Retardation issue blocks another Texas execution
A Texas death row inmate has won a federal appeals court order blocking his execution scheduled for this month. Lawyers for convicted killer Jose Briseno argued he is mentally retarded and that a jury hasn't been allowed to make that determination. The U.S. Supreme Court has barred execution of mentally retarded people. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals returned the case to the lower courts for additional review. The ruling Thursday keeps Briseno from receiving lethal injection that had been set for Jan. 20. Briseno, 47, was sentenced to die for the 1991 robbery and murder of Dimmitt County Sheriff Ben Murray. He was on parole for forgery when he was convicted of capital murder for the slaying of Murray, who had been sheriff of the far Southwest Texas county for almost 20 years. [more]