Appeals courts delays Texas execution set for this week

By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — An appeals court has stayed this week’s execution of a death row inmate who had raised questions about whether prosecutors had presented false and inaccurate testimony from an expert on whether he would commit more crimes in the future.  Ramiro Gonzales had been set to receive a lethal injection for fatally shooting Bridget Townsend in 2001. Gonzales’ attorneys had asked the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to stay his execution, arguing prosecutors presented false testimony that wrongly claimed he would be a future danger, a legal finding needed to impose a death sentence.  The appeals court on Monday granted the stay request, saying Gonzales’ lawyers had made a sufficient claim that merited additional review by a lower court.