Tanner Horner files appeal days after being sentenced to death in Athena Strand's killing
Tanner Horner's attorney has filed an appeal on his behalf less than a week after Horner was sentenced to die for the 2024 killing of Athena Strand in rural Wise County.
Court filings reviewed by CBS News Texas on Tuesday confirmed the filing with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The appeal was filed on Tuesday, May 11, and does not have other information or documents attached to it.
Another appeal was previously filed on Wednesday, May 6, and also does not offer more details about it. This appeal appears to be the one automatically filed as allowed under Texas law.
Horner pleaded guilty as his trial began in April of 2026. A jury in Tarrant County handed down the death penalty after more than two weeks of testimony in the sentencing phase.
How do death sentence appeals work?
In Texas, the appeals process automatically begins for those who are sentenced to death. According to a handbook from the Texas Attorney General's Office, a capital conviction is typically appealed to both the state court and federal court. The record of the trial is compiled and filed in the Court of Criminal Appeals, and the attorney for the defendant – now referred to as an appellant – files a brief that argues the conviction or sentence should be reversed because of an error during the trial. Most cases see an oral argument before the court.
If the appeals court affirms the conviction, the handbook says the appellant can then petition the United States Supreme Court for a certiorari review. This is a device used by the Supreme Court to choose the cases it wants to hear. The defendant is referred to here as the petitioner.
The district attorney that prosecuted the case represents the state during this process and files briefs responding to the claims, per the handbook. In the state appeals process, the state is referred to as the appellee. In the certiorari process, the state is referred to as the respondent.
Defendants sentenced to death in Texas can also seek a state habeas review, which the handbook notes differs from the direct appeal process shared above. This allows the defendant to potentially raise claims based on facts outside of the trial record, such as claims about ineffective trial counsel. The defendant must apply for a writ of habeas corpus in the state district court where they were convicted. A federal habeas review follows the state habeas review.
The handbook also notes that state habeas reviews and direct appeals are usually reviewed simultaneously.