After being a death row inmate for nearly 50 years, Clarence Jordan, 70, had his death sentence reduced to life. The ruling came Monday after a hearing before Harris County Judge Katherine Thomas.
“I am just glad that we’re able to accomplish this after so many years,” said Ben Wolff, dir. of the Office of Capital and Forensic Writs, which serves as a public defender for post-conviction capital and forensic science cases.
Jordan was convicted and sentenced to death in 1978 for the murder of Houston grocery store worker, Joe Williams, during a robbery. His initial conviction and death sentence was overturned in 1982, but the following year Jordan was convicted and sentenced to death a second time.
In 1987 Jordan was declared incompetent. By this time the US Supreme Court ruled an incompetent person could not be executed even if they were competent at the time the crime was committed and at the time of trial.
The following year, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed Jordan could not be executed until his competency was restored. After this ruling, the case appears to have stalled.
A 2 Investigates review of the court file does not show what, if any, work was done to restore Jordan’s competency. Citing privacy laws, the Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice declined to answer what type of mental health treatment Jordan received since 1987.
While inquiries about the status of the case were sent over the years to the trial court where Jordan was convicted, none triggered any type of formal action.
Jordan’s case was among 100 post-conviction writ cases that fell through the cracks of the system. These cases were discovered in 2022 by associate judges tasked with helping clear a backlog of criminal cases in Harris County.
In Nov. 2024, Wolff filed a motion to be appointed Jordan’s attorney. Wolff said it does not appear Jordan had an attorney after he was declared incompetent.
Wolff then filed an appeal with the CCA, arguing Jordan should never have been given the death penalty since he had a documented history of mental illness the jury was not allowed to consider when deciding punishment.
Old Houston Chronicle and Houston Post newspaper articles, and court documents, show Jordan referred to himself as ‘Father Nature,’ tried to stab a bailiff with a spoon after jury selection in his trial ended and escaped from the courthouse on the day he was ruled incompetent. Wolff said Jordan suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, has hallucinations, brain damage, and below-average IQ.
In Apr. 2026, the CCA vacated Jordan’s death sentence. The Justices wrote the jury in 1983 was not given adequate instructions to consider whether Jordan’s mental health issues should be considered a mitigating factor when deciding punishment.
After the CCA’s ruling, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office said it would not seek a retrial.
“As prosecutors, our duty is to seek justice—not to simply convict. After review of this defendant’s case, we have concluded his death sentence must be vacated. This is what justice looks like. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office worked with the defendant’s counsel, and, upon careful review, determined the jury in this case was not able to fully consider mitigating evidence his trial attorneys presented. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed. To be clear: the defendant’s conviction stands. This outcome does not lessen the harm caused to Joe Williams’ family and friends. When a life is at stake, we must follow the law and ensure the process is fair," officials with the DA’s Office wrote in April.
Since his guilt was not in question, the only legal punishment left was life in prison. Since Texas did not have a sentence of life without parole in 1977, this sentence reduction means Jordan is eligible for parole.
However, Wolff said Jordan suffered a stroke in 2010 and has been housed in a prison hospital at the Estelle prison unit since that time.
“Mr. Jordan, who, on top of his life-long cognitive and mental illness challenges, is now addled by a stroke, blind, and unable to ambulate, speak, or feed himself,” Wolff wrote in a May 2026 pre-sentence memo to Judge Thomas.
Wolff is asking TDCJ to place Jordan under Medically Recommended Intensive Supervision. This type of release applies to a limited set of inmates.
“Terminal illness, old age, geriatric illnesses, stokes, brain damage, ect.,” Wolff said.
Wolff said MRIS is not open to inmates with a death sentence, but since Jordan’s sentence was reduced to life he can now ask TDCJ to place his client in this program.
Officials with TDCJ has not yet responded to KPRC’s request for comment.