Texasโ highest criminal court emphatically rejects death row inmate Rodney Reedโs claim of innocence
Reed, a Black man on death row for more than 25 years, has gained international support for his claims that he did not kill 19-year-old Stacey Stites, a white woman. Another appeal over DNA testing of evidence is still pending.
Judge orders Texas to stop using expired lethal injection drugs, throwing Tuesdayโs execution of Robert Fratta in doubt
Fratta was convicted in the 1994 murder-for-hire of his wife. Lawyers are challenging Texasโ routine of extending the expiration dates of its lethal drugs, a practice begun when many pharmacies began refusing to provide doses for executions.
Crystal Masonโs contentious illegal voting conviction must be reconsidered, criminal appeals court says
Mason said she didnโt know she was ineligible to vote when she cast a provisional ballot in 2016, but she was sentenced to five years in prison. Now, the Court of Criminal Appeals says an appellate court that affirmed her conviction must look again at the evidence of Masonโs intent.
Texas Republicans pressure court to reverse decision blocking attorney general from prosecuting election cases
Republicans from Gov. Greg Abbott on down are pressuring the all-GOP Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reverse a December ruling that gutted the attorney generalโs power to go after election cases on his own.
Texas court tosses out conviction, death sentence after discovering a prosecutor also worked for the judge
Clinton Young was convicted in a 2001 Midland County murder in which he insists he was framed. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said he was denied the right to a fair trial and an impartial judge.