In Texas, the Anderson County District Court granted the state a 60-day extension of its scheduled February 27 court date for a status conference with attorneys for Robert Roberson, KETK reported. In October, one week before he was scheduled to be killed, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed Roberson’s execution and reinstated the temporary restraining order requested by Texas lawmakers. The high court sent his case back to the district court to reconsider his death sentence in light of the fact that another person convicted based on the debunked theory of Shaken Baby Syndrome, the same crime prosecutors convicted Robert of, was exonerated last November by the CCA. According to KETK, the state’s request for an extension was based on its inability to devote time to the case due to other capital cases it’s handling. Roberson’s attorney, Gretchen Sween, opposed the extension, saying it was “unjustified,” and pointed out that Roberson remains in a single, concrete-block cell, in which he’s been wrongfully imprisoned since 2003, KETK reported.
In Indiana, lawmakers defeated a bill that would have added firing squad to the state’s list of execution methods. House Bill 1119 passed the House last month in an 8-5 vote, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported. HB1119 would also have added nitrogen hypoxia to the state’s execution protocol, but that method was removed from the bill before it went to the full chamber, according to “The Message,” a Catholic newspaper. Republican Rep. Bob Morris told lawmakers before the vote that adding firing squad to the state’s execution protocol would be “taking a step backward,” The Message reported. Morris argued that lawmakers should seriously look at abolishing the death penalty altogether, pointing out that “We have executed people in this country wrongfully.” The bill was ultimately defeated by a 48-46 vote. The state’s primary method of execution is lethal injection, but it has been looking for alternative methods because of challenges in obtaining lethal injection drugs and the high cost when a source is found. Indiana has executed three people, one in 2024, two in 2025, in the past 15 years.
In Utah, lawmakers are considering a bill that would restructure the state’s death penalty system. HB495 wouldn’t expand the death penalty statute, but would streamline the appeals process after a death sentence, according to Yahoo News.
In New Hampshire, the House Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety killed several bills that would have reinstated the state’s death penalty, Valley News reported.New Hampshire repealed its death penalty in 2019, overriding a veto by then-Gov. Chris Sununu. The only person on death row is 45-year-old Michael Addison, sentenced to death in 2008 for killing Manchester police officer Michael Briggs. The state’s last execution was in 1939.
In Florida, Austin Hill was sentenced to life in prison earlier this month, after being found guilty of of premeditated first degree murder with a firearm for the 2023 murder of 39-year-old Wseni Laguerre, the State Attorney’s Office for the Fifth Circuit announced. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Hill.