JURIST Supported by the University of Pittsburgh
PAPER CHASE NEWSBURSTDigest RSS feedFull RSS feed
Serious law. Primary sources. Global perspective.


Friday, October 20, 2006

Texas death row inmate commits suicide hours before execution
Kate Heneroty at 8:21 AM ET

[JURIST] Michael Dewayne Johnson [backgrounder; TDCJ offender profile], a death row inmate in Texas, committed suicide Thursday, 15-hours before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection [JURIST news archive]. Johnson was convicted of murdering a gas station attendant in 1995, but maintained that he was only a companion to the shooter. Johnson's companion was released from prison after serving an eight-year term in exchange for testifying against his friend.

Johnson became the seventh death row [JURIST news archive] inmate in Texas to commit suicide since 1974. His appeal was rejected by the US Supreme Court last week and he was scheduled to be the state's 22nd execution this year. AP has more.






Link |  | print | subscribe | RSS feeds | latest newscast | Facebook page

For more legal news check the Paper Chase Archive...


LATEST LEGAL NEWS

 Senate Judiciary Committee approves immigration reform bill
12:45 PM ET, May 22

 Zimbabwe president signs new constitution into law
11:09 AM ET, May 22

 Ninth Circuit strikes down Arizona 20-week abortion ban
9:47 AM ET, May 22

 click for more...

Get JURIST legal news delivered daily to your e-mail!

LATEST FORUM

The War on Terror and the Need for Muslim Support
DOMESTIC
Faisal Kutty
Valparaiso University Law School

ABOUT

Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format.

CONTACT

Paper Chase welcomes comments, tips and URLs from readers. E-mail us at JURIST@jurist.org