Rep. Harold Dutton’s HB 1032, a bill to abolish the death penalty in Texas, is scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence on Wednesday, April 29, 2015. The meeting room is E2.030. The hearing starts at 10:30 AM or upon adjournment of the Texas House of Representatives. On the same day, the committee will also hear testimony on Dutton’s bill to ban the death penalty in law of parties cases, HB 341. Anyone can attend the hearing and sign in to support the bills or even sign up to speak in support of the bills. You canContinue readingHearing on Rep Dutton’s Bill to Abolish the Texas Death Penalty April 29, 2015

Prosecutor Accused of Misconduct in TX Execution Case by Maurice Possley, The Marshall Project, The Texas Tribune March 18, 2015  In a major turn in one of the country’s most-noted death penalty cases, the State Bar of Texas has filed a formal accusation of misconduct against the county prosecutor who convicted Cameron Todd Willingham, a Texas man executed in 2004 for the arson murder of his three young daughters. Following a preliminary inquiry that began last summer, the bar this month filed a disciplinary petition in Navarro County District Court accusing the former prosecutor, John H. Jackson, of obstruction ofContinue readingWillingham’s Prosecutor Subject of Formal Accusations of Misconduct

Dr. Gerald Hurst, the arson expert who blew the whistle in the case of Todd Willingham, has died. We ran into him several times over the years, including at the hearing held by Judge Charlie Baird on the Willingham case when he testified. He was a marvel and will be sadly missed.     From the Washington Post: In early 2004, Dr. Hurst wrote an in-depth fire investigation report which revealed that the Texas State Fire Marshal Office’s findings around the Cameron Todd Willingham case were based on a flawed investigation and outdated science . . . Hurst disseminated hisContinue readingDr Gerald Hurst Dies; He Revealed Faulty Science Used to Convict and Execute Todd Willingham

Texas State Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr has filed legislation to abolish the death penalty in Texas. This is the first time a state senator has ever filed legislation to completely abolish the death penalty in Texas. It happened because organizations in Texas held the Statewide Texas Lobby Day to Abolish the Death Penalty on March 3 and death row survivors Ron Keine and Sabrina Butler from Witness to Innocence and Scott Cobb of Texas Moratorium Network met with Senator Lucio’s general counsel and requested that Senator Lucio file abolition legislation. (There was an abolition bill filed in the Texas Senate in 1969, but it would not have completelyContinue readingSenator Eddie Lucio Jr Files Historic Bill in Texas Senate to Abolish Death Penalty

Exonerated death row inmates fight execution in Texas KVUE – ‎Mar 4, 2015‎ AUSTIN — Texas leads the nation in the frequency of the use of the death penalty, and every year, one state legislator works to abolish it. On Tuesday, Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston) filed bills, for the seventh time, that aim to abolish the death penalty in … Death penalty opponents take uphill battle to end executions to the Texas Capitol Dallas Morning News (blog) – ‎Mar 3, 2015‎ AUSTIN—Death row exonerees on Tuesday called for lawmakers to abolish the death penalty—a long-shot bid in Texas where capital punishment has broadContinue readingMedia Coverage of 2015 Statewide Texas Lobby Day to Abolish the Death Penalty

The 15th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty is Saturday October 25, 2014 at 2:00 PM in Houston, Texas. Details on the exact location in Houston will be announced later.

From the Houston Chronicle: Houston lawyers Friday filed a complaint against a former North Texas prosecutor, claiming he lied about cutting a deal with a witness that helped send a possibly innocent Corsicana auto mechanic to his execution. The complaint against John Jackson was lodged with the State Bar of Texas to spotlight the former prosecutor’s alleged perjury during a 2010 court of inquiry called to review the murder case. Cameron Todd Willingham, 36, was executed in 2004 for the December 1991 murder of his three young children in an arson fire at his Corsicana home. Neal Mann, a lawyerContinue readingComplaint Filed Against Prosecutor John Jackson for Perjury in Todd Willingham Case

According to the 2014 Texas Democratic Party platform: “In order to promote public confidence and fairness in the Texas Criminal Justice system, Texas Democrats call for the passage of legislation that would abolish the death penalty in Texas and replace it with the punishment of life in prison without parole.” Todd Willingham’s name has been mentioned for many years in the Texas Democratic Party platform since Scott Cobb wrote the section on the death penalty ten years ago. Todd’s name is mentioned as an example of an innocent person already executed. Democrats Against the Death Penalty held a caucus meetingContinue reading2014 Texas Democratic Party Platform Endorses Abolishing Death Penalty

In a development that should not surprise anyone, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, of which every single member was appointed by Governor Rick Perry, has voted not to recommend a posthumous full pardon for Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed a decade ago after being convicted of setting a house fire that killed his three young daughters. Rick Perry in 2009 thwarted the investigation into the Willingham case when he replaced the chair of the Texas Forensic Science Commission two days before it was to hear from the author of a scathing report in the case of CameronContinue readingAll-Rick Perry Appointed Board Denies Posthumous Exoneration for Todd Willingham

Citing New Evidence, Innocence Project Calls for Pardon by Brandi Grissom and Edgar Walters, The Texas Tribune Feb. 28, 2014 Updated, Feb. 28, 2014, 2:30 p.m.:  Attorneys working on behalf of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed 10 years ago after he was convicted of setting a house fire that killed his three young daughters, say they have new evidence that suggests he was innocent. Lawyers from the New York-based Innocence Project say a newly discovered note in the files of John Jackson, the prosecutor who oversaw his conviction, suggests that Jackson made a deal with a jailhouse informant, JohnnyContinue readingNew Evidence Discredits Witness Against Todd Willingham