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Double-Murderer to Be Executed:  A Fort Worth gang member who murdered a woman and her 5-year-old granddaughter in 2008, is scheduled for execution tonight.  Keri Blakinger of the Houston Chronicle reports that Erick Davila was denied clemency and a last minute review by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday.  In a petition to the 5th Circuit Davila's lawyers claimed, for the first time, that their client was heavily intoxicated on drugs and may have been temporarily insane when he opened fire on a child's birthday party killing the woman and child and injuring several others.  Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Davila's claim that his conviction should be overturned because his appellate attorney failed to present alleged errors made by his trial attorney.  CJLF introduced argument in that case to encourage the court's 5-4 decision, which noted that "Adopting petitioner's argument could flood the federal courts with defaulted claims of appellate ineffectiveness.  For one thing, every prisoner in the country could bring these claims."  Update:  The execution was carried out about 6:30 pm CT.  The AP story is here.  The Supreme Court order denying a stay and declining to take up the case is here.  There are no recorded dissents. 

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I could not help noticing the date of the crime. Ten years from crime to execution, including federal habeas review. That other courts and the lawyers who argue before them can find a way to do their work in that time frame shows how badly Prop 66 was needed in California. The executive and the judiciary need to step up and enforce the law and judgments as they are written, not as they would prefer. Government indifference in any other area would be a scandal.

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