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Texas Death Penalty Blog

Death penalty cases and legislation in Texas and elsewhere.
By "Persian Cowboy"

Post Frequency: 3.3/day

Last Entry: July 21, 2016 at 22:00:00

Witness to Innocence's press conference at the Texas Capitol

Posted on October 30, 2008
Witness to Innocence's Friday news conference should be available for viewing at:http://www.house.state.tx.us/media/welcome.php It will be the Live Stream from the Speaker's Committee Room. The news conference is scheduled for 2:00 p.m., Central Daylight Time...

Louisiana Court of Appeals Trashed 2,500 Habeas Patitions

Posted on October 28, 2008
A 2007 suicide note by a clerk of the Louisiana Court of Appeals who killed himself at the courthouse revealed that 2500 prisoner petitions had been summarily rejected over a period of 13 years without having been read. According to a reporter, "Although every criminal writ application is supposed to be reviewed by three judges, he was deputed to winnow out any that had been filed pro se and arrange for their automatic rejection...

Carolyn LeCroy of The Message Project selected as CNN's Top 10 Hero

Posted on October 27, 2008
One of the folks in the running to be dubbed "CNN Hero of the Year" is Carolyn LeCroy, an ex-prisoner who started a small non-profit called The Messages Project that helps prisoners and their children maintain and "repair" their relationships through video messages...

Press Advisory: The 9th Annual March to End Executions

Posted on October 25, 2008
PRESS ADVISORY October 24, 2008 Contacts: Gloria Rubac 713-503-2633 Dan Sharber 713-560-7227 The 9th Annual March to End Executions to Focus on the Flaws of the Death Penalty in Texas; Exoneree Clarence Brandley to Speak along with Several Death Row Families Hundreds of death penalty opponents will gather in Houston on Saturday, October 25, for the 9th Annual March to End Executions...

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All Visits in Texas Prisons Cancelled

Posted on October 22, 2008
(Please disseminate to your respective group members)EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY - As a result of a system-wide lock-down, all visitation during the week of October 21-26, 2008 will be cancelled to allow units to conduct security searches.Please continue to check the TDCJ website or contact the TDCJ Ombudsman Coordinator's Office, 936-437-8035, for updates regarding visitation for the week of October 27-31, 2008...

Broken Radio Antenna at Polunsky Unit

Posted on October 20, 2008
I'm sure some of you have had your guys complain about the broken antenna on the death row bldg. It's been about 3 months now that's it's been that way, and a lot of the guys are really upset about it. Some areas get perfect reception, most do not...

My trip to Texas Death Row

Posted on October 16, 2008
By Christyn TrumanAs usual, my trips to Texas are always bittersweet. I knew this one would be hard because I was visiting death row for the first time. I played in my mind everything that I expected to happen, and everything I would feel. However, I was not ready for the actual flood of emotion that came over me upon seeing the sign of the Polunsky Unit...

Attorney general defends actions in investigation of affair between judge, DA

Posted on October 16, 2008
Friends, It is interesting and strange, in my opinion, that the Texas Attorney General gives the perception that he cares about the Charles Hood case and the picture of total unfairness that it gives to justice in Texas. And never mind the fact that it is totally illegal for a judge and a DA to be having an affair while working on the same case...

Map of Executions in U.S. Since 1977

Posted on October 15, 2008
There have been 1125 executions in the United States since 1977, but only 1122 are represented on this map. The other three executions were conducted by the federal government and not by a state.

Troy Davis - updated actions and execution warrant

Posted on October 15, 2008
Hello all,An execution warrant has now been issued for Troy Davis - commencing on October 27. The exact date of his execution will be set shortly, but will likely the 27th (the warrant lasts for one week, and the date is generally set for the first day of the warrant period)...

Video of Interview with Alvin Kelly - Scheduled for Execution in Texas Tuesday Oct 14

Posted on October 13, 2008
h/t to TMN Blog

Austin Chronicle: Keller Immune to Justice

Posted on October 13, 2008
Thats the title of Austin Chronicle article on Sharon Keller.BY JORDAN SMITH According to federal district Judge Lee Yeakel's ruling last week, Court of Criminal Appeals presiding Judge Sharon Keller enjoys "judicial immunity," which insulates her from being sued for violating the civil rights of an executed inmate...

Families of victims and families of the executed gather to launch national project

Posted on October 05, 2008
Washington, DC ? Murder Victims? Families for Human Rights (MVFHR) and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) launched a national project opposing the death penalty for persons with severe mental illnesses at a press conference and remembrance ceremony in San Antonio, Texas on October 3...

Rev. Carroll Pickett: The evolution of a death penalty opponent

Posted on October 04, 2008
For 15 years, the Rev. Carroll Pickett was a witness to state-sanctioned death. As a prison chaplain in Hunstville, he presided over 95 executions. After each one, Mr. Pickett recorded his thoughts on tape. The documentary At the Death House Door chronicles his anguish as he eventually concludes that some of the men he led to death were innocent...

TRIBUTE: Stanley Tookie Williams, 1953-2005.

Posted on October 01, 2008
The organizing committee for the 9th Annual Texas March to End Executions will be showing the excellent documentary TRIBUTE: Stanley Tookie Williams, 1953-2005. The event will be a fundraiser for the march and there is a $5 suggested donation (though no one will be turned away for lack of funds)...

