Criminal law is on the back burner at the U.S. Supreme Court today, as no decisions were announced and oral argument is a hot-button civil case. Yesterday the Court issued its orders list from the previous week's conference but took up no new criminal cases.
This afternoon Texas intends to execute repeat murderer Robert Lynn Pruett for the murder of Correctional Officer Daniel Nagle. As Pruett was already in prison for 99 years for another murder at the time, the sentence choices are death or no punishment at all (i.e., a life sentence which is necessarily concurrent). The online dockets for the usual last-minute applications are here and here.
Tomorrow the Court hears oral argument in the midazolam lethal injection case, Glossip v. Gross. CJLF's brief is here.
This afternoon Texas intends to execute repeat murderer Robert Lynn Pruett for the murder of Correctional Officer Daniel Nagle. As Pruett was already in prison for 99 years for another murder at the time, the sentence choices are death or no punishment at all (i.e., a life sentence which is necessarily concurrent). The online dockets for the usual last-minute applications are here and here.
Tomorrow the Court hears oral argument in the midazolam lethal injection case, Glossip v. Gross. CJLF's brief is here.
It appears Pruett got saved at the buzzer for more DNA testing regarding his innocence claim. I still can't fathom why after 16 years, takes this long to resolve this types of claims. And I thought David Dow was suspended from practice in Texas criminal courts....