Texas you don't get the death penalty for murder, you get it for committing a second felony and murder. Rob Will is on Polunsky DR and likely innocent considering he was handcuffed at the time, zero physical evidence, and his partner confessed to the murder. DA is a stepping stone to governor and senate there is much incentive for DAs to seek the death penalty due to all the media attention these trials receive, propelling the DA into a household name. The more inmates you kill the bigger your public profile.
From the judge denying a new trail: “The questions raised during post-judgment factual development about Will’s actual innocence create disturbing uncertainties,” he wrote. “Federal law does not recognize actual innocence as a mechanism to overturn an otherwise valid conviction.”
