Upcoming events

TCADP 2020 Annual Conference

The TCADP 2020 Annual Conference – 2020 Vision for Texas: A Leap Towards Justice – will take place on Saturday, February 29, 2020 at the Whitley Theological Center on the campus of Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas.  Register today!

Our program will feature a panel discussion between the current and former district attorneys of Bexar County, in-depth workshops led by experts, and the presentation of our annual awards to extraordinary individuals.

If you can’t join us for the full day, purchase a ticket for our awards luncheon and keynote address by Wana Akpan and Roderick Reed.  Roderick and Wana, in collaboration with the family-led Reed Justice Initiative, mobilized millions of people worldwide to oppose Rodney Reed’s scheduled execution on November 20, 2019.  Consider sponsoring a table at the luncheon or placing an ad in the conference program to commend Wana and Roderick and our award recipients.

Learn more about the conference, including details on our speakers and award winners.

TCADP has secured a block of hotel rooms at the TownePlace Suites San Antonio Airport (214 N.E. Loop 410 San Antonio, Texas 78216) for Friday, February 28 and Saturday, February 29.  The rate is $99 per night, plus tax; this rate is available until February 14, 2020.  The hotel provides free breakfast, as well as a free shuttle to the conference venue (Oblate School of Theology) and other amenities. Make your reservation directly with the hotel using this link.

Upcoming events

TCADP 2020 Annual Conference

The TCADP 2020 Annual Conference – 2020 Vision for Texas: A Leap Towards Justice – will take place on Saturday, February 29, 2020 at the Whitley Theological Center on the campus of Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas.  Register today!

Our program will feature a panel discussion between the current and former district attorneys of Bexar County, in-depth workshops led by experts, and the presentation of our annual awards to extraordinary individuals.

If you can’t join us for the full day, purchase a ticket for our awards luncheon and keynote address by Wana Akpan and Roderick Reed.  Roderick and Wana, in collaboration with the family-led Reed Justice Initiative, mobilized millions of people worldwide to oppose Rodney Reed’s scheduled execution on November 20, 2019.  Consider sponsoring a table at the luncheon or placing an ad in the conference program to commend Wana and Roderick and our award recipients.

Learn more about the conference, including details on our speakers and award winners.

TCADP has secured a block of hotel rooms at the TownePlace Suites San Antonio Airport (214 N.E. Loop 410 San Antonio, Texas 78216) for Friday, February 28 and Saturday, February 29.  The rate is $99 per night, plus tax; this rate is available until February 14, 2020.  The hotel provides free breakfast, as well as a free shuttle to the conference venue (Oblate School of Theology) and other amenities. Make your reservation directly with the hotel using this link.

Upcoming events

October 29 to November 14, 2019: The Texas tour of “The Penalty” continues this week, with public screenings in San Marcos, San Antonio and Houston. http://www.thepenaltyfilm.com/screenings

November 13, 2019: TCADP San Antonio chapter meeting, 6:30 PM

February 29, 2020: TCADP 2020 Annual Conference.  Registration now open!

Click here for details on these and other upcoming events.

Executions in 2019

Scheduled (4)
November 6: Justen Hall
November 13: Patrick Murphy Contact the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
November 20: Rodney Reed – Sign this petition by the Innocence Project
December 11: Travis Runnels

Executed (7)
January 30: Robert Jennings
February 28: Billie Wayne Coble
April 24: John King
August 21: Larry Swearingen
September 4: Billy Crutsinger
September 10: Mark Anthony Soliz
September 25: Robert Sparks

Stays Granted/Dates Withdrawn (10)
January 14: Blaine Milam (execution scheduled for 1/15/19; stay granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals)
March 28: Patrick Murphy, Jr. (execution scheduled for 3/28/19; stay granted by the U.S. Supreme Court)
April 8: Mark Robertson (execution scheduled for 04/11/19; stay granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals)
April 30 and August 14: Dexter Johnson (execution scheduled for May 2 – stay granted by a federal judge; execution rescheduled for August 15 – stay granted by the Fifth Circuit on August 14)
September 23: Stephen Barbee (execution scheduled for 10/2/19; stay granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals)
October 3: Randall Mays (execution scheduled for 10/16/19; date withdrawn by trial court)
October 4: Randy Halprin (execution scheduled for 10/10/19; stay granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals)
October 22: Ruben Gutierrez (execution scheduled for 10/30/19; stay granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals; an earlier date of July 31 also was withdrawn

