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The Texas Death Penalty Cases, discussed in other posts in this blog here and here, are covered in this AP story by Mark Sherman.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says that it will decide whether a death row inmate's constitutional rights were violated during his re-sentencing hearing. The issue here as reported in an AP story is what evidence a defendant can present when facing a sentencing hearing. Gerald James Holland, of Mississippi wasn't allowed to rebut the prosecutors' claim that he killed a woman while committing the crime of rape. The prosecution claims that once guilt has been established, the defendant cannot re-litigate that fact. Holland claims if the prosecution is allowed to present aggravating factors he should be able to counter those claims.

Mississippi Death Row inmate Earl Westly Berry has run out of appeals the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said yesterday. Berry, a convicted murderer, has been on death row since 1998 for the brutal killing of Mary Bounds in 1987. An AP story reports that Berry confessed to the murder.

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