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Criminal Law

StandDown Texas Project

Texas-centric examination of conditions, reform initiatives, and emerging issues related to best practices in the indigent criminal justice system with particular attention to issues involving capital punishment and the administration of the death penalty.
By StandDown Texas Project

Post Frequency: 49.3/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 14:21:29

The Mentally Ill and the Death Penalty

Posted on September 15, 2008
Dr. Maria Felix-Ortiz latest column for the San Antonio Express-News is, "Capital punishment of the mentally ill focus of meeting."This new millennium has seen substantial review of capital punishment. In 2002, in Atkins vs. Virginia, the Supreme Court wrote that...

Another Take on the Hood Case

Posted on September 15, 2008
In yesterday's Sunday Times of London, Tony Allen-Mills wrote, "Sex scandal hits death row case." A LEGAL scandal over a judge?s affair with a prosecutor in Texas has raised embarrassing new questions about the fairness of the state?s criminal justice...

In Georgia

Posted on September 15, 2008
Two Georgia cases are in the news. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, "Jack Alderman gets stay of execution."A Fulton County judge on Monday morning granted a stay of execution to condemned killer Jack Alderman, saying his death sentence is not to...

No Mercy at the Court

Posted on September 15, 2008
That's the title of an OpEd in the Sunday Dallas Morning News by Harvard Law prof Carol Steiker. LINK When Susan LeFevre was 19, she was arrested for selling drugs to an undercover officer in Saginaw, Mich. It was 1974,...

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Thursday

Posted on September 11, 2008
I'm traveling today. Let me link quickly to several items. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Public defender council submits budget cuts, with concern."he state public defender council voted Wednesday to submit proposed budget cuts to Gov. Sonny Perdue, but some frustrated...

Supreme Court Seeks Briefing on Possible Rehearing of Kennedy v. Louisiana

Posted on September 10, 2008
At SCOTUS Blog, Lyle Denniston posted, "Court to explore rehearing in death case," Monday evening. Here's a brief excerpt from his must-read post:The Supreme Court on Monday called for new legal briefs on possible rehearing ? and, maybe, revision ?...

Leave No Question Unanswered

Posted on September 10, 2008
That's the title of today's Dallas Morning News editorial. LINK The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals was right to delay today's scheduled execution of Charles Dean Hood. The justices cited questionable jury instructions, but the most troubling issue goes far...

News Coverage of the Hood Stay of Execution

Posted on September 10, 2008
There is extensive coverage of yesterday stay of execution from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. In today's New York Times, James McKinley reports, "Judge and Prosecutor Admit to Affair, Lawyer Says."A judge and a prosecutor who handled the murder...

Hood Update

Posted on September 09, 2008
"Former Collin County judge gives deposition on relationship with prosecutor in Texas death row case," is Diane Jennings update in the Dallas Morning News. A retired Collin County judge gave a court deposition Tuesday about an alleged relationship she had...

Tuesday Afternoon Update

Posted on September 09, 2008
I'm back in a WiFi hotspot awaiting a transfer of planes. I'll update as time allows. If you're watching for developments, I'd recommend Scott Henson's Grits for Breakfast. Scott had this earlier post; I was attempting to link from my...

In Florida

Posted on September 09, 2008
National Law Journal reports, "Hurricane shuts court, delays death penalty hearing."Yet another hurricane has disrupted court operations in Florida, even though the storm turned away over the weekend and is now heading for the Gulf Coast. Friday, when it appeared...

Tuesday

Posted on September 09, 2008
I'll be traveling much of the day. Posts will resume as WifFi hotspots allow.

Executing Justice in the Texas Courts

Posted on September 09, 2008
That's the title of an OpEd by Lawrence J. Fox at Legal Ethics Forum. LINK Here's an excerpt:They did not execute Charles Hood on June 17. On that night, the State of Texas did the right thing for the wrong...

The Latest Reports on the Hood Case

Posted on September 09, 2008
"Depositions from judge, prosecutor to address romance rumor, may help delay Hood's execution," is Diane Jennings report in the Dallas Morning News.A court on Monday ordered the original judge and prosecutor in the Charles Dean Hood death penalty case to...

Alan Berlow on the Hood Case

Posted on September 09, 2008
Freelance journalist Alan Berlow reports, "Travesty in Texas," a lengthy must-read in The Atlantic. Here's the beginning:Texas is notorious for putting more murderers to death than any other state, and for executing some who may have been given something less...

