Texas Plans to Execute Man After Courts Refuse DNA Tests
Ruben Gutierrez was convicted of murder in 1999 under Texas’ “Law of Parties.” He says he had nothing to do with the killing.
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
Texas’ Plantation Prisons: Inside a 200-Year History of Forced Labor Shrouded in Secrecy
Punishments, injuries, and deaths—including from heat—on TDCJ farms are more hidden than they were in the years following convict leasing.
Taking Prison to Court: Fighting for the Right to Sleep
Michael Garrett sued the Texas Department of Criminal Justice more than a decade ago, and he’s working from inside to keep the case alive.
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.
‘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.