Texas executed 15 people in 2012, two more people than in 2011. 73 percent of the people Texas executed in 2012 were people of color, seven African-American and four Hispanics. There were four white people executed by Texas in 2012.

Five people were executed from Dallas County, two from Bexar County, two from Montgomery County, one from Harris County, one from Gregg County, one from Polk County, one from Cherokee County, one from Jefferson County and one from Tarrant County.

Since December 7, 1982, the state of Texas has executed 492 people. There have been 253 executions in Texas since Rick Perry took office in December 2000.

2011 saw the lowest number of executions in 15 years dating back to 1996. The highest number of executions was 40 in 2000.

So far, 9 people have been sentenced to death in 2012 in Texas – one more than in 2011. New death sentences have declined from their high in the late 90s. In 1999, there were 48 people sentenced to death. Harris County, where Houston is located, did not send anyone to death row in 2012.

After three convictions and death sentences, all of which were at least partially overturned on appeal, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office announced in August 2012 that it would drop efforts to execute Anthony Pierce, who had been on death row since 1978.

88.8 percent of the nine new death sentences handed out in 2012 in Texas have been given to people of color. Of the nine people sentenced to death so far in Texas in 2012, seven are African-American, one is Hispanic and one white. One of the nine persons is a woman.

The number of new death sentences has declined over the last several years in large part because people who serve on juries are increasingly choosing life without parole as an alternative to the death penalty, because members of juries have read about so many mistakes in the system when innocent people have been convicted only to be exonerated years later.

Cathy Henderson, who has been on death row in Texas for 17 years, was granted a new trial in 2012. The trial court said in its ruling in May that she “has proven by clear and convincing evidence that no reasonable juror would have convicted her of capital murder in light of her new evidence”.  Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg has said she will retry Henderson.

In September, Texas executed Cleve “Sarge” Foster who had received three previous stays of execution from the U.S. Supreme Court. Read a report from Gloria Rubac, who was with Foster’s family in Huntsville on the day of the execution.

John Balentine received a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court in August 2012, less than an hour before he was due to be put to death in Texas. Balentine argued he deserved a reprieve because an ineffective trial lawyer failed to present mitigating evidence, such as emotional problems and a difficult upbringing, that could have led to a life sentence.

Two people on death row died in custody in 2012: Santos Minjarez from San Antonio died Jan. 14, 2012 in Galveston, six days after he was transferred from death row. The cause of death was septic shock and multiple organ failure.  Selwyn Davis of Austin was found dead in his death row cell on July 20, 2012 of suicide.

More than three decades after he was sent to death row, Delma Banks Jr. in 2012 agreed to accept a life sentence for the 1980 slaying of acquaintance Richard Whitehead – a murder he has long maintained he did not commit. Banks, who is black, was convicted by an all-white jury of the slaying of 16-year-old Whitehead (white) near Nash, Texas, in 1980.

After 12 years of organizing and lobbying by ordinary grassroots Democrats across the state as well as by exonerated former death row inmates, the Texas Democratic Party has adopted a platform that calls for repealing the death penalty in Texas. “Democrats Against the Death Penalty”, which was formed by members of Texas Moratorium Network in 2004, held a meeting at the TDP State Convention in June 2012. Watch a powerful video of Clarence Brandley, an innocent man who spent ten years on Texas death row for a crime he did not commit, speaking at the meeting of “Democrats Against the Death Penalty” on June 8, 2012 at the Texas Democratic Party State Convention in Houston.

In July, the Austin Human Rights Commission passed a resolution calling for Texas to repeal the death penalty and for a statewide moratorium on executions.

In July, Texas changed to a one drug method to carry out executions instead of its previous three-drug method, because of short supply in drugs that was caused by pressure on drug companies from people in the drugs producing countries who are opposed to executions.

In October, Todd Willingham’s family officially requested a pardon for him from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Governor Rick Perry. No action has yet been taken on the request.

According to KTBC in Austin, hundreds of people rallied at the Texas Capitol at the 13th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty on November 3, 2012. Three death row survivors from Witness to Innocence attended the march, including Ron Keine (watch video).

Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg must decide now whether to retry death row inmate Cathy Henderson or drop the charges after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed with a lower court that she should be granted a new trial thanks to his lawyer, if your need some help extending your rights to self-defense, visit the link.

From the Austin Chronicle: In an opinion delivered this morning, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals says Cathy Lynn Henderson should be granted a new trial in the 1994 Travis County murder of three-month-old Brandon Baugh.