Read More

TCADP August 2019 Alert: Texas schedules 11 executions

August 1, 2019  Kristin

In this edition:

Scheduled executions and case updates: The State of Texas is scheduled to put 11 people to death before the end of the year, including two executions this month; federal executions set for first time since 2003; prosecutors take the death penalty off the table in two cases; El Paso death row inmate dies of natural causes

In case you missed it: Faith leaders call for clergy to be allowed in the execution chamber; Texas legislators form House Criminal Justice Reform Caucus; remembering former U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens

New resource: “The Penalty” documentary film now available on Amazon

Featured event: TCADP’s San Antonio Chapter will meet on August 14

The State of Texas is scheduled to execute two individuals in April:

• On April 11, 2019, Mark Robertson, 50, is scheduled to be executed for the 1989 murder of Edna Brau in Dallas County.  In his 1991 trial, he also received two life sentences for the murder of Sean Hill, Brau’s grandson, and Jeffrey Saunders, a convenience store clerk.  His appellate attorneys have argued that the jury never heard mitigating evidence about his past because of his trial attorneys’ failure to properly investigate.  Additionally, they claim that a Texas prison warden gave false testimony about Robertson’s potential security classification in prison if he received life without parole.
• On April 24, 2019, John William King, 44, is scheduled to be executed for his role in the racially-motivated dragging death of James Byrd, Jr. in 1998.  King, along with two other men, Shawn Berry and Lawrence Russell Brewer, were convicted of chaining Byrd by his ankles to the bumper of a pickup truck and fatally dragging him three miles on the outskirts of Jasper in East Texas. Berry is currently serving a life sentence; Brewer was executed in 2011.  In 2009, Congress passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in response to Byrd’s murder.

Update on Patrick Murphy
On March 28, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed Patrick Murphy’s execution based on his complaint of religious discrimination.  The stay came more than two hours after the execution was set to take place.  The Texas Department of Criminal Justice had denied Murphy’s request to have a Buddhist priest instead of a Christian chaplain in the execution chamber.  In concurring in the grant of application for a stay, Justice Kavanaugh wrote that such governmental discrimination against religion violates the Constitution.

Texas is responsible for two of the three executions nationwide thus far in 2019.  Two executions have been stayed.  A total of five executions currently are scheduled to take place in Texas through September.

Attend a vigil in your community on the day of executions. Information and updates on cases are available on our website and through Facebook and Twitter.

Read more at https://tcadp.org/

Alfred Dewayne Brown deemed “actually innocent”

Alfred Dewayne Brown was declared “actually innocent” today by the Harris County District Attorney’s (DA) Office.   DA Kim Ogg accepted the findings of a special prosecutor appointed by her office in May 2018 to investigate the case.

Brown was released from death row in 2015 after prosecutors dismissed the charges against him.  In 2014, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) overturned his conviction due to evidence of prosecutorial misconduct.  Since then, he has fought for compensation from the State of Texas for his wrongful incarceration.  Although phone records withheld by the prosecution corroborated Brown’s alibi, he was not declared officially innocent (until today) and was thereby ineligible for compensation.

Brown spent a decade on death row for the murder of Houston Police Officer Charles R. Clark at a check-cashing business in 2003.  He is the 13th person exonerated and released from death row in Texas.  Nationally, 164 people have been exonerated and released from death row.

