Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halts lower court hearing on death penalty's constitutionality

As detailed in this new piece in the Houston Chronicle, the "Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted an unprecedented death penalty hearing late Tuesday after an emergency appeal from the Harris County District Attorney's Office argued that a Houston judge was overstepping his boundaries." Here are more details on the latest development in a high-profile capital proceeding:

The hearing on the constitutionality of the procedures surrounding the death penalty in Texas will be stopped to allow both sides 15 days to respond and file briefs in the state's highest criminal court. State District Judge Kevin Fine had acknowledged that the appellate court may have been considering whether to order him to halt the proceedings in a preliminary hearing in the death penalty trial of John Edward Green.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers will now argue whether the hearing should take place. The district attorney's office said in its brief that Fine was exceeding his authority by allowing evidence regarding flaws in past death penalty cases to decide issues in Green's case....

Defense lawyers for Green said they were disappointed in Tuesday's decision, but vowed to fight on. "We will never quit on this issue and will defend him all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary," said Casey Keirnan, one of Green's attorneys.

Arguments at the appellate court could end or may just delay what has turned in to a full-fledged accounting of the safeguards of the procedures available used to convict and execute inmates in Texas.

Steven Halpert, a Houston defense lawyer who has been watching the proceedings, said he does not believe the hearing will continue. "It's a shame, because a free debate, a well-rounded debate on these issues is certainly overdue, and we may never get that opportunity," Halpert said.