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Criminal Law

StandDown Texas Project

Texas-centric examination of conditions, reform initiatives, and emerging issues related to best practices in the indigent criminal justice system with particular attention to issues involving capital punishment and the administration of the death penalty.
By StandDown Texas Project

Post Frequency: 49.3/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 14:21:29

Judicial Restraint

Posted on November 21, 2008
That's the title of an editorial in today's Winston-Salem Journal on North Carolina's lethal injection challenge. LINKCritics of our appellate courts often skewer judges for being "judicial activists." But a case before the N.C. Supreme Court demonstrates that overly zealous...

Jim Mattox - Funeral Details Finalizing

Posted on November 21, 2008
I understand that funeral details are being completed this afternoon, and times may shift slightly to accommodate out-of-town attendees. This is what had previously been reported:The funeral is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, November 25 at the First Baptist Church...

The Maryland Commission

Posted on November 21, 2008
Gadi Dechter reports, "Panel's death penalty backers still in the minority," in today's Baltimore Sun.Two more members of a state commission reviewing capital punishment indicated yesterday that they will recommend keeping the death penalty in Maryland, but a majority of...

U.S. Military Schedules Execution

Posted on November 21, 2008
"Military has date for first execution since 1961," is the title of an AP report via the San Francisco Chronicle.A former Army cook convicted of multiple rapes and murders is set to die next month in what would be the...

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The Latest AP Obituary of Jim Mattox

Posted on November 20, 2008
...Is here, via the Houston Chronicle. It was written by April Castro with contributions from others in the AP Texas bureaus.Mattox was remembered for his advocacy of the everyday Texan, a reputation that earned him the nickname the "people's lawyer."...

Texas Execution

Posted on November 20, 2008
Texas carried out its 18th execution of 2008 tonight in Huntsville. It was the 423rd in the state since 1982, and the last Texas execution this year.AP has this report on the execution of Robert Hudson.Texas has by far the...

An Update on Troy Davis

Posted on November 20, 2008
"Federal appeals court to hear Davis case Dec. 9,"is the AP report via the Augusta Chronicle.The federal appeals court in Atlanta will hear arguments Dec. 9 on whether death row inmate Troy Anthony Davis can continue to challenge his conviction...

Jim Mattox, 1943 - 2008

Posted on November 20, 2008
Gardner Selby has this report at the Austin American-Statesman website.Jim Mattox, a fiery Democrat whose career brought him from Dallas to Austin to Washington and then back to Austin, has died in his sleep, a former spokesman, Kelly Fero, said...

Scheduled Execution

Posted on November 20, 2008
Texas is scheduled to carry out its 18th execution of 2008 tonight in Huntsville. It would be the 423rd in the state since 1982. It is the last scheduled execution for the state this year.AP has this report on the...

Attorneys Feel Helpless Against Death Wishes

Posted on November 20, 2008
That's the title of a news article in today's Lexington Herald-Leader regarding Marco Allen Chapman, who has waived his appeals and is scheduled to be executed in Kentucky tomorrow evening. LINKJohn Delaney faced the toughest moment of his legal career...

Opinion Round-Up

Posted on November 20, 2008
New Hampshire's Concord Monitor carries the editorial, "No justice in spending a fortune on execution," today. The state is spending millions of dollars in an effort to execute Michael Addison, the admitted killer of Manchester police officer Michael Briggs...

Capital Punishment Comes With a Legal Cost

Posted on November 20, 2008
That's the title of a column by Amarillo Globe-News editorial writer Dave Henry. LINK Here's an excerpt:Much like the recent drop in the price of gas, the price of the ultimate form of justice has dropped, at least for counties...

News Coverage of CCA Order in the Charles Hood case

Posted on November 20, 2008
"Judge-prosecutor affair admission may have come too late in Charles Dean Hood death row case," is Diane Jennings' report in today's Dallas Morning News.The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has sent the capital murder case of death row inmate Charles....

Cell Phones on Texas Death Row

Posted on November 20, 2008
"Two more cell phones found on Death Row," is the AP report in today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram.Prison officers guarding Death Row in Livingston recovered two more contraband cellphones Wednesday, one of them with the price tag still attached.The first phone...

