Finding God, Asking State to Find Mercy on Death Row
Ramiro Gonzales will be put to death next Wednesday, unless the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommends clemency.
Michelle Pitcher
Michelle Pitcher is a staff writer at the Texas Observer covering criminal justice. She received her master’s in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley and was part of the team at The Marshall Project that won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. Her reporting has been featured on NPR, FiveThirtyEight, The Dallas Morning News, and more. Michelle was born and raised in Dallas and is now based in Austin.
Articles by Michelle Pitcher
‘Ride’ Paints Cowboy Life in Shades of Gray
A new movie set in Stephenville complicates, without vilifying, one of our state’s central mythic figures.
A 30-Year-Old Wrongful Conviction Is Shaping the El Paso DA Race
Daniel Villegas was acquitted of a crime for which he served nearly 20 years in prison. James Montoya, one of the prosecutors who tried to keep him locked up, is running for district attorney.
‘There Have to Be Limits’: Lawsuit Urges Scorching Prisons to Cool Down
New plaintiffs have expanded a 2023 lawsuit against TDCJ, accusing the agency of “cooking [prisoners] to death."
In Travis County, a Fight over Bail Hearings Has Big Stakes for Criminal Defendants
Some arrestees in Austin lack legal representation at a stage that can determine their cases’ outcome. The ACLU and some officials want to change that.
Some Texas Prisoners Allowed Only Four Hours of Sleep a Night, Lawsuit Says
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a man incarcerated at the Estelle Unit who has been suing over his sleep schedule for a decade.
Podcasting’s New Poirot: Broadcasting the Case of the Late Ivan Cantu
A private eye spent four years investigating a death row innocence claim and sharing his findings with tens of thousands.
In the Ogg House: Harris County DA Ousted in Primary
Challenger Sean Teare handily took out the embattled two-term incumbent Kim Ogg.
‘It’s the South’: Harris County Sends 15 Times More Black Men to Death Row than White
Texas’ largest county remains the state’s deadliest when it comes to capital murder convictions, a new report says.
Austin Officials Condemn Anti-Palestinian Hate Crime but Remain Divided over Ceasefire Resolution
Mayor Kirk Watson condemned last week’s attack while warning against getting involved in international politics.