A state appeals court has halted this week's scheduled execution of a Texas death row inmate condemned for the slaying of an 81-year-old woman nearly 30 years ago.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a request Monday by Mark Robertson's attorneys to stay his execution.
The stay came as Robertson's attorneys asked the court to review a 1997 decision in which it had denied a previous appeal over claims that Robertson's trial attorney had worked to keep African Americans off the jury.
Robertson had been set for lethal injection Thursday for the August 1989 fatal shooting of Edna Brau at her Dallas home.
Robertson received a life sentence for fatally shooting Sean Hill, Brau's 19-year-old grandson, and another life term for killing a convenience store clerk 10 days earlier.
