Texas: AG Candidates Weigh In on Execution of Mexican National

Wednesday night's execution in Texas of a Mexican national convicted of killing a Houston police officer has given the candidates vying to be the state's next attorney general an opportunity to weigh in on the death penalty - revealing only slight differences in how they might have handled the case.

Texas officials went ahead with Edgar Tamayo's execution despite pressure from both the Mexican and U.S. governments to delay it. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned that the execution "could impact the way American citizens are treated in other countries."

Among the Republicans vying to replace Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is running for governor, all of them said they would have proceeded with the execution.

Enrique Marquez, state Rep. Dan Branch's campaign manager, said in an email that Branch "has never wavered in his belief that the death penalty is a just punishment for the most heinous crimes." Marquez said that because "there seems to be no question about Edgar Tamayo's guilt or of the due process," Branch would also have allowed the execution of Tamayo to go forward.

State Sen. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, said in an email that Tamayo was "punished in accordance with state law, which provides for the death penalty." He said there was no need for a delay.

And Railroad Commissioner Barry Smitherman, who has long favored capital punishment on the stump, said Texas officials acted properly.

In 2002, during an interview with the Harris County district attorney's office, where he was hired as a prosecutor, Smitherman apparently led his interviewer to believe otherwise. "Smitherman is opposed to the death penalty for religious reasons," notes from his personnel file state. "He said that being pro-life doesn't 'square with' the death penalty."

Smitherman's campaign said his views had been mischaracterized in the notes.

"Barry supports, and has always supported, the death penalty for the most heinous and violent criminals," Jared Craighead, Smitherman's campaign manager, said in an email. "...It is clear that there was a misunderstanding in a short interview with one person that occurred over a decade ago regarding Barry's views on the death penalty."

Only Sam Houston, a Houston attorney and the lone Democrat in the race, said he would have asked for a delay in the execution. But his personal views on the death penalty don't appear to be much different from his Republican counterparts.

Houston said that in the Tamayo case, he is concerned that violating international treaties could put Americans in danger abroad and "have further far-reaching ramifications." He added that he had "no sympathy" for the offender.

Houston said he believed that the process by which criminals are convicted and given the ultimate punishment should be carefully scrutinized to make sure no innocent person is put to death. But if the appropriate legal process is followed, he said, "I am not personally opposed to the death penalty."

Source: The Texas Tribune, January 24, 2014

William Thompson Faces Execution in Florida Amid Dementia, Terminal Illness Concerns

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an execution warrant for 74-year-old prisoner William “Bill” Thompson less than 24 hours after he was released from the hospital to the hospice wing of the prison. After his attorneys raised serious concerns about his mental competency and deteriorating physical health, Gov. DeSantis agreed to temporarily stay the execution so Mr. Thompson’s competency can be evaluated on October 1. If he is found competent, his execution remains scheduled for October 13.

Tennessee Supreme Court denies stay for death row inmate Christa Pike

(TNND) — As Tennessee prepares for a Sept. 30 execution, the Tennessee Supreme Court has denied death row inmate Christa Gail Pike’s request to stop it. The court rejected Pike’s challenge to the state’s lethal-injection protocol, finding that her thrombocytosis diagnosis, a condition involving elevated blood platelets, did not show the execution would violate the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Texas executes Ker’Sean Ramey

Texas executes man for a triple killing, days after other man convicted in case was put to death A man was executed Wednesday evening in Texas for a triple killing committed during an attempted robbery at a rural home, 1 week after the other man convicted in the case was put to death. Ker’Sean Ramey, 41, was pronounced dead at 6:34 p.m. CDT following a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was the 6th person executed this year in Texas, with 3 more lethal injections scheduled in the state over the next 2 months.

Philippines | President Marcos Grants Absolute Pardon to Mary Jane Veloso

President Marcos Confirms Decision to Grant Absolute Pardon to Mary Jane Veloso President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has signed an absolute pardon for Mary Jane Veloso after more than a decade. On Friday (September 25, 2026), the President confirmed the decision during a visit to Guiuan, Eastern Samar. According to him, the pardon was officially signed the previous day, marking a major development in the case.

Texas set to execute second man convicted in 2005 South Texas triple murder

Ker’Sean Olajuwa Ramey is scheduled to die Wednesday, one week after the state executed his co-defendant for the same killings. Texas is scheduled to execute a man on Wednesday for the 2005 shooting deaths of three people during a botched robbery in a small South Texas town, just one week after the state put his co-defendant to death for the same crime. Ker’Sean Olajuwa Ramey, 41, is scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday evening at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.

Florida | Tomasz Kosowski found guilty of murder after representing himself in death penalty case

Tomasz Kosowski sat each day alone at the defense table, wearing orange jail garb and rubber sandals with socks. In a rare and largely unprecedented move for a death penalty case, Kosowski represented himself, waiving his right to a jury trial and allowing a judge in Pinellas County, Florida, to decide his fate. Prosecutors presented the state’s case over six days, laying out for the judge how the former plastic surgeon accosted Steven Cozzi in the bathroom of his law office on a Tuesday morning, and Cozzi was never seen again.

Florida | He executed death row prisoners. Then they came back to haunt him

Dunnellon, Florida—Every night, one of the men Ron McAndrew killed would sit at the foot of his bed and stare, blankly, into his tortured soul. He knew they were coming. He’d shift over in his sheets to make room. “They never said anything,” McAndrew recalls, his aged voice straining from the weight of the memory. “They just sat there and looked at me.” But their eyes would talk. They would ask, "How could you do such a thing?’” says McAndrew. “You always claimed to be a good person. And now you’re killing people.”

DNA evidence doesn’t match man who spent decades on death row, Utah prosecutors say

Douglas Stewart Carter, 71, was sentenced to death in 1985 after a jury found him guilty of murdering Eva Olesen Prosecutors are dropping their plan to seek the death penalty in an upcoming retrial of a Utah man who spent decades on death row for a 1985 killing in which newly analyzed DNA evidence did not match him. Douglas Stewart Carter, 71, was sentenced to death in 1985 after a jury found him guilty of murdering Eva Olesen, the aunt of a former Provo police chief. The state Supreme Court last year ordered a new trial, citing misconduct by investigators. Carter remains in custody and maintains his innocence.

Tennessee | Christa Pike Requests Clemency Ahead of September 30 Execution Date; Experts’ Amicus Brief Points to ‘Substantial Risk’ of Re-traumatization

Lawyers for Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, filed a 226-page clemency petition with Governor Bill Lee, asking him to commute her death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole ahead of her September 30 execution date. Ms. Pike’s clemency petition outlines the case her team has built over decades of appeals: her actions at 18 years old cannot be separated from a childhood marked by repeated rape, sexual abuse, and neglect that went unaddressed by the adults and state systems meant to protect her. Once incarcerated, Ms. Pike was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Singapore | Ministry of Home Affairs refutes claims that death penalty was discussed during visit by Israel's security ministry

The Ministry of Home Affairs says discussions with the Israeli government involved the sharing of best practices in emergency response, crime prevention, and forensics. Issues relating to the death penalty “were never part of the meeting and were not discussed." SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday (Sep 11) refuted claims by an Israeli media outlet that the death penalty was discussed during a visit by an Israeli delegation in May. The Haaretz newspaper reported on Sep 7 that a delegation comprising representatives from the Israel Prison Service and National Security Ministry made a “secret visit” to Singapore that month.

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