Read the statement from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office here:
https://app.dao.hctx.net/special-prosecutors-report-state-texas-v-alfred-dewayne-brown

Read the full report from Special Prosecutor John Raley here:
http://2019-03-01 Report of Special Prosecutor re Brown_Final_.pdf 

Read coverage of today’s developments from the Texas Tribune:
https://www.texastribune.org/2019/03/01/alfred-dewayne-brown-innocent-death-row/

TCADP 2019 Annual Conference

TCADP’s Annual Conference is a one-day event geared towards anyone interested in learning about the death penalty and becoming involved in our efforts.  It features a panel discussion, workshops, a keynote address, and the presentation of our annual awards.  You don’t want to miss this opportunity to connect with advocates from across the state and hear about the progress we are making towards ending the death penalty in Texas!
The TCADP 2019 Annual Conference will take place on Saturday, February 16, 2019 in downtown Austin. Registration includes breakfast and the awards luncheon.  Tickets are available for the luncheon and keynote address for those who can attend only part of the day. We accept cash, check, or credit card as payment.

You can also register for the conference through your TCADP profile in the givi app.

Contact khoule@tcadp.org if you have any problems with this registration form or questions about the conference.

Join the European Union, the German Consulate General Houston, and TCADP on Thursday, November 15, 2018 for the Houston debut of “True Conviction,” followed by a panel discussion with exonerees, Christopher Scott and Steven Phillips.  University of Houston-Downtown, 7:00 to 9:00 PM. RSVP here.

Register for the TCADP 2019 Annual Conference, which will take place on Saturday, February 16, 2019 at St. David’s Episcopal Church in downtown Austin.

Click here for more information on all upcoming events.

Executions in 2018

Scheduled
November 14: Robert Moreno Ramos
December 4: Joseph Garcia
December 11: Alvin Braziel, Jr.

Executed
January 18: Anthony Shore
January 30: William Rayford
February 1: John Battaglia
March 27: Rosendo Rodriguez
April 25: Erick Davila
May 16: Juan Castillo
June 27: Danny Bible
July 17: Chris Young
September 26: Troy Clark
September 27: Daniel Acker

Commuted
February 22: Thomas Whitaker

Stay Granted or Date Withdrawn
Clifton Williams (scheduled for 6/21)
Ruben Gutierrez (scheduled for 9/12)
Juan Segundo (scheduled for 10/10)
Kwame Rockwell (scheduled for 10/24)
Emanuel Kemp (scheduled for 11/7)

The State of Texas has put eight individuals to death this year, accounting for more than half of the executions nationwide and surpassing the total number of people put to death in 2017.  There are currently seven additional executions scheduled to take place in Texas through December.

According to the Texas Tribune, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) recently purchased 15 new doses of pentobarbital, the drug used in lethal injections.  In June, the Texas Supreme Court declined to overturn a lower court ruling that a pharmacy that supplied drugs to TDCJ in 2014 must be revealed under the state’s public information law.  The state has filed a motion for rehearing.

Executions Scheduled in 2018

September 12: Ruben Gutierrez
September 26: Troy Clark
September 27: Daniel Acker
October 10: Juan Segundo
October 24: Kwame Rockwell
November 7: Emanuel Kemp
December 4: Joseph Garcia

In case you missed it

Former prosecutor, committee chairman supports abolition
State Representative Joe Moody, who represents House District 78 in El Paso and serves as the Chairman of the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, recently published a powerful opinion piece explaining why he has “moved from longtime support of capital punishment to the moral certainty that it’s time for Texas to abolish the death penalty.”

The piece has been published in the Texas Tribune (TribTalk), the El Paso Times, and the Austin-American Statesman.  Thank Representative Moody for his leadership by emailing him at joe.moody@house.texas.gov or posting a supportive comment on one of the media outlets listed above.

September 12: Public lecture by exoneree Anthony Graves, University of Incarnate Word, San Antonio.  Download the flier.

