https://texasappeals.org/topics/death-penalty/Clinical descriptions of the Texas appellate decisions drawing the most press coverage.Hugo -- gohugo.ioen-usMon, 01 Dec 2025 07:00:00 -0600https://texasappeals.org/2025/12/parker-v-state-capital-direct-appeal/Mon, 01 Dec 2025 07:00:00 -0600https://texasappeals.org/2025/12/parker-v-state-capital-direct-appeal/The court held that the evidence was sufficient for a rational juror to find that the infant removed from the victim’s body was “born and is alive” when the defendant kidnapped or attempted to kidnap her, and it overruled twenty-four other points of error on the merits or for lack of preservation or briefing. A concurrence addressed the Penal Code’s two definitions of “individual.”https://texasappeals.org/2025/10/ex-parte-speer-capital-habeas/Mon, 06 Oct 2025 07:00:00 -0500https://texasappeals.org/2025/10/ex-parte-speer-capital-habeas/In a per curiam opinion, the court held that a Bowie County district court had no jurisdiction over a constitutional habeas application seeking to bar the Texas Department of Criminal Justice from using allegedly expired and fire-damaged pentobarbital in a scheduled execution, because such an injunction would function as a stay of execution that only the Court of Criminal Appeals may grant. The court did not reach the merits of the method-of-execution claims.https://texasappeals.org/2025/03/holberg-v-lumpkin-capital-habeas/Mon, 10 Mar 2025 07:00:00 -0500https://texasappeals.org/2025/03/holberg-v-lumpkin-capital-habeas/A divided panel held that evidence the State did not disclose—that a jailhouse witness was a paid police informant—was favorable and material impeachment evidence under Brady v. Maryland, and that the state court’s contrary ruling was an unreasonable application of clearly established Supreme Court law. Judge Duncan dissented on materiality.https://texasappeals.org/2024/12/ex-parte-halprin-judicial-bias-new-trial/Mon, 02 Dec 2024 07:00:00 -0600https://texasappeals.org/2024/12/ex-parte-halprin-judicial-bias-new-trial/The court found by a preponderance of the evidence that the judge who presided over Halprin’s 2003 capital murder trial was actually biased against him because he is Jewish, held that actual judicial bias is structural error requiring no showing of harm, and remanded for a new trial. A second claim was dismissed as an abuse of the writ.https://texasappeals.org/2024/11/in-re-texas-house-roberson-subpoena/Mon, 25 Nov 2024 07:00:00 -0600https://texasappeals.org/2024/11/in-re-texas-house-roberson-subpoena/The court denied a Texas House committee’s petition, holding that the separation of powers does not permit judicial enforcement of a legislative subpoena that would require canceling a long-scheduled execution. The opinion states that the dispute has nothing to do with Robert Roberson’s guilt or innocence.https://texasappeals.org/2024/11/in-re-tdcj-ex-rel-paxton-roberson-subpoena/Mon, 11 Nov 2024 07:00:00 -0600https://texasappeals.org/2024/11/in-re-tdcj-ex-rel-paxton-roberson-subpoena/In a per curiam opinion, the court held that a district court’s temporary restraining order enjoining the Texas Department of Criminal Justice from carrying out a death warrant had the effect of staying a scheduled execution and was subject to the court’s mandamus authority. The court vacated the order itself. Four judges dissented.https://texasappeals.org/2024/07/ex-parte-cook-actual-innocence/Mon, 08 Jul 2024 07:00:00 -0500https://texasappeals.org/2024/07/ex-parte-cook-actual-innocence/The court held that newly discovered DNA evidence, combined with evidence of false testimony and State misconduct, established by clear and convincing evidence that no rational jury would convict Cook of the 1977 Tyler murder. It did not reach his remaining due-process claims, and the habeas court had recommended denying the actual-innocence claim.