death row

San Francisco’s District Attorney agreed to take man serving time for murder at San Quentin State Prison off death row.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered DNA testing on evidence that a death-row inmate says would prove his innocence in a 35-year-old murder case that has drawn national attention.

The controversy over midazolam, a drug used during state executions of convicted inmates, rises following the execution of a fourth Arkansas inmate in eight days. Witnesses say Kenneth Williams, convicted for the 1999 murder of two people, moved and shook during his execution Thursday night.

A veteran attorney in Ted Cruz’s hometown of Houston has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Canadian-born senator’s eligibility to be president.

A Georgia death-row inmate was denied a six-pack of beer as his last meal, prison officials said. “His request was declined as alcohol is a contraband item,” the Georgia Department of Corrections said in a statement. Marcus Ray Johnson will be given the standard baked fish, cheese grits, beans, cole slaw and cookies meal instead on Thursday when he’s schedule...

Mourners gathered at a West Adams church Saturday for the funeral of Terry Carter, a 55-year-old foster parent struck and killed by a rap mogul’s pickup truck in Compton last week.