Longest-Serving Texas Death Row Inmate Wins Another Day In Court
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Longest-Serving Texas Death Row Inmate Wins Another Day In Court
An inmate on Texas death row for three decades for the murder of a Texas Tech student won a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Monday that means prosecutors will have to decide whether to seek the death penalty again in a new punishment trial.
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(June 16, 2008)—Ronald Chambers, the longest-serving prisoner on Texas death row, won a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Monday that sends his case back to state district court in Dallas.

The 53-year-old inmate has been on death row since 1976 for the abduction and shooting death of 22-year-old Texas Tech student Mike McMahan.

Without comment, the justices declined Monday to review a federal appeals court's decision to remand his case because of improper questions used by jurors to decide his death sentence were improper.

The Texas attorney general's office had appealed the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling based on a Supreme Court decision last year involving jury instructions appealed by three other condemned Texas prisoners.

Dallas County prosecutors will have to decide whether to seek the death penalty at a new punishment trial.

Chambers was accused of abducting Mahan and Mahan’s date, Deia Sutton, from the parking lot of a Dallas nightclub.

The couple was driven to the Trinity River where they were robbed and shot.

Both apparently survived the initial shooting, but McMahan was beaten to death after he called out to Sutton.

Three other men were arrested in connection with the murder.

One is serving a life sentence, a second was released on parole in 1978 and charges against the third were later dropped.

Latest Comments

Posted by: Anonymous Location: Waco on Jun 16, 2008 at 08:19 PM

Maybe it's a good thing it takes so long to kill them, when you consider that Texas has the highest rate of wrongful convictions, with DNA evidence proving 10-12 years after the conviction that the convicted person could no way have done the crime?
Posted by: someone who works for TDCJ Location: near waco on Jun 16, 2008 at 05:39 PM

this is why we still have job, because our government lets this happen. if we would start killing them we would have room for the other inmates and would not be wanting to build more units. i guess if us normal law abiding citizen committed murder i guess we might get to sit on death row and get a free meal, cloths, cable and whatever else we wanted. this is y people r committing murder..wake up people
Posted by: dmg Location: waco on Jun 16, 2008 at 04:16 PM

This is a prime example of what is WRONG with our justice system. Why do we even bother having a jury decide a person's fate when the slimeball criminal gets way too many rights?? I'm sorry, but the jails would be less overcrowded if a person that was sentenced to death was taken out back of the courthouse & excuted right after the trial. Why keep some worthless piece of scum on death row this long on our dime???? This is just WRONG! The US Circuit Court and the Supreme Court should be ashamed for such injustice to the innocent victim killed. What a slap in the face these 2 are giving the victim's families!
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