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Life Plea Struck for Johnny Paul Penry

By standdown

A loyal reader informs me that a life sentence plea has been struck for Johnny Paul Penry, whose case has been synonymous with mental retardation and capital punishment.  Huntsville attorney John E. Wright has been Penry's long-standing primary attorney. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Penry latest death sentence in an October 2005 ruling.  Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court refused an appeal by the State of Texas to revisit that ruling. In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Penry's first death sentence, but refused to rule the death penalty unconstitutional for offenders with mental retardation (Penry v. Lynaugh.)  In 2001, the Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of a second penalty phase trial (Penry v...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on February 15, 2008 (boomark / email).