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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

Wilbert Rideau on Sunday Morning

Posted on April 27, 2010
The CBS News program has posted video of the segment on Wilbert Rideau broadcast this past Sunday. The segment is titled, "Life After Death Row," by Erin Moriarty. Here's the top of the report: "My name is Wilbert Rideau. And...

Bianca Jagger on the Linda Carty Case

Posted on April 27, 2010
She posts, "A Case for the Supreme Court," at Huffington Post, today. Linda Carty, a British citizen, faces the death penalty by lethal injection later this year, unless the Supreme Court agrees to hear her case. As with so many...

Expansion in Store for Regional PD Office?

Posted on April 27, 2010
"Defenders' office could see expansion," is the title of a report in today's Lubbock Avalanche-Journal by Logan Carver. A Lubbock-based capital defense office might soon need a name change. County commissioners on Monday submitted an application for a $7...

Texas Execution

Posted on April 27, 2010
Texas is scheduled to carry out its seventh execution of 2010, tonight in Huntsville. It would be the 454th Texas execution since 1982. Texas has far and away the most active death chamber in America, accounting for more than 37%...

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More on Scent Lineups, Junk Science, & Science Based Forensics

Posted on April 27, 2010
Texas Monthly writer Michael Hall has another must-read article in the May issue, "Weird Science." Here's the opening and a brief excerpt from the beginning of this lengthy article: Testimony from forensic experts can be the most persuasive evidence presented...

More on Wilbert Rideau

Posted on April 26, 2010
Wilbert Rideau will be Terry Gross' guest today on Fresh Air. Check your local NPR affiliate for broadcast time in your location. You can also listen to the interview at the link. Here's an extended excerpt of the program description:...

California's 'Dysfunctional Death Penalty'

Posted on April 26, 2010
"Gardner case spotlights dysfunctional death penalty," is the title of an AP report by Paul Elias, via the San Diego News Network. ABC News has also posted the article. Chelsea King?s parents reluctantly agreed to a sentence of life in...

No Major Legislative Change to Georgia Indigent Defense This Year

Posted on April 26, 2010
"Public defender shakeup delayed," is the AP report from Friday's Augusta Chronicle. Georgia lawmakers have backed off plans to transfer parts of the state's public defender system back to county control, instead giving attorneys the rest of the year to...

Alabama Legislation

Posted on April 26, 2010
Birmingham News editorial writer Robin DeMonia posts, "Baby steps toward justice on executions?" Before this year?s legislative session becomes a mere blip in the rearview mirror ? for everyone except, maybe, federal prosecutors ? Alabamians should take a moment to...

Rick Casey on the FSC Meeting

Posted on April 26, 2010
His column in today's Houston Chronicle is, "Let's have a cheer for small victories." It's a must-read of the back-and-forth of the Commission meeting. Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley, who was dispatched last September by Gov. Rick Perry to...

News Coverage of FSC Meeting

Posted on April 26, 2010
There is extensive coverage of Friday's meeting of the Forensic Science Commission. "The Big Stall," is Morgan Smith's follow-up post at the Texas Tribune, today. Under a crystal chandelier, in a boardroom with all the gilded flourishes of the Irving...

Utah Firing Squad Execution Set for June 18

Posted on April 23, 2010
"Gardner to die by firing squad on June 18," by Pamela Manson is posted at the Salt Lake Tribune.A state judge on Friday signed a warrant ordering that Ronnie Lee Gardner be put to death on June 18, setting the...

Virginia Legislation Extends Victim-Offender Mediation

Posted on April 23, 2010
"Va. OKs bill to let violent crime victims meet with death row inmates," is the title of an AP report via the Washington Post. It's a must-read. Lorraine Whoberry tried for years to meet face-to-face with her daughter's killer before...

A New Book By Wilbert Rideau - Available Tuesday

Posted on April 23, 2010
In the Place of Justice: A Story of Punishment and Deliverance will be available Tuesday, April 27. You can order now at the link from Amazon.com, or visit your local independent bookseller on Tuesday. It's published by Random House. Wilbert...

Cole Advisory Panel Meets

Posted on April 23, 2010
The Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions met yesterday in Austin. Today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports, "Timothy Cole panel questions the creation of a Texas innocence commission," written by Dave Montgomery. An advisory panel bearing the name of a...

