"Convicted Texas killer gets stay of execution," is Karen Brooks' Reuters post, via the Chicago Tribune.
A Texas man won a stay of execution on Wednesday for the second time this year, just hours before he was set to die for the killing of a man authorities say was targeted for his Harley Davidson motorcycle.
Anthony Bartee, 55, was set to die by lethal injection on Wednesday evening for the 1996 robbery and killing of David Cook, according to a report by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.
On Wednesday afternoon, a U.S. district judge in San Antonio stayed his execution after Bartee' attorneys filed a civil lawsuit against the Bexar County district attorney demanding more DNA tests on crime scene evidence.
An appeal by Bexar County prosecutors went to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which told officials Wednesday evening that it would not be ruling immediately - guaranteeing that Bartee would not be executed before midnight and keeping the stay in place. A new date will have to be set for the execution.
The AP filing is, "Texas man's execution halted for now," by Michael Graczyk. It's via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came after attorneys for Anthony Bartee filed a civil rights lawsuit against the district attorney in Bexar County, where Bartee was convicted of the 1996 shooting and stabbing death of David Cook in San Antonio.
"I'd like to thank everyone for supporting me through these trials and tribulations," Bartee told a Texas Department of Criminal Justice official who informed him of the reprieve. "Put peace in your heart. God is working through all of us. And God bless us all."
The court decision came about 90 minutes after Bartee could have been put to death. Texas prison authorities won't carry out the lethal injection if appeals are unresolved.
The civil rights action was filed just hours before the six-hour execution window opened at 6 p.m. CDT Wednesday. The U.S. Supreme Court already had rejected other appeals from Bartee's lawyers.
"Convicted killer's death postponed," by Michelle Mondo for the San Antonio Express-News.
Wednesday's last-minute lawsuit filed by Dow argues that his client's civil rights were violated when prosecutors opted not to test glasses and cigarette butts gathered as evidence from Cook's house.
With fewer than four hours until Bartee would be put to death, Chief U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, based in San Antonio, granted a stay in response to the civil rights suit brought by Dow against District Attorney Susan Reed. The DA's Office appealed that ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which decided Wednesday night that additional briefs needed to be filed by both sides.
Earlier coverage of Anthony Bartee's case begins at the link.
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