Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Doubts over a Murder Accessory’s Involvement in Crime Stays Execution

Almost six days before execution, a man on death row is receiving habeas corpus review over the extent of his participation in a murder, testing the limits of accomplice accountability in capital cases

In re Wood, 2016 BL 271533, Tex. Crim. App., No. WR-45,500-02, 8/19/16.

   The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed an execution of an accomplice in a murder, granting habeas corpus review of the defendant’s case. The habeas court is directed to review whether the defendant received due process because of falsified testimony and scientific evidence. More importantly, however, the court was directed to examine the “party theory” of liability in capital cases, noting that the death penalty should be reexamined because of “shifting societal views.”

    Under Texas criminal law, criminals convicted under the “party theory” of liability can face the death penalty only if they actively participated in “a violent felony where loss of life was foreseeable or if they acted with reckless indifference to human life.” Under the current set of jury instructions, a jury can convict someone of capital murder if they acted as a party by aiding or abetting another person to commit the offense, or in the alternative, if they acted with the intent to commit robbery and another person was killed as a result with evidence pointing to the defendant’s anticipation that death would have resulted. 

   The trial could have implications for accomplice accountability in capital murder sentencing.

http://src.bna.com/hWr

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