Religion
,Upcoming Executions
,Sep 09, 2019
A coalition of national and local Jewish organizations and lawyers have asked the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to stop the scheduled October 10, 2019 execution of a Jewish death-row prisoner to review his claim that the judge b…
Arbitrariness
,Clemency
,New Voices
,Aug 19, 2016
As his August 24 execution date approaches, Jeffrey Wood’s case has garnered mounting attention from groups and individuals calling on the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles …
Innocence
,Mental Illness
,Executions Overview
,Aug 30, 2019
In a year in which few states have carried out any executions, the aggressive execution practices of a single state — Texas — stand in sharp contrast. The Lone Star State has scheduled thi…
Arbitrariness
,Aug 20, 2007
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is urging the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Texas Governor Rick Perry to spare the life of Kenneth Foster (pictured), whose execution is scheduled for August 30. Foster was sentenced to death under the Texas L…
Prosecutorial Accountability
,Oct 24, 2017
Two recent appellate decisions by the Texas courts have thrust into the national spotlight the continuing controversy over the use of false or flawed forensic testimony to secure convictions in death penalty cases. On Oct…
Innocence
,Apr 05, 2021
A federal district court has ruled that Texas unconstitutionally denied DNA testing to a death-row prisoner who is alive today only because of a last-minute stay of execution granted because the state refused to allow his religious adviser to acco…
Mental Illness
,Crimes Punishable by Death
,Aug 22, 2008
Jeff Wood’s execution was stayed with only hours remaining by U.S. District Court Judge Orlando Garcia of San Antonio. The judge chastised the Texas courts for their refusal last week to hire mental health experts to determine whether Wood (pictu…
Arbitrariness
,Crimes Punishable by Death
,Feb 15, 2019
A February 4, 2019 article in the criminal justice newsletter, The Appeal, features the case of Demetrius Howard, a California prisoner sentenced to death for a crime in which he didn’t kill anyone. Howar…
Crimes Punishable by Death
,Sep 14, 2016
Today, DPIC launches a new podcast series, “Discussions With DPIC,” which will feature monthly, unscripted conversations with death penalty experts on a wide variety of topics. The inaugural episode features a conversation between Texas Defender S…
Crimes Punishable by Death
,United States Supreme Court
,Nov 10, 2011
A new article to be published in the American Criminal Law Review explores the constitutionality of the death penalty for those convicted of felony murder, i.e., those who participated in a serious crime in which a death occurred, but wer…
Arbitrariness
,Crimes Punishable by Death
,Sep 14, 2016
Today, DPIC launches a new podcast series, “Discussions With DPIC,” which will feature monthly, unscripted conversations with death penalty experts on a wide variety of topics. The inaugural episode features a conversation between Texas Defender S…
Aug 19, 2008
A new radio program, Execution Watch, is providing live coverage and commentary on days that Texas executes a death row inmate. Each show will air live starting at 6 pm Central Daylight Time at http://www.kpft.or…
Arbitrariness
,Innocence
,May 13, 2020
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
Arbitrariness
,Dec 04, 2018
Texas plans to execute Joseph Garcia on December 4, 2018, for the murder of a police officer during a robbery in which Garcia neither killed anyone nor intended or expected that a killing would take place. His cas…
Arbitrariness
,Clemency
,Dec 08, 2017
The Texas prosecutor who sought and obtained the death penalty almost 20 years ago against Jeffery Wood (pictured), a man who never killed anyone, has now asked that his sentence be reduced to life in prison. In a…
Arbitrariness
,Clemency
,Aug 30, 2007
Just hours before tonight’s (August 30) scheduled execution of Kenneth Foster, Governor Rick Perry (pictured) has accepted a Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommendation to stop Foster’s execution and commute his sentence to life. Perry was n…
Crimes Punishable by Death
,Recent Legislative Activity
,May 07, 2021
In an overwhelming bipartisan vote, the Texas House of Representatives has passed a bill that ends death-penalty liability under the state’s controversial “law of partie…
Religion
,Nov 11, 2019
A federal district court has granted a stay of execution to a Buddhist death-row prisoner in Texas over allegations that the state is discriminatorily denying him access to religious services that would be available to Christian p…
Arbitrariness
,Intellectual Disability
,Executions Overview
,Jan 11, 2019
[UPDATE: The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay of execution to Blaine Milam on January 14, 2019] As Texas prepares …
Arbitrariness
,Aug 04, 2016
Lawyers for Jeffery Wood (pictured), a Texas death row prisoner who is scheduled to be executed August 24 despite undisputed evidence that he has never killed anyone, have filed a
Arbitrariness
,Race
,Jul 09, 2019
A Texas county court has set an execution date for a Jewish death-row prisoner despite his pending federal appeal alleging that the judge who presided over his trial and sentencing should have been removed from the case because of…
Religion
,United States Supreme Court
,Apr 10, 2020
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review the case of Jewish death-row prisoner Randy Halprin (pictured), who was tried and sentenced to death in Texas before a judge who made anti-Semitic an…
Arbitrariness
,Jul 31, 2007
On August 30, Texas has scheduled the execution of Kenneth Foster Jr. (pictured), despite the fact that all parties agree that Foster did not personally kill anyone. Foster was sentenced to death under the Texas Law of Parties that permits a perso…
Arbitrariness
,Aug 14, 2008
Jeffrey Wood is scheduled for execution on August 21 for a murder committed by another man during a botched robbery at a gas station. Wood did not fire the gun that killed the victim and was not inside the station when another man, Danny Re…