City of Georgetown Statement Concerning Jimmy Fennell Plea

Posted on September 26, 2008
The following is Georgetown's response to the civil lawsuits filed yesterday by one of Jimmy Fennel's victims:The City of Georgetown is shocked and saddened by the events that occurred on October 26, 2007, involving former Sergeant Jimmy Fennell. While no profession is immune from unlawful or unethical conduct from its members, we recognize the badge of the police department as a symbol of public faith and trust and believe our officers should be exemplary in obeying the law as well as the regulations of the police department...

Fennell gets 10 years

Posted on September 26, 2008
By Isadora Vail | Friday, September 26, 2008, 10:58 AM Former Georgetown Police Sgt. Jimmy Lewis Fennell Jr. showed little emotion this morning as state District Judge Burt Carnes sentenced him to 10 years behind bars...

Please Take Action to Save Larry Swearingen

Posted on September 25, 2008
Dear fellow Abolitionists, we are struggling to save the life of death row prisoner Larry Swearingen in Texas who is scheduled for another hearing on Monday, September 29, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Conroe, Texas. This hearing is about Larry's motion to get biased Judge Fred Edwards recused off his case, and we need many supporters and abolitionists coming to support him and show the urgency in this matter by being present...

AUSTIN PROTEST IN SUPPORT OF TROY DAVIS THIS MONDAY

Posted on September 25, 2008
Austin's chapter of the Campaign to END the Death Penalty is holding a protest Monday, September 29th in support of Georgia death-row inmate Troy Davis. Davis, who has a strong innocence claim, was granted a temporary stay by the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, less than 2 hours before his scheduled execution...

AJC: Troy Davis may be innocent

Posted on September 24, 2008
The following is Atlanta Journal-Constitution's editorial on Troy Davis' execution:Wednesday, September 24, 2008If Troy Anthony Davis had occupied a higher rung on the social ladder, he probably would not have been convicted of murder in the August 1989 shooting death of a Savannah police officer...

Troy Davis' execution stayed

Posted on September 23, 2008
Here is the court order:ORDER LIST: 554 U.S.)TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2008ORDER IN PENDING CASE08-66 DAVIS, TROY A. V. GEORGIA(O8A241)The application for stay of execution of sentence of deathpresented to Justice Thomas and by him referred to the Court isgranted pending the disposition of the petition for a writ ofcertiorari...

Innocent Man Executed?

Posted on September 23, 2008

Protests planned against Davis? execution

Posted on September 23, 2008
As Troy Anthony Davis waits to hear whether the U.S. Supreme Court will stay his execution Tuesday night, death-penalty opponents planned protests and vigils across the state.Davis, 39, sits on death row for the Aug. 19, 1989, killing of Officer Mark Allen MacPhail...

A Death Row visit with Troy A. Davis

Posted on September 22, 2008
Sunday September 21, 2008By Patrick DyerToday I visited Troy Anthony Davis on Georgia's death row, a little over 48 hours before the state plans to put him to death for a crime he didn't commit. As I traveled the highway, through the red clay and green pine trees of Georgia this mild autumn Sunday morning listening to Bob Marley, I pondered what it might be like as an innocent man facing an execution in two days...

Bob Herbert: What?s the Rush?

Posted on September 20, 2008
Bob Herbert, New York Times' Op-Ed columnist has published a great column about Troy Davis: Go to Columnist Page � Troy Davis, who was convicted of shooting a police officer to death in the parking lot of a Burger King in Savannah, Ga...

Jimmy Fennell Pleaded Guilty

Posted on September 20, 2008
KXAN is reporting that Jimmy Fennell has pleaded guilty to "improper sexual activity and kidnapping" and his sentencing his set for Friday, Sept. 26th at 9 a.mGEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) -- Jimmy Fennell pleaded guilty and that is the verdict the judge handed down to the former Georgetown police officer...

Michael Blair's Exoneration Brings Innocence List Total to 130

Posted on September 18, 2008
From Death Penalty Information Center:- - - - -ANOTHER INMATE EXONERATED FROM DEATH ROW AS DNA EVIDENCE LEADS TEXAS TO DROP CHARGESMichael Blair's Exoneration Brings Innocence List Total to 130WASHINGTON, DC - A Collin County court in Texas has dismissed capital murdercharges against Michael Blair who had been on death row for the 1993 murder ofAshley Estell...

Wait a minute! A stay of execution for convicted murderer Charles Hood raises troubling questions of judicial integrity

Posted on September 18, 2008
Houston Chronicle has an editorial questioning Court of Criminal Appeal's decision to dismiss the credible evidence that an improper relationship existed between the judge and prosecutor trying Charles Hood's capital murder trial.Tuesday evening, 24 hours before he was due to be put to death by lethal injection, convicted murderer Charles Dean Hood was granted a stay of execution by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals...

Still no DNA match in yogurt shop case

Posted on September 18, 2008
Thats title of Austin-American Statesman's article about pending retrial of Michael Springsteen for the 1991 Austin yogurt shop murders.By Steven KreytakAMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Thursday, September 18, 2008 Prosecutors in the cases against two men facing retrial in the 1991 Austin yogurt shop murders have yet to figure out whose DNA was discovered this year in swabs taken from one of the four teenage victims, according to lawyers in the case...

Kenneth Foster Anniversary Journal Entry for 8.30.08

Posted on September 17, 2008
8.30.08 Anniversary Journal EntryKenneth "Haramia" Foster, Jr.It dawned upon me that the one-year mark of my 2007 scheduled execution was approaching. The emotions of that day still have not resided and perhaps they never will, though I find myself getting stronger each day and my vision is getting clearer...

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