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Man Executed Despite Calls From Victim's Family to Spare Him
An Alabama inmate convicted of killing his former girlfriend decades ago was executed Thursday night despite pleas from the victim’s family to spare his life. Joe Nathan James Jr. received a lethal injection at a south Alabama prison after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his request for a stay. James was convicted and sentenced to death in the 1994 shooting...
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Experts: Melissa Lucio Faces Tough Fight to Get New Trial
With Melissa Lucio’s execution put on indefinite hold by a Texas appeals court, her attorneys will now be focused on trying to convince a judge to recommend she get a new trial.
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After Melissa Lucio's Stay of Execution Her Case Remains ‘Far From the Finish Line'
Melissa Lucio, a Texas mother of 14, has been on death row since 2008 after she was convicted of killing her 2-year-old daughter. Her execution was delayed just two days before she was scheduled to die to allow a lower court to review new evidence — including arguments that her confession was coerced. Molly Parmer, a criminal defense attorney who...
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Texas Lawmakers Meet With Woman Facing Execution
A group of bipartisan Texas lawmakers on Wednesday visited a death row inmate whose execution they are trying to stop amid doubts about whether she fatally beat her 2-year-old daughter.
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Live Updates: Jury Selection Continues in Parkland School Shooter Penalty Trial
More than four years after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, the procedure to determine the gunman’s fate is has begun with jury selection.
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Lawyers Hope New Evidence Can Stop Texas Woman's Execution
During hours of relentless questioning, Melissa Lucio more than 100 times had denied fatally beating her 2-year-old daughter.
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Texas to Review Prayer, Touch Requests in Executions by Case
Texas prison officials said Tuesday they don’t plan to formally update their rules after last week’s Supreme Court ruling that indicated states must accommodate the requests of death row inmates who want to have their spiritual advisers pray aloud and touch them during their executions.
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Texas Loses High Court Case Over Prayer During Executions
The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with a Texas death row inmate seeking to have his pastor be allowed to pray out loud and touch him during his execution.
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Texas House Members Hold Press Conference Regarding Woman Scheduled to be Executed
A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers will hold a press conference on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. at the Texas Capitol to discuss their support of clemency or a reprieve for Melissa Lucio.
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Supreme Court Reimposes Death Sentence for Boston Marathon Bomber
The Supreme Court ruled Friday to reimpose the death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
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Texas Law Firm Agrees to Review Oklahoma Death Penalty Case
A partner with a Texas law firm said Tuesday at least 20 attorneys are prepared to review the case of an Oklahoma death row inmate who has long maintained his innocence in the 1997 killing of a motel owner in Oklahoma City. Stan Perry, an attorney with Houston-based ReedSmith, said his firm already has begun reviewing the case of Richard…
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California Moves to Dismantle Nation's Largest Death Row
California, which last carried out an execution in 2006, is one of 28 states that maintain death rows, along with the U.S. government
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Oklahoma Death Row Inmates Seek Firing Squad as Alternative to Lethal Injection
An attorney for two Oklahoma death row inmates facing executions in the coming months offered firing squad as a less problematic alternative to the state’s three-drug lethal injection.
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Execution Date Set for Texas' Oldest Death Row Inmate
The oldest Texas death row inmate is to be executed in April for killing a Houston police officer more than 30 years ago, prosecutors said Tuesday.
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Doctors Question Sedative Dose After Man Convulsed and Vomited During Oklahoma Execution
Medical experts say it’s unclear why an Oklahoma inmate began convulsing and vomiting after the first of three drugs used to execute him was administered
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Alabama Man Put to Death for 1991 Killing of Woman
Willie B. Smith III, who avoided execution in February, has been put to death for the 1991 killing of a woman abducted during a robbery and then shot in a cemetery.
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Man Accused of Killing 8 Won't Face Death Penalty in Texas
A man accused of fatally shooting his estranged ex-girlfriend, her husband and six children, including his own son, at a Houston home will not face the death penalty, authorities said.
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Alabama: Pastor Can Hold Inmate's Hand During Execution
Alabama said it will allow a death row inmate’s pastor to hold his hand during a lethal injection next month, a decision that was made to end litigation over the issue.
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Idaho Prosecutors Will Seek Death Penalty Against Chad Daybell, Charged With Killing Wife's 2 Kids
Daybell was also charged in his previous wife’s death. Court documents filed Thursday revealed that the Fremont County Prosecutor’s Office will seek the death penalty in that case as well.
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Date Set for Supreme Court to Hear Boston Marathon Bomber Death Penalty Case
The Supreme Court will hear arguments this fall over whether Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev can be put to death.