Legal Questions

Texas is one of 38 states, as well as the Federal Government, that has provisions for execution for certain crimes. The jurisdictions without the death penalty are Alaska, Washington D.C., Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The State of Texas executed the first individual in state history by electric chair in February of 1924. The state executed the last individual by electrocution in July of 1964. In this 40 year span, Texas executed 361 people.

In 1972, the Supreme Court determined that the process for executing people was a form of “cruel and unusual punishment” which violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution. To fit the new guidelines that the Supreme Court set, Texas changed its Penal Code. The Penal Code changes made capital punishment legal again.

The new process allows for two trials. The first trial is the ordinary trial where an individual is convicted of a capital felony. The second trial determines whether or not the convicted individual will receive the death penalty. During the first trial, the prosecutor is responsible for informing the jury that the state will seek the death penalty if the suspect is convicted.

The first individual executed under the new rules was in 1982. Since then, Texas has lead the country in the number of executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Lethal injection has been the method for capital punishment since 1977. From 1819 to 1923, death row inmates were hung, and from 1924 to 1977, death row inmates were electrocuted by use of the electric chair.

The drug mix for the lethal injection is comprised of Sodium Thiopental, Pancuronium Bromide, and Potassium Chloride. The Sodium Thiopental is a sedative. It, basically, puts the death row inmate to sleep. Once the individual is sedated, the Pancuronium Bromide, which is a muscle relaxant, is administered. This drug is designed to collapse the diaphragm and the lungs. The Potassium Chloride is the drug that stops the heart. An individual, once the process is started, is generally pronounced dead after seven minutes.

Before 1923, each county in the state of Texas was responsible for carrying out their own executions. In the same bill that made electrocution the method for execution, the state legislature made executing people happen in one place.

That one place has been three different locations since 1923. Death Row inmates were housed in the Huntsville Unit until they moved to the Ellis Unit in 1965. Ellis Unit was used until inmates were moved to the Polunsky Unit in 1999. Women on death row have always been housed at the Mountain View Unit.

In the Polunsky Unit, death row offenders are housed individually in a 60 square foot cell. Each cell has its own window. Death row inmates, in addition to being housed individually, are given a time frame to exercise individually. They receive a regular diet and have access to reading, writing, and legal materials. Some inmates, depending on the level of security they require, have access to a radio.

For more information concerning capital punishment in Texas and the crimes associated with it, please visit http://www.criminallawyerdenton.com. Their team will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.