Just released by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals:

Per Curiam. Price, J., filed a concurring opinion. Cochran, J., filed a concurring opinion in which Womack, Johnson, and Alcala, JJ., joined. Alcala, J., filed a concurring opinion. Keasler, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Keller, P.J., and Hervey, J., joined. Hervey, J., filed a dissenting opinion in which Keller, P.J., and Keasler, J., joined. Meyers, J., not participating.

This is a subsequent application for writ of habeas corpus in a capital case, in which applicant asserted that she has newly available evidence that: (1) shows that she is innocent of capital murder; and (2) but for constitutional errors, she would not have been found guilty. On June 11, 2007, we found that the application satisfied the requirements for a subsequent writ under Article 11.071, Section 5, and remanded the application to the trial court for further proceedings. We will grant relief and remand the cause for a new trial.

In accordance with our remand order, the trial court held an evidentiary hearing. Applicant presented the testimony of six expert witnesses. Relying on new developments in the science of biomechanics, these witnesses testified that the type of injuries that Brandon Baugh suffered could have been caused by an accidental short fall onto concrete. Dr. Roberto Bayardo, the medical examiner who testified at trial that applicant’s position that Brandon’s injuries resulted from an accidental fall was false and impossible, testified at the evidentiary hearing that he now believes that there is no way to determine with a reasonable degree of medical certainty whether Brandon’s injuries resulted from an intentional act of abuse or an accidental fall. The State presented five expert witnesses who testified that, notwithstanding the studies cited by applicant’s experts, it was very unlikely that Brandon’s injuries were caused by an accidental short fall onto concrete.

Following the evidentiary hearing, the trial court recommended granting a new trial. The court found that all of the expert witnesses were truthful and credible. The court further found that Dr. Bayardo’s re-evaluation of his 1995 opinion is based on credible, new scientific evidence and constitutes a material exculpatory fact. The trial court concluded that applicant has proven by clear and convincing evidence that no reasonable juror would have convicted her of capital murder in light of her new evidence.

In post-conviction habeas corpus review, this Court is the ultimate fact finder, but the trial judge is the original fact finder. As a matter of course this Court will defer to and accept the convicting court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law, as long as they are supported by the record. This is particularly true in matters concerning the weight and credibility of the witnesses and, in the case of expert witnesses, the level and scope of their expertise.

In this case, the trial court’s findings of fact are supported by the record. Although we need not accept the trial court’s conclusions concerning actual innocence, we accept the court’s recommendation to grant relief and remand for a new trial.

Delivered: December 5, 2012

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Here is a Thanksgiving story to make your day.

Kenneth Boyd Jr of Center Texas learned before Thanksgiving that he finally has something to be thankful for after 15 years in prison for three murders he did not commit. He will likely be released Monday. He was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison despite the fact that there was no physical evidence linking him or any of his co-defendants to the murders.

In June, Shelby County 273rd District Court Judge Charles Mitchell found that former Shelby County District Attorney Karren Price had suppressed evidence. Boyd’s mother suffered a heart attack Thursday, said Boyd’s lawyer Gena Bunn. His mother is in stable condition in a Tyler hospital.

From the CCA ruling: “in light of the newly discovered and newly available evidence presented by Applicant and its probable impact on the State’s case as a whole, the trial court concludes that Applicant has proven by clear and convincing evidence that no reasonable juror would have voted to convict him.”

More from the News-Journal in Longview Texas:

After more than 15 years behind bars, an East Texas man is set to be released from prison following the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruling that he was wrongfully convicted of a triple homicide in Shelby County.
Gena Bunn, an attorney with the Holmes and Moore law firm of Longview, represented Kenneth Boyd Jr., of Center in his appeal, overturning a life sentence that was handed to him in 1999. He spent two years before then, after being charged in the 1997 homicides.

“He was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison despite the fact that there was no physical evidence linking him or any of his co-defendants to the murders,” Bunn said.

Shelby County District Attorney Ken Florence agreed to allow Boyd out of jail on a personal recognizance bond. He was expected to be released late Monday afternoon.

Florence reopened the investigation after Bunn filed the appeal in April. Bunn said it is possible the case against Boyd could be dropped completely.

Boyd was convicted in 1999 of the April 1997, murders of Keith Moore, 25, Christy Calhoun, 13, and Brian Keith Brooks, 26.

