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Tag: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Rick Perry

Rick Perry Battles at Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Former Governor Rick Perry and his legal team were at the state’s highest criminal court on Wednesday morning arguing that the remaining count against him (abuse of official capacity) should be dismissed. A special prosecutor argued that a second count (coercion of a public servant) dismissed by an immediate court of appeals should be reinstated.

Dan and Fran Keller - AP Photo - Ricardo Brazziell

Texas Satanic Cult Day Care Convictions Tossed Out 20+ Years Later

The Texas couple who spent more than 20 years in prison for a crime they said they did not commit had their day in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. On May 20, the highest criminal court in the state threw out the 1992 sexual and satanic assault act convictions against former day care operators Dan and Fran Keller.

Kent Sprouse. Executed by Texas on April 9, 2015

State of Texas Executes Cop-Killer by Lethal Injection

Kent William Sprouse, 42 years-of-age, was put to death at 6:33 CST on April 9, 2015 in Huntsville, Texas, for fatally shooting Ferris Police Officer Harry Marvin “Marty” Steinfeldt III. The murder occurred at a Ferris, Texas, Diamond Shamrock gas station and food mart on October 6, 2002. Sprouse is the fifth Texas death row inmate to be executed this year. There were no late-filed appeals to stop the execution.

Scales of Justice

Texas District Attorney’s Office Accused of Unlawfully Withholding Defense Evidence

A District Attorney’s Office in Texas is facing multiple accusations of intentionally withholding favorable evidence from defendants, and the accusations could have major impacts on at least two cases. In the first, a former Nueces County prosecutor filed suit against the Nueces County District Attorney in mid-December claiming he was fired for refusing to withhold favorable evidence from the criminal defense. Then, late last month, defense lawyers for Hannah Overton urged visiting Judge Mario Ramirez Jr., of Edinburg, to drop the murder charge because the prosecutor in the 2007 trial intentionally withheld evidence that would have proved Overton’s innocence.