Death Penalty

Thursday’s execution was blocked by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals “pending further order” from the court.

The jury made its decision after weeks of trial.

James Broadnax was executed Tuesday evening for the 2008 robbery and murders of Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler in Garland.

Attorneys Tuesday asked Governor Greg Abbott for a 30-day reprieve. James Broadnax, 37, is scheduled to be executed Thursday evening.

The court denied two of Broadnax's attempts to pause his execution for the murders of two Christian music producers in Garland. Justices are still considering a recent confession alleging Broadnax's cousin was the shooter.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said Tuesday that James Broadnax's cousin confession does not meet the criteria for the case to return to court.

Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler were shot and killed 18 years ago in a Garland parking lot. James Broadnax was convicted and is scheduled to be executed next month.

James Broadnax's cousin has confessed to shooting and killing Christian music producers in Garland in 2008. Broadnax faces execution April 30 for the crime.

James Broadnax, who was 19 when he shot and killed two Dallas County Christian music producers in 2008, has filed last minute appeals ahead of his scheduled April 30 execution for the Garland murders.

Death row inmate Robert Roberson's case remains in legal limbo. On Tuesday his attorneys filed an Opposition to State's Motion for Extension to Answer, asking the Anderson County district court to deny the State's request for a 60-day extension to file its response in Roberson's case.

Texas also saw counties set the fewest new execution dates in at least three decades, according to an annual report by the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Harris County was an outlier in that trend.

The same day the Court of Criminal Appeals stopped Robert Roberson’s execution to consider the use of “junk science” in his conviction, the state’s highest criminal court denied a Dallas County man’s challenge to the use of what his attorneys say is flawed eyewitness testimony in his case.