Bunn said none of the weapons linked to Boyd matched evidence found at the scene; none of the fingerprints recovered at the crime scene matched Boyd; a search of his car did not reveal any evidence tying him to the crime; there was no eyewitness testimony identifying him as the shooter; and Boyd passed a polygraph exam conducted after he became a suspect in the case.

The state’s case in 1999 consisted “essentially of a pair of jailhouse snitches who testified that Boyd confessed to them,” Bunn said. Both of those people have since recanted their testimony, she said. A few other witnesses — “many, if not all of whom, were high on crack cocaine or other substances” — also testified they saw Boyd about two and a half miles from the crime scene on the night of the murders, she added.

Bunn was appointed to the case two years ago.

“Seeing it and getting more and more involved in the case, it was striking and troubling to me what a grave injustice this was,” Bunn said.

In June, Shelby County 273rd District Court Judge Charles Mitchell found that former Shelby County District Attorney Karren Price had suppressed evidence.

She said other suppressed evidence included letters sent from witnesses to Price contradicting their trial testimony, offense reports indicating a different person was responsible for the murders, and information that another witness had failed a polygraph exam regarding his involvement in the murders and was then offered a deal with the state for his testimony against Boyd.

“He also found that Price had knowingly presented false testimony against Boyd,” she said.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled on Wednesday that Boyd should be released back to Shelby County.

“The opinion that came out last week gave me a better view of the system,” Bunn said. “Even though justice was delayed, he is getting released now. Better late than never.”

Boyd’s mother suffered a heart attack Thursday, Bunn said. She is in stable condition in a Tyler hospital.

“I worked very hard on this case for the last couple of years but that woman has really stayed on it throughout,” Bunn said. “She insisted that Kenny get a lawyer to handle the appeal, and she made sure he did get a lawyer. If it hadn’t been for her, these injustices still might not have come to light.”
Bunn said when Boyd, who is now in his late 30s, heard the news, he was almost speechless.

“He said, ‘I just don’t know what to say,’” Bunn said.
Florence was cooperative and expedited the release process, Bunn said.

“He has shown a lot of class in the way he handled the case until now,” she said.

Bunn said she hopes the community will be supportive and help Boyd transition smoothly from prison back into society.

“I think for somebody who’s been in prison for 15 years for a crime that I believe he did not commit, then to come out into free world, he’s going to have a lot of challenges,” Bunn said. “I hope the community can help him.”

Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg already sent three people to death row in 2009, 2010 and 2011, so it is not surprising that today she announced she is seeking another death sentence. One day Travis County should elect a progressive district attorney who reflects the values of the community.

In 2011 only six counties sent anyone to death row in Texas, but Travis County was one of those. Remember when the members of the audience at one of the presidential debates cheered and clapped when Rick Perry was asked about all the executions that Texas conducts? If Texas counties send fewer people to death row, then we can begin to silence those people who would clap and cheer for the death penalty.

Travis County should be a death penalty free zone in Texas. There is no law that says a DA has to seek the death penalty. Life without parole is the other option in Texas in capital cases.

Rosemary Lehmberg’s decision will be expensive for Travis County taxpayers. Seeking a death sentence is much more expensive, maybe three times as expensive, as seeking life without parole.

From the Austin American-Statesman:

Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg said this morning that she has decided to seek the death penalty against Brandon Montgomery Daniel, who police say fatally shot Austin police officer Jaime Padron earlier this year.

“I think it is the right thing to do,” Lehmberg told the American-Statesman.
She declined to comment further.

The Texas Legislature does not start its 2013 session until January, but early filing of bills has begun. Rep. Harold Dutton of Houston has filed HB 164, a bill to abolish the death penalty in Texas.

Rep Dutton first filed a bill to abolish the death penalty in 2003, which was the first abolition bill filed in the Texas Legislature in a long time up to that year. When no one else was willing to file a bill to abolish the death penalty, Rep Dutton stepped up in 2003 and filed an abolition bill. Everyone opposed to the death penalty should thank Rep Dutton for his leading role in the effort in the Texas Legislature to end the death penalty.

It was an exciting day back in 2003 when Dutton’s abolition bill was heard in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. That was the first time an abolition bill was heard in a Texas legislative Committee in the modern era, and maybe ever.

Rep Harold Dutton is pictured speaking at one of our Day of Innocence Lobby Days to Repeal the Death Penalty.

Below Rep Dutton speaks at the 2011 Day of Innocence. Behind him are six death row exonerees who spent years on death row for crimes they did not commit.