Texas Death Row Inmate: 'Secret Deal' Tainted Case

By: Associated Press Email

Updated: Mon 2:05 PM, Feb 20, 2012

A notorious Texas double murder will be revisited this week when the man condemned to die for the crime seeks a new trial.

Attorneys for death row inmate Stephen Barbee will argue in state court in Fort Worth starting Wednesday that he received ineffective counsel when he was convicted in 2006 of killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend and her 7 year old son.

They claim a "secret deal" existed between Barbee's court-appointed attorney, William H. "Bill" Ray, and the presiding judge, Bob Gill, to dispose of cases quickly.

The proceeding was ordered by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals after The Associated Press revealed in 2010 that Gill, unlike other judges, negotiated plea deals himself in probation revocation cases and that many of those cases were handled by Ray.

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Texas Death Row Inmate: 'Secret Deal' Tainted Case

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