A full panel of judges on a federal appeals court heard arguments Wednesday in the appeal of Brittany Holberg’s capital murder conviction, which was previously overturned in March.
Among the cases that are headed back to court is that of Robert Roberson, who argues he was wrongfully convicted of killing his daughter based on now-debunked science.
Roberson, convicted of capital murder in 2003 for the death of his 2-year-old daughter, will continue to push for a new trial. He has maintained his innocence.
A new petition claims Anderson County judges acted unconstitutionally multiple times in both Roberson’s case and in recognizing custody of his daughter.
Matthew Johnson, who testified he did not intend to kill the elderly clerk, received the death penalty in 2013. The execution is Texas’ fourth and may be the last for 2025.
Ruben Gutierrez wants to be able to sue prosecutors to compel them to test evidence that he says will prove he did not kill a Brownsville woman in 1998.
The appeal includes new testimony from experts who say Roberson’s daughter died of natural causes, and cites the court’s exoneration of a man in another shaken baby syndrome case out of Dallas County.
Steven Lawayne Nelson maintained that he unknowingly participated in the violent church robbery but didn’t harm anyone. His execution was the state’s first for 2025.
Texas continues to lead other states on capital punishment. But the decline in new death sentences and executions reached a record low.
Attorney General Ken Paxton sought to delay legal proceedings until Jan. 13 — the day before the committee disbands — even as lawmakers vowed to continue fighting to hear from Roberson.
The motion escalates a tense standoff between Paxton and a bipartisan Texas House committee, which had subpoenaed Roberson to testify at the Capitol on Friday.
Senior District Judge Deborah Oakes Evans recused herself after a challenge to her impartiality over longtime relationships with case prosecutors and judges.
Roberson was convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter in a “shaken baby” case that many say led to an innocent man’s death sentence.
The Cameron County judge also found the state relied on false testimony during her capital murder trial, according to court documents.
Even before the Texas man’s death sentence became a political lightning rod, law enforcement and medical experts had differing opinions on the evidence that convicted him.
The AG also said he’d make a criminal referral against the lawmaker, who apologized for texting a Court of Criminal Appeals judge about a new trial for the death row inmate.
Members of a Texas House committee say in a Texas Supreme Court filing that Paxton’s office is blocking the death row inmate from complying with a legislative subpoena.
After the attorney general insisted on the death row inmate’s guilt in a graphic press release, four lawmakers issued a point-by-point rebuttal.
The death row inmate was expected to testify before a Texas House committee, but those plans were scrapped amid a dispute over whether he should appear in person or virtually.
It’s rare for governors to step in to halt executions. In the case of Robert Roberson, it ended up being state lawmakers who took extraordinary steps.
The effort to spare Roberson sparked a conflict between the executive and legislative branches that must be resolved. When it is, the death row inmate will likely be back on the path to execution.
With Roberson’s options dwindling, a House panel used its bully pulpit to prove his case and excoriate the failures of the state’s junk science law.
The state’s highest civil court said it wants a lower court to resolve a separation-of-powers issue raised by a group of Texas lawmakers who subpoenaed the death row inmate the night before he was set to be put to death.
Travis James Mullis was sentenced to death in 2011 for killing his 3-month-old son in Galveston. He was the fourth person executed in Texas this year.
Lawmakers cite new scientific evidence that they say proves Robert Roberson, who is set for execution on Oct. 17, did not kill his daughter.
Texas’ 2013 law that allows for new trials in cases with flawed scientific evidence was pioneering. But the state’s highest criminal court has rejected most of those challenges.
Ruben Gutierrez was sentenced to death for the 1998 Brownsville murder of an elderly woman. His execution was stayed in July.
Lawyers for Robert Roberson say the science used to sentence him to death is questionable and that prior health issues could explain the death of his 2-year-old daughter in 2002.
The court re-sentenced Gallo to life in prison for the murder of his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter.
In a rare joint statement, the district attorney and the defense agreed that prosecutors withheld evidence that could point to a Rio Grande Valley woman’s innocence in the death of her toddler.
Since Randall Mays was sentenced to death in 2008 for the murder of two sheriff’s deputies, his lawyers have argued his intellectual disability exempts him from execution.
Faith leaders and jurors from the original trial launched a public campaign to reconsider recanted testimony in Cantu’s case. Texas courts declined.
Convicted of killing his cousin and his cousin’s fiancée, the death row inmate hopes recanted testimony and other new details spur a review of his case.
Renteria’s attorneys unsuccessfully argued that the El Paso District Attorney’s Office violated his constitutional rights by not releasing all documents in his case. He was the eight person executed in Texas in 2023.
Speer has been on death row for decades after strangling another inmate at a Texas prison. The victim’s sister and faith leaders have both called on the parole board to halt the execution.
Panetti murdered his in-laws in 1992. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2007 set new court precedent with his case, raising the bar on the constitutional restriction against executing the insane.
Overlooked in the churn of one of the country’s busiest courthouses, the forgotten appeals included two death penalty cases, and one from a man who’s already finished his 20-year sentence.
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.
Two jurors from Cantu’s 2001 double-murder trial now support his appeals, which claim prosecutors relied on false testimony and withheld crucial evidence.
At issue is whether Thomas, who gouged out his eyes after confessing the 2004 murders of his estranged wife, their son and her daughter, is competent to be executed in April.
Men sentenced to death in Texas are held in isolation until their execution dates, with little human contact, medical care or legal help, according to a lawsuit filed to improve treatment of the condemned.
Fratta was convicted in the 1994 murder-for-hire of his wife. Lawyers unsuccessfully challenged Texas’ routine of extending the expiration dates of its lethal drugs, a practice begun when many pharmacies began refusing to provide doses for executions.
Barbee, convicted in the 2005 murders of his pregnant ex-girlfriend and her child, was unable to straighten his arms, which caused the delay. Courts allowed Barbee’s execution despite concerns from his lawyer that his disability would make the process “torture.”
Beatty’s lawyers argued unsuccessfully that the 2003 Smith County murder didn’t qualify for the death penalty. Neither the Supreme Court nor Texas Gov. Greg Abbott intervened on Wednesday.
The convicted murderer’s lengthy history of schizophrenia and delusions is well documented, from trying to call Jesus Christ as a trial witness to believing that prison dentists put a transmitter in his tooth.
Thomas’ attorneys appealed saying that some members of the jury that sentenced him had expressed racist views. In their dissent, the court’s three liberal justices wrote that Thomas’ conviction and death sentence were unconstitutional.
Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez said he is ethically opposed to the death penalty, but an employee wrongfully requested the execution date against his wishes. Gonzalez sought to cancel the execution two days later.
Buntion, 78, was sentenced to death for the 1990 murder of a Houston police officer. His Thursday execution was the first Texas has carried out this year.
The Nueces County district attorney, Mark A. Gonzalez, has moved to withdraw the death warrant for John Henry Ramirez, convicted of a 2004 robbery and murder.
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Andrew and Jolie about Texans’ role in the confirmation hearing of Ketanji Brown Jackson and two important death penalty cases.
The Supreme Court ruled that the state likely violated death row inmate John Ramirez’s religious liberties when it denied his request to have his pastor lay his hands on him and pray during his upcoming execution.
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Doubts over Reed’s guilt in the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites have lingered for more than 20 years and gained international attention. But a judge decided against recommending a new trial.
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Jones was sentenced to death in 2001 in Tarrant County after he fatally beat his great-aunt, 83-year-old Berthena Bryant, with a baseball bat. But two relatives say they’ve forgiven him and want his sentence commuted to life in prison.