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Texas Death Row: Where Innocence is Irrelevant

By "Persian Cowboy"

On August 21, Texas will execute Jeff Wood for the murder of Kris Keeran, even though there is a consensus that Wood did not murder, intend to murder, or know that a murder was going to take place. Wood was sentenced to death under the Law of Parties, section 7.02 of the Texas Penal Code, which holds co-defendants criminally responsible for the same crime if they acted as conspirators. Put another way, the Law of Parties allows for guilt-by-association. In Wood?s case, he was forced to drive a getaway vehicle after the actual killer, Daniel Reneau, shot Keeran during a convenience store robbery in 1996. In fact, Wood was not even in the building when the killing occurred. Furthermore, Bill Bunker, the store?s assistant manager who helped plot and even encouraged the robbery, was never charged with any crime...continue to full post

Full post as published by Texas Death Penalty Blog on August 18, 2008 (boomark / email).