Update on Hood Hearing

Posted on September 08, 2008
AP writer Schuyler Dixon files, "Lawyers attempt to halt execution, alleging affair," via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.Lawyers for a convicted killer who claim the judge and prosecutor were having an affair during his murder trial asked the state's highest appeals...

Race and the Death Penalty in Arkansas

Posted on September 08, 2008
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports, "Study indicates pattern in sentences."Frank Williams Jr. and the three other people who have been sentenced to death in the judicial district that includes Lafayette County have this in common: All of them are black, and...

Gregory Wright

Posted on September 08, 2008
As noted last week, Gregory Wright's execution date was withdrawn and reset to allow time for DNA testing. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram carried an AP dispatch, "Wright's execution next week moved to October," Friday afternoon.The scheduled execution next week of...

Judge Holland?s Shockingly High Recusal Rate Warrants Full Investigation into Alleged Affair with D.A

Posted on September 08, 2008
That's the title of a statement issued this morning by Texas Defender Service, which is representing Charles Hood in his battle to question former judge Verla Sue Holland and former prosecutor Tom O'Connell. The most recent pleading filed in the...

Just When You Thought It Could Not Get Stranger

Posted on September 08, 2008
"Lawyer files grievance against Abbott after he urges review of Collin County murder case," is Diane Jennings' report in today's Dallas Morning News. The lawyer in question is an Assistant Attorney General.An assistant attorney general filed a grievance Sunday against...

Christian Science Monitor Examines Hood Case - UPDATED

Posted on September 08, 2008
Warren Richey reports, "Did a judge-prosecutor romance taint Texas murder trial?," in today's Monitor.The lawyer for a death-row inmate says he is trying to break a "conspiracy of silence" in Texas over whether the district attorney and the judge who...

Editorials Call for Review of Hood Case

Posted on September 08, 2008
This morning, a hearing in Collin County will decide at least part of the future of the Charles Dean Hood case. His lawyers are attempting to interview the former judge and prosecutor at the heart of serious ethical questions in...

Rachel King

Posted on September 05, 2008
Last week, I noted the passing of Rachel King. Today's Washington Post has this obituary: "Rachel King, 45; Lawyer for House Judiciary Subcommittee."Rachel Carol King, 45, a lawyer for the U.S. House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on crime and homeland security,...

In Arkansas

Posted on September 05, 2008
"High court rejects quick action on appeal; execution on hold," is the title of Charlie Frago's report in today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.Convicted murderer Frank Williams Jr. won?t be executed next week after the Arkansas Supreme Court denied a request Thursday to...

More DNA Testing in Gregory Wright Case

Posted on September 05, 2008
In addition to Charles Hood's scheduled execution next week, on September 10, there was also an execution date for Gregory Wright, September 9. AP reports that execution date has been stayed for additional DNA testing. "Wright's execution to be delayed...

Texas Attorney General Calls for Review of Hood Case

Posted on September 05, 2008
"As Texas Execution Nears, Hearing Is Set on a Claim That Judge and Prosecutor Had Affair," is James McKinley're report in today's New York Times.With less than a week to go before the scheduled execution of a man who contends...

Hearing Scheduled in Hood Deposition Request - UPDATED

Posted on September 04, 2008
A hearing has been scheduled for Monday, September 8. The Notice of Hearing is in the Breaking News Documents in the right column. Texas Defender Service, which represents Charles Hood, has issued this statement:Today, Collin County District Court Judge Greg...

Note Taking in the Jury Box

Posted on September 04, 2008
"Pennsylvania the latest state to allow juror note-taking in criminal trials," is Vesna Jaksic's National Law Journal web-only report.Pennsylvania will permanently allow jurors to take notes, embracing an increasingly common trend in the nation's courtrooms...

Indigent Defense Crunch in Miami Dade County

Posted on September 04, 2008
"Miami judge rules poor defense caseload crushing," is Curt Anderson's AP report, via the Miami Herald.The public defender's office that represents Miami-Dade County's poorest criminal defendants is overburdened by a crushing caseload and will stop accepting thousands of lesser felony...

Georgia Sets Execution Date for Troy Davis

Posted on September 04, 2008
The controversial case is set to return to the public spotlight with the setting of an execution date. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, "Davis execution scheduled; 7 witnesses have recanted."A convicted cop killer who witnesses now say maybe didn?t do it...

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