Texas Inmate Given Reprieve Before Scheduled Execution on Wednesday
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has issued a reprieve for inmate Garcia White, just one day before his scheduled execution.
The appeals court did not immediately explain its decision to grant the reprieve, but attorneys for the defense argued White's mentality when he declined legal council during interrogation, citing impairment from cocaine use. Attorneys are also citing DNA evidence that shows another person may have been involved in the killings White was convicted of.
Garcia was accused of five murders in all, being arrested in 1995 for the murder of a grocery store owner during a robbery. During questioning, White admitted to the murders of Bonita Edwards and her 16-year-old twin daughters seven years earlier. According to White, he went to Edwards' house to smoke crack and killed Edwards during an argument, then one daughter when she came out of her room, and the other in her room.
White was convicted of the murders of the twin girls, charged with but not tried for the murders of their mother and the grocery store owner, and linked to but not charged for the murder of a prostitute.
via ABC