Renée Feltz of the Texas Observer has the following article and video interview on the case of mentally retarded death-row inmate Bobby Woods. Woods is scheduled to be executed next Wednesday. When Texas reopens its execution chamber after a Thanksgiving break, the first man set to die may be mentally retarded. A 2002 Supreme Court…read more
By Mary Alice Robbins, Texas LawyerNovember 25, 2009 CCA Show Cause Order Directs Lawyers to Explain Untimely Filing Two years ago, David Dow and the Texas Defender Service were embroiled in a controversy after a thwarted last-minute attempt to file pleadings for a death-row inmate. Now Dow and Katherine Black, his TDS co-counsel in a…read more
A human-rights organization says the Saudi authorities are arbitrarily executing people for witchcraft. Saudi Arabia is being urged by Human Rights Watch to stop meting out the death penalty for alleged witchcraft. Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling on Riyadh to cease applying capital punishment, to codify its criminal laws and update the criminal procedure…read more
“Rick Perry continues to play politics with the death penalty. He should have accepted the recommendation of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to commute the death sentence of Robert Thompson. It would not surprise me if Rick Perry one day replaces the members of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles who voted…read more
From the Palestine Texas Herald Press: Late Tuesday afternoon, Simpson’s attorneys David R. Dow and Katherine C. Black filed a postconviction writ of habeas corpus; a motion for a stay of execution; and a motion asking Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Sharon Keller be recused from any participation in the case. Dow and Black are…read more
Call the Governor and leave a voice message at 512 463 1782 or email him through his website at http://governor.state.tx.us/contact. Urge him to accept the recommendation of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to grant Robert Thompson clemency and commute his sentence to life. The execution is currently scheduled for Thursday, November 19. From…read more
Texas is set to execute three people in three days starting today, November 17. The first is Gerald Cornelius Eldridge, who is mentally ill and has an IQ of 72. Eldridge, 45, was sentenced to death for the 1993 shooting deaths of his former girlfriend, Cynthia Bogany and her nine-year old daughter Chirissa in Houston….read more
2009 November17th ~ Larry Bill Elliott (Virginia)http://www.vadp.org/alerts/execution-alerts/october-5th-execution-date-set-for-larry-elliott.html 17th ~ Gerald Eldridge (Texas) 18th ~ Danielle Simpson (Texas) – Volunteer 19th ~ Robert Thompson (Texas) December 2nd ~ Cecil Johnson, Jr. ( Tennessee)http://www.tcask.org/ 3rd ~ Bobby Woods (Texas) 8th ~ Kenneth Biros (Ohio) STAY RECEIVED!!!Kenneth Biros receives an indefinite stay from the U.S. District Court. Mr…read more
If you hire a lawyer, the chances are you won’t be sentenced to death in Houston. University of Denver Criminologist Scott Phillips reviewed 504 capital indictments over three decades in Harris County, Texas, and found that defendants who hired lawyers for the entire trial were never sentenced to death — and were more likely to…read more
June 29 through July 2, 2010 17th Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC Read the who, what, when, where, why and how of this important annual abolitionist event by visiting our website. The four-day Fast & Vigil takes place on the sidewalk in front…read more