Execution Delayed For Man Convicted In 1996 Murder
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AUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM/AP) - A court on Friday halted the execution of a Texas man who was scheduled to die for a fatal 1996 robbery in which he wasn't the person who pulled the trigger.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled 7-2 to put Jeffery Wood's execution on hold. Wood, 43, was scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday.
The case has drawn highly unusual opposition from Republican lawmakers. It has captured attention across the U.S. over his culpability in the shooting of a convenience store clerk, Wood's mental competence and criticism surrounding his original trial.
In a two-page opinion, the appeals court ruled that the death sentence was based on false testimony and false scientific evidence.
One Republican legislator had formally asked the Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles to recommend commuting Wood's death sentence.
Republican state Rep. Jeff Leach said he is collecting a bipartisan set of signatures for a similar letter to send this weekend.
"Well look, there might be political risk but I believe it's always right to do -- the right thing," said Leach.
His support for Wood hasn't come without some criticism on social media though. One Facebook commenter said, "You participate in the crime you get the justice." But Leach is willing to take the heat, saying, "this is a fight worth fighting for."
The pleas from GOP lawmakers are striking in Texas, which has the nation's busiest death penalty chamber.
Leach, who said he still supports capital punishment, is part of a Republican-controlled Legislature that has long made efforts by Democrats to abolish the death penalty a non-starter in Texas. But he says Wood doesn't deserve to die.
Wood and his friend, Daniel Reneau, were convicted in the shooting death of a 31-year-old store clerk during a robbery in the Texas Hill Country. Wood waited in a car while Reneau shot the clerk in the face, but Wood was still convicted of capital murder under what's known as the Texas law of parties, which makes a participant in a capital murder case equally culpable.
Leach, however, said that's not what troubles him. He instead points to concerns about Wood's mental competency and the handling of his trial.
"I couldn't stop digging. It captured my mind. It captured my heart," said Leach. "Mr. Wood is not innocent but he's not guilty of a crime deserving of the death penalty."
A federal judge halted the original execution date in 2008 so that Wood — who was once found to have been mentally incompetent to stand trial — could be tested to determine whether he understood why he would be put to death.
Tests showed Wood was competent, and courts have upheld those findings.
His family told CBS11 News they're relieved the appeals court issued the stay based on false evidence.
"There are no words to describe the amount of weight that has been lifted off of our shoulders and the amount of joy that we're feeing at this moment," said Wood's sister, Terri Been.
It's unclear what will happen next but there are two possibilities: Wood's sentence could get commuted to life in prison or he could be retried.
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