Executions in 2018

Scheduled
May 16: Juan Castillo
June 21: Clifton Williams
June 27: Danny Bible
July 17: Christopher Young
September 20: Ruben Gutierrez

Executed
January 18: Anthony Shore
January 30: William Rayford
February 1: John Battaglia
March 27: Rosendo Rodriguez
April 25: Erick Davila

Commuted
February 22: Thomas Whitaker

May 9: The TCADP San Antonio Chapter will host a member meeting at the Law Alumni Room in the Sarita Kenedy East Law Library (1 Camino Santa Maria St.) at St. Mary’s Law School on Wednesday, May 9.  The meeting will begin at 6:30 PM.  For more information, please contact sanantonio@tcadp.org.  The TCADP San Antonio Chapter meets on the second Wednesday of every month.

Upcoming TCADP events

April 4: Anthony Graves at Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston

April 26: Discussion and book signing with Alison Flowers in Fort Worth

April 30: “True Conviction” on PBS

Click here for more information on upcoming events.

Executions in 2018

Scheduled

April 25: Erick Davila
May 16: Juan Castillo
June 21: Clifton Williams
June 27: Danny Bible
July 17: Christopher Young

Executed

January 18: Anthony Shore
January 30: William Rayford
February 1: John Battaglia
March 27: Rosendo Rodriguez

Commuted

February 22: Thomas Whitaker

(From Texas Tribune Feb 22) – Gov. Greg Abbott spared the life of a death row inmate Thomas Whitaker less than an hour before his scheduled execution.

More than 10 years had passed and nearly 150 people had been executed since a Texas governor last spared an inmate from a death sentence.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott broke that streak at the last minute Thursday when he accepted the state parole board’s rare and unanimous recommendation to grant clemency for death row inmate Thomas Whitaker. Abbott’s order came down less than an hour before Whitaker’s scheduled execution. Whitaker was set to die for the 2003 murders of his mother and brother in Fort Bend County.

It was the first time the board had recommended to change a death sentence to life in prison since 2009 and the first time a governor accepted the change since 2007.

Abbott, a staunch supporter of the death penalty, said he granted clemency for Whitaker for many reasons: The triggerman in the murders got a lesser sentence; his father, a victim of the crime, passionately opposed the execution, and Whitaker had voluntarily waived all claims to parole in exchange, meaning he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

TCADP 2018 Annual Conference in Dallas – February 17, 2018

TCADP’s Annual Conference is a one-day event geared towards anyone interested in learning about the death penalty and becoming involved in our efforts.  It features a panel discussion, workshops, a keynote address, and the presentation of our annual awards.  You don’t want to miss this opportunity to connect with supporters from across the state and hear about the progress we are making towards ending the death penalty in Texas!

The TCADP 2018 Annual Conference will take place on Saturday, February 17, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. Registration includes breakfast and the awards luncheon.  Tickets are available for the luncheon and keynote address for those who can attend only part of the day. We accept cash, check, or credit card as payment.

Contact us at 512-441-1808 or khoule@tcadp.org if you have questions.

TCADP November 2017 Alert:
Lowest public support for death penalty in 45 years

In the November edition of the TCADP monthly newsletter, you’ll find information about scheduled executions, recent Gallup poll data, and the TCADP 2018 Annual Conference. You’ll also find a list of upcoming events in El Paso and San Antonio.

Continue reading 

Scheduled Executions
The State of Texas is scheduled to execute one person this month:

• On November 8, Ruben Cardenas is scheduled to be put to death for the 1997 murder of Mayra Laguna in Hidalgo County. In accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, as a Mexican-national, Cardenas had the right to contact the Mexican consulate upon arrest. He was unaware of this right. As a result, he was interrogated and confessed without any form of legal representation.

Take action: Write letters to Governor Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to stop the execution of Ruben Cardenas. For talking points and case details from Amnesty International, click here.

Texas accounts for 6 out of the 21 executions nationwide thus far in 2017. Currently, there is one execution scheduled in Texas in December.

Attend a vigil in your community on the day of executions. Information and updates on cases are available on our website and through Facebook and Twitter.
 

Upcoming Events:

February 17, 2018: TCADP 2018 Annual Conference in Dallas Register Today!

Click here for more information on upcoming events