Texas Court of Criminal Appeals « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

Mugshot of Randolph Arledge, who was convicted of a 1981 Texas murder that DNA testing later proved he did not commit. Arledge was exonerated on February 11, 2013. (credit: Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice)

Corsicana Man Convicted In ’81 Stabbing Death Freed

A 58-year-old Corsicana man walked free Monday after serving years for a crime he didn’t commit — the repeated stabbing of a woman whose body was found on a dirt road in rural Navarro County.

2013/02/11

The inside of a jail cell. (credit: AP Photo)

Texas Inmate Ordered Retried In ’80 ‘Waiting Ever Since’

Texas prisoner Jerry Hartfield was still a young man when he was told his murder conviction had been overturned and he would get a new trial. Hartfield was moved off death row, but 32 years later is still waiting for that new trial.

2013/01/04

Judge Who Refused After-Hours Appeal Re-elected

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller has been re-elected.

2012/11/06

Larry Sims on the day he was exonerated. (Credit: CBSDFW.com)

Until Death, Texas Inmate Tried To Clear Name

Former inmate Larry Sims died a free man, if not innocent one in the eyes of the law. It wasn’t enough, say family and friends, who described a man with a broken spirit who could not find work or happiness after his release from prison after 24 years.

2012/06/22

Hank Skinner, an ex-con sent to Texas' death row for three murders and spared from execution earlier this year by the U.S. Supreme Court. (credit: AP Photo)

State Backs DNA Testing For Hank Skinner

Reversing its decade-long objection to testing that death row inmate Hank Skinner says could prove his innocence, the Texas Attorney General’s office today filed an advisory with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals seeking to test DNA in the case.

2012/06/04

Texas death chamber execution gurney. (credit: AP)

Texas Death Row Inmate’s Mental Health Questioned

The outcome of legal wrangling about condemned killer Steven Staley’s mental health is likely to determine if the former laborer is put to death this week in Texas for a slaying almost a quarter-century ago in Fort Worth.

2012/05/13

Ex-Inmate Struggles To Cash In On Compensation Law

Billy Frederick Allen spent more than 25 years in prison before an appeals court overturned his convictions in two murders. Three years after winning his freedom, Allen is fighting the state again — this time for the $2 million he says he’s owed for wrongful imprisonment.

2012/03/17