Michelle Pitcher

Text block reading: In a letter filed with the court, Dr. Joseph V. Penn, the Director of Mental Health Services at the University of Texas Medical Branch, which manages care for inmates at the Wayne Scott Unit, described Mr. Thomas as one of the most impaired and complicated patients he has ever encountered. Dr. Penn’s letter states that Mr. Thomas’s mental illness is so intractable and severe that transferring him to Grayson County raises grave concerns of additional serious self-harm and psychotic deterioration. Dr. Penn explains: “despite his current antipsychotic and other psychotropic medication treatment regimen, he still has grandiose and paranoid delusions . . . and remains clinically fragile and at risk to decompensate.”

INBOX: Texas wants to decide if Andre Thomas is mentally competent to be executed. A doctor says he's not even well enough to go to the hearing.

I wrote in 2023 about Thomas, one of "the most mentally ill prisoners serving a death sentence in Texas history." www.texasobserver.org/andre-thomas...

Inside a Bizarre Case of (Alleged) Judicial Impersonation in Dallas In Texas, an opaque system undermines accountability for judges.

Pitcher extensively covered complaints against this judge- now presumed DA elect. Many members of the #Dallas bar expressed concern- including about the time this judge had a staffer impersonate her on Zoom. @texasobserver.org www.texasobserver.org/who-judges-t... @michellepitcher.bsky.social

Sanctioned Judge Upsets Incumbent in Dallas District Attorney Race Amber Givens beat out two-term DA John Creuzot in Tuesday’s primary, sending shockwaves through the local political and courthouse scene.

New from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: Last week, former Dallas County District Judge Amber Givens was fighting her sanctions for judicial misconduct before the Texas Supreme Court. Today, she’s the presumptive Democratic nominee and likely next district attorney for one of Texas’ biggest counties.

A Motley Crew of Dems Vie to Become New Bexar County DA Eight candidates are running to be the Democratic nominee in the open race for the district attorney’s office. None are frontrunners.

New from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: Without a clear frontrunner or heir apparent, the race is wide open. That leaves a big impending hole at the top of a prosecutor’s office that handles about 60,000 criminal cases a year.

Uvalde Trial Raises Question of Whether Police Stop School Shootings Since Columbine, expectations for cops have been clear. But reality often hasn’t measured up.

The first officer to be tried over the botched police response to the 2022 elementary school shooting in Uvalde was acquitted yesterday. The whole trial has raised the question: How helpful are school police? www.texasobserver.org/uvalde-trial... - via @TexasObserver

Uvalde Trial Raises Question of Whether Police Stop School Shootings Since Columbine, expectations for cops have been clear. But reality often hasn’t measured up.

New from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: Since 1999, the year of the Columbine shooting in Colorado, the federal government has devoted an estimated $1 billion to putting sworn police officers in schools.

But the efficacy of these officers remains unproven, especially in the case of mass shootings.

In Texas State Jails, a Rising Death Toll and a Broken Promise Once billed as rehabilitative alternatives to prisons, these facilities are the sites of fatal overdoses—like that which ended the life of a Texan named Jackie Wiley.

Drug deaths are rising in Texas prisons and state jails, and synthetic cannabinoids like K2 have become the primary killer. Jackie Wiley went into a state jail on a drug charge. He never made it out. www.texasobserver.org/state-jails-...

In Texas State Jails, a Rising Death Toll and a Broken Promise Once billed as rehabilitative alternatives to prisons, these facilities are the sites of fatal overdoses—like that which ended the life of a Texan named Jackie Wiley.

From @michellepitcher.bsky.social in our magazine: Between January 2020 and July 2025, at least 189 Texas prisoners died of drug-related causes—and each year through 2024 was deadlier than the last. In 110 cases, synthetic cannabinoids were likely involved.

Pam Perillo’s Sisterhood of the Condemned She's a death row survivor, but she doesn't think she's really any different from her friends who are still set to die.

#BestOf2025, from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: “The State of Texas makes every inmate seem like the most evil, horrible [person]. We demonize them, and we don’t see the trauma of people like Pam Perillo.”

Pam Perillo’s Sisterhood of the Condemned She's a death row survivor, but she doesn't think she's really any different from her friends who are still set to die.

New from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: Pam Perillo doesn’t celebrate the fact that she walked free after expecting to be executed. She has no explanation for why she was spared, except that “God must still have a lot of work to do.”

A Night at the Screamo Bookstore An Austin literary shop has branched out into loud concerts, cementing a place in the city’s DIY music scene.

From @michellepitcher.bsky.social, in our magazine: Silence is not sacred at Alienated Majesty Books in Austin, where literary knowledge and loud live music go hand in hand.

