The Texas courts have halted the execution of a death row inmate convicted for being an accomplice to a murder he did not commit.
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Wood’s attorney, Jared Tyler, who had sought the stay last month, said “the court did the right thing” in halting the execution and returning the case to a state district court in Kerrville, Kerr County, to have the claims resolved.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday put Jeffery Wood’s execution on hold.
A United States court granted a stay out of execution to a Texas man who was sentenced to death over a deadly robbery in which he did not kill anyone, local media reported.
Wood, who was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Wednesday, took part in a shop robbery in 1996. It also has captured attention across the US over Wood’s culpability in the shooting of a convenience store clerk, his mental competence and criticism surrounding his original trial. Wood waited in the auto while Reneau went inside the store and ultimately shot and killed the store’s clerk.
The court ordered a review into his level of guilt and whether the sentence was based on false testimony.
Under Texas’ “Law of Parties”, a person can be charged with capital murder even if the offense is committed by someone else. Reneau ended up killing the clerk during the robbery.
A Texas law makes equally responsible both the perpetrator of a crime and accomplices.
Reneau was convicted of pulling the trigger and executed on June 13, 2002.
Mr Tyler added: “I am not aware of a case where a person has been executed with so minimal culpability and with such little participation in the event”.
The sentencing was partly due to analysis from forensic psychiatrist James Grigson, who reportedly was keen to testify against death row inmates without examining them.
Wood’s sentence had raised questions about how the state applies the death penalty. “Three former jurors have said they feel the government’s presentation to them of a discredited psychiatrist who predicted with certainty, and without evaluating Mr”.
This item has been corrected to reflect that the lawmakers hadn’t yet sent their letter to the parole board.
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Five people have faced the death penalty for such crimes in Texas since 1976, according to the Death Penalty Execution Centre. He instead pointed to concerns about Wood’s mental competency and the handling of his trial.