News Previews of the FSC Meeting

Posted on April 23, 2010
"Texas Forensic Science Commission faces scrutiny today in arson case with questionable science," is the title of Christy Hoppe in today's Dallas Morning News. The Texas Forensic Science Commission goes under the microscope today when it takes up how to...

No More Foot Dragging on the Willingham Case

Posted on April 23, 2010
That's the title of an editorial in today's Dallas Morning News. LINK Here's an extended excerpt: The head of the Texas Forensic Science Commission needs to demonstrate today that he's not playing stall ball in the politically explosive arson-murder case...

FSC Meeting Convenes Shortly

Posted on April 23, 2010
The FSC meeting will convene at 9:30 am this morning in the Omni Madalay Hotel in Las Colinas, near downtown Dallas. The topic of arson investigations is on the Commission's agenda. The Innocence Project will webcast the meeting. It will...

Texas Execution

Posted on April 23, 2010
Texas carried out its sixth execution of 2010, last night in Huntsville. It was the 453rd Texas execution since 1982. Texas has far and away the most active death chamber in America, accounting for more than 37% of the nation's...

Judy Kerr on Cost in California

Posted on April 22, 2010
The current issue of Sacramento's Capitol Weekly carries commentary from Judy Kerr, "Looking at the death penalty: Let?s talk about murder." There is hardly a topic more complex and disturbing than the death penalty. Yet, when it comes to talking...

At the Bar

Posted on April 22, 2010
Rick Casey's column in today's Houston Chronicle is, "The coddled lawyers of our fair state." Criminal defense attorneys will tell you that the most important question to ask a potential client is not whether he is innocent or guilty. It's...

Lithwick on the Hood Case

Posted on April 22, 2010
Her latest Newsweek column is online, "Courtly Love: Why an affair fails the 'ick' test." It's a must-read. Hood has already been granted a new sentencing hearing because the Texas appeals court has acknowledged that the jury instructions were improper,...

Texas Execution

Posted on April 22, 2010
Texas is scheduled to carry out its sixth execution of 2010, tonight in Huntsville. It would be the 453rd Texas execution since 1982. Texas has far and away the most active death chamber in America, accounting for more than 37%...

Justice Further Delayed in Hood Case

Posted on April 22, 2010
That's the title of an editorial in today's Dallas Morning News. LINK The U.S. Supreme Court's decision against taking up the tawdry Charles Dean Hood murder case is disappointing to those of us who crave a watchdog against the mischief...

Texas Forensic Science Commission to Meet Friday

Posted on April 22, 2010
The FSC meeting will convene at 9:30 am tomorrow morning in the Omni Madalay Hotel in Las Colinas, near downtown Dallas. The topic of arson investigations is on the Commission's agenda. As it did in January, the Innocence Project will...

Ministering to Women on Alabama's Death Row

Posted on April 21, 2010
"Minister urges women on death row to consider higher judgment," is the title of a lengthy report in today's Montgomery Advertiser. It's written by Kym Klass. The message that Alicia Smallwood-Brown works to pass on to the five women she...

The Case of Gaile Owens in Tennessee

Posted on April 21, 2010
"Our View: Owens' case cries out for mercy," is the title of an editorial in today's Tennessean. The Tennessee Supreme Court issued a disappointing decision Monday when it set a Sept. 28 execution date for Gaile Owens, rejecting attorneys' argument...

From California

Posted on April 21, 2010
Southern California Public Radio station KPCC-FM reports, "Bill to change California's lethal injection procedure moves forward." Senate Bill 1018, authored by Senator Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach), was passed by the Senate Public Safety Committee today...

A Profile of Craig Watkins

Posted on April 21, 2010
The Guardian carries, "Dallas chief prosecutor Craig Watkins fights injustice and racism." It's written by Chris McGreal and datelined Dallas. Chris Scott spent a dozen years pleading his innocence from one jail cell after another. Through a bizarre coincidence he...

Additional Coverage of the Hood Case

Posted on April 21, 2010
CBS News has posted the report, "Prosecutor-Judge Affair Not Enough to Reverse Capital Murder Conviction: U.S. Supreme Court," this morning. It's by Carlin DeGuerin Miller.An admitted extramarital affair between the prosecutor and presiding judge in the 1990 capital murder trial...

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