‘I Got a Lot of People Believing in Me’: Robert Roberson Stares Down Death, Again Set to be the first U.S. person executed based on the controversial “Shaken Baby Syndrome” diagnosis, Roberson told the Observer last week he hopes his story will mean something.

Context: www.texasobserver.org/robert-rober...

The decision came after the CCA granted relief in the Andrew Roark case—which was strikingly similar to Roberson’s—last October.

The Court of Criminal Appeals has stayed Robert Roberson’s execution, sending his case back to a lower court for reconsideration. He was scheduled to be executed in less than a week.

Robert Roberson's attorney Gretchen Sween will not petition for clemency ahead of his scheduled Oct. 16 execution. "A quest for clemency would not right the wrong...It would only divert precious time and resources from the fundamental mission: obtaining a new trial for Robert at long last."

Police ‘Secrecy Grab’ Dies After Senate Refuses Uvalde Compromise "We’re hopeful that it means it doesn’t come back again, and that we can preserve some level of transparency for all Texans."

New @michellepitcher.bsky.social: Efforts to limit police transparency by shielding some complaints from public view have failed multiple times during the 2025 legislative season—most recently in the form of House Bill 15, which died this week.

Texas Lawmakers Push ‘Massive Secrecy Grab’ to Shield Police Files As public attention has shifted away from policing reform, legislators attempt to shove information into the dark.

“This is the most massive secrecy grab in Texas since the adoption of the Public Information Act.”

New today from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: A move to "standardize" police personnel files could have devastating consequences for transparency.

Penned Poetry: A Formerly Incarcerated Activist’s Turn to Verse Longtime advocate Jorge Antonio Renaud lyricizes the grit of prison life in his first published collection of poems, The Restlessness of Bound Wrists.

New from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: Jorge Renaud, became a social justice advocate after spending years incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system. In his new poetry collection, out in May from Plancha Press, he trades in his megaphone for a pen.

Robert Roberson Faces New Execution Date in Controversial ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’ Case The new date comes after Ken Paxton took over the case that could lead to the nation's first execution based on the contested diagnosis.

Full story: www.texasobserver.org/robert-rober...

Good question. The state had requested a specific date—it wasn’t the judge’s call.

“It doesn’t seem like anything is going to get resolved without a date.” -Judge Austin Reeve Jackson, who points out he doesn’t have the authority to weigh the merits of the case.

The judge ruled that the execution date will be set for October 16, 2025. #RobertRoberson

Robert Roberson has arrived at the courtroom after an hourlong delay. The hearing is official starting. #RobertRoberson

At least two Texas exonerees—Cassandra Rivera from San Antonio and Ben Spencer from Dallas—have shown up to show their support. #RobertRoberson

The AG's office under Ken Paxton is pushing for an October 16 execution date. There is still a filing in front of the Court of Criminal Appeals arguing Roberson's innocence. #RobertRoberson

Anderson County Courthouse

Reporters and TV crews are starting to trickle in to the Anderson County Court House for a 10 a.m. hearing on whether to set a new execution date for Robert Roberson. #RobertRoberson

Texas Plans to Execute Man After Courts Refuse DNA Tests Ruben Gutierrez was convicted of murder in 1999 under Texas’ “Law of Parties.” He says he had nothing to do with the killing.

Some context: www.texasobserver.org/ruben-gutier...

U.S. SUPREME COURT RULES RUBEN GUTIERREZ HAS STANDING TO CHALLENGE THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE TEXAS POST-CONVICTION DNA STATUTE (Thursday, June 26, 2025, Washington, D.C.) Today, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in a 6-3 opinion, that Texas death row prisoner Ruben Gutierrez should be permitted to continue his lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Texas post-conviction DNA statute. Mr. Gutierrez was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 1999 even though no physical or forensic evidence connects him to the crime. The Court held that “Gutierrez has standing to bring his §1983 claim challenging Texas’s postconviction DNA testing procedures under the Due Process Clause.”

INBOX: Last summer, Ruben Gutierrez got within 20 minutes of execution before the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in. For years, he's been asking for pieces of evidence to be DNA tested. Today, #SCOTUS ruled that he has the right to challenge the Texas law that's standing in his way.

Junk Science, ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome,’ and the Fate of Robert Roberson An East Texas man could soon become the nation's first person killed by the state based on the controversial hypothesis.

Background on the case: www.texasobserver.org/death-row-sh...

Robert Roberson's attorney Gretchen Sween on the TX AG's request for a new execution date: "The AG’s unjustified rush to seek an execution date while that new evidence of innocence is before the court is outrageous."