Death Row

Those housed in the O’Daniel Unit in Gatesville, including such names as Melissa Lucio, have had their lives touched by a particular Catholic order.

The new year could be a year of increased use of the death penalty across the United States which contrasts with how 2024 was a year that saw big gains in the effort to reduce executions. On January 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at reinstating and expanding the use of the federal death penalty.

In total, Biden commuted 37 out of 40 death sentences to life without the possibility of parole. The group Human Rights Dallas said the president should grant clemency to all 40.

Opponents of the death penalty had urged President Biden to take this step, given the number of executions that took place during President-elect Donald Trump's first term.

Attorney General Ken Paxton sought to delay legal proceedings until Jan. 13 — the day before the committee disbands — even as lawmakers vowed to continue fighting to hear from Roberson.

The new subpoena comes after lawmakers say Ken Paxton’s office stalled a previous effort to get Roberson’s legislative testimony about his conviction in 'shaken baby' case.

The Criminal Jurisprudence Committee plans to issue a new subpoena to the death row inmate for a Dec. 20 hearing if Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office does not cooperate.

Senior District Judge Deborah Oakes Evans recused herself after a challenge to her impartiality over longtime relationships with case prosecutors and judges.

News coverage of Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson's stalled lethal injection raises questions about Texas executing the innocent.

This week on Texas Matters: Is Attorney General Ken Paxton perverting the facts about the death of baby Nikki and the looming execution of Robert Roberson? In a report to the public about the Roberson case, the AG Office made a number of untrue and debunked statements about the death of Nikki, Roberson and his trial. We get a response from Roberson’s attorney Gretchen Sween.