North Carolina S.Ct. Hearing on Lethal Injection

Posted on November 19, 2008
"Should doctors monitor execution? High court wants clarification on law," is the title of Dan Kane's report in the News & Observer.The N.C. Supreme Court dove into the two-year stalemate on executions Tuesday by asking attorneys to define what legislators...

More Forensic Testing Granted in Routier Case

Posted on November 19, 2008
That's the headline of a report in today's Dallas Morning News concerning the case of Darlie Routier. The article is written by Tiara Ellis. LINK For the second time in five months, convicted child killer Darlie Lynn Routier has been...

The Latest on Charles Dean Hood

Posted on November 19, 2008
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has remanded the Charles Dean Hood case to state district court for a determination of whether of not the affair between trial judge Verla Sue Holland and District Attorney Tom O'Connell may be consideredThe...

Eyewitness Identification Procedures in Texas - UPDATED

Posted on November 19, 2008
The Justice Project is set to hold a news conference shortly in the Texas State Capitol, in the Senate Media Room. It may be webcast at this LINK. [No webcast] The news conference announces the issuance of a report, "Eyewitness...

Cathey Execution Stayed by CCA

Posted on November 18, 2008
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has issued a stay in the case of Eric Cathey, who was scheduled to be executed tonight in Huntsville. AP's Mike Graczyk files, "Condemned Houston killer gets execution repreieve," via the Houston Chronicle website.In...

In Defense of Pardons

Posted on November 18, 2008
That's the title of an OpEd in today's Washington Post by Margaret Colgate Love, a clemency specialist and former U.S. Pardon Attorney in the Department of Justice. LINK Here's an extended excerpt from this must-read essay:As President Bush's term nears...

The Cost of the Death Penalty - From Sea to Shining Sea

Posted on November 18, 2008
The question is being raised in New Hampshire and California. In the Sunday Manchester Union Leader, Nancy West reported, "Capital questions: How much do death penalty cases cost?"With two capital murder cases tried in the last month, some in New...

Lethal Injection Round-Up

Posted on November 18, 2008
There is news today of developments in North Carolina and Kentucky.The Raleigh News & Observer reports, "N.C. court to rule on executions," by Dan Kane.The state's highest court will hear legal arguments today that could break the two-year stalemate on...

Scheduled Execution

Posted on November 18, 2008
Texas is scheduled to carry out its 18th execution of 2008 tonight in Huntsville. It would be the 423rd in the state since 1982. Florida also has a scheduled execution tonight.AP has this report on the scheduled execution of Eric...

Indigent Defense Round-Up

Posted on November 17, 2008
Saturday's Kansas City Star carries the editorial, "Missouri needs more public defenders."The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1963 that states, under the Sixth Amendment, must provide legal counsel to defendants who face possible jail time but can?t afford a lawyer...

News of the West Texas Regional Capital PD Office

Posted on November 17, 2008
"Officials tout dividends from regional public defender program," is a report from the today's Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. It's written by Logan Carver.Two years ago, the office of the West Texas Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases was nothing but a dream...

California Death Row Dysfunction

Posted on November 17, 2008
That's the title of a must-read column in today's Los Angeles Times by reporter Carol Williams. LINK It begins with a harrowing tale of a victim's surviving family and their long wait to see an execution carried out. I'd like...

More from Maryland

Posted on November 17, 2008
"Behind the debate," is Jennifer McMenamin's report in the Sunday Baltimore Sun.When the New Jersey legislature voted late last year to repeal the death penalty, it did so on the heels of a near-unanimous recommendation from a state commission that...

The Latest Gallup Numbers

Posted on November 17, 2008
"American Hold Firm to Support for Death Penalty," is the Gallup report with polling data gathered October 3rd - 5th. It includes numerous graphs. Here's an excerpt from the narrative:Last week's recommendation by a Maryland commission that the state's death...

3,000 Posts

Posted on November 17, 2008
I've usually blasted past such landmarks without noticing until after the fact. Today, I'd like to mention that this is the 3,000th post on the StandDown site since moving to TypePad on May 20, 2006. TypePad has been a great...

The Exonerator

Posted on November 17, 2008
That's the title of a profile of Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins from the Saturday Wall Street Journal. It contains interactive features and graphics available at this LINK. Scroll down for a WSJ interview with exoneree James Woodard. Also...

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