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When a Death Penalty ‘Volunteer’ Changes His Mind

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www.texasobserver.org – Michelle Pitcher – 2025-02-07 07:28:00

Richard Tabler, 45, is the second person scheduled to be executed in Texas this year, with his death by lethal injection set for February 13. 

Tabler confessed to shooting and killing four people in Bell County, between Austin and Waco, in 2004. He avoided another execution date in 2010, when a federal district court stepped in to grant a stay while his lawyers petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court.

One of the big legal issues in his appeals arose shortly after Tabler was convicted, when he waived his right to a full state appeals process after he was sentenced to death in 2007. Texas death penalty cases are automatically appealed up to the Court of Criminal Appeals for review, but Tabler told a judge that if that direct appeal was denied, he’d like to be executed as soon as possible. He changed his mind months later, thinking he still had time to file a standard appeal, but by then it was too late. 

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Death penalty experts refer to people who forego part of their appeals in order to expedite their executions as “volunteers.” Thirty-nine people executed in Texas since the 1980s have sought to fast-track their executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. During his more than 15 years on death row, Tabler alternately fought for his right to appeal and asked for death. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear arguments in his case in October, clearing the way for his execution. 

In 2007, Tabler was tried and convicted for the shooting deaths of Mohamed Amine Rahmouni and Haitham Zayed. During the punishment phase of the trial, in which the jury decides whether to impose the death penalty, the state introduced evidence that Tabler was responsible for two more murders. 

According to court documents, in the early morning hours after Thanksgiving in 2004, Tabler and a man named Timothy Payne arranged to meet with Rahmouni, who managed a local bar called Teazers, with the promise of selling him some stereo equipment. Zayed drove Rahmouni to the meeting place in a parking lot around 2 a.m. that Friday. 

The men weren’t strangers. Tabler and Payne met at Fort Cavazos (formerly Fort Hood), where Payne was a private and Tabler reportedly sold drugs. Tabler was an employee at the bar Rahmouni owned, per court records. According to Tabler’s confession, about a week before, he and Rahmouni had gotten into an argument. He told police that Rahmouni had threatened him, saying he had the power to “wipe out [Tabler’s] whole family for ten dollars.”

When the men got to the meeting spot, Tabler shot Rahmouni and Zayed, then dragged them out of their car. Then, in an act that was allegedly videotaped, Tabler shot Rahmouni again. 

Court records further show that Tabler confessed to shooting and killing two young dancers who worked at Teazers, Amanda Benefield and Tiffany Dotson, in the days after the murders because he suspected they would turn him in. Ballistics tests later confirmed that the same gun was used to kill the two men and the two women. 

Tabler was arrested that Sunday after officers brought him to the police station under the pretense of setting up a drug sting. Tabler had been working as a confidential informant with the Killeen Police Department and the Bell County Sheriff’s Department as part of a deal to avoid prosecution for passing bad checks. Officers then arrested him on the old bad checks charge to keep him at the station—as a warrant for the murder hadn’t been issued yet—he immediately offered up information about the killings. 

Over several hours after midnight on November 29, Tabler wrote three separate confessions. In the first, he claimed his friend had committed the murders. In the second, he said he was there with his friend at the time. And in the third, which he wrote around 5 a.m., he said he had planned and gone through with Rahmouni’s murder and had killed Zayed in the process. 

He was indicted the following February for capital murder in the deaths of both. His trial, which took place two years later, focused mostly on the punishment phase, where jurors were asked to determine whether the crime warranted the death penalty. During the five-day punishment phase, state prosecutors called 23 witnesses and presented Tabler’s written and recorded confession to the murders of Benefield and Dotson. 

Tabler’s family members testified in court that his parents were neglectful and he was essentially raised by his older sister, who was seven years old when he was born. His mom and sister testified that Tabler had several significant head injuries when he was young. 

Ultimately, the jury opted for the death penalty. Tabler’s co-defendant, Payne, was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the crime.

In 2024, ACLU lawyers petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court on Tabler’s behalf, asking the justices to consider whether Tabler’s appeals lawyers “abandoned” him by letting him waive his right to state appeals in front of a judge without themselves participating in the hearing. 

According to the ACLU filing, Tabler’s defense attorneys had received a report from an expert who evaluated Tabler and determined he was “severely mentally ill” and that his ability to think was “impaired.” The report stated that if Tabler’s “overall functioning” was rated out of 100, he would score a 15. But his attorneys didn’t disclose this report, which would have cast doubt on Tabler’s competency to waive his appeals. 

“The question is important because it goes to the critical role of counsel in ensuring fair administration of the death penalty, especially where capital defendants, many of whom are mentally ill, frequently change their minds about whether to proceed with their post-conviction review,” his lawyers wrote in the petition.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider the argument. 

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Former HISD executive and contract vendor found guilty of federal corruption charges

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April 19, 2025

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Former HISD executive and contract vendor found guilty of federal corruption charges

www.youtube.com – KHOU 11 – 2025-04-19 09:08:25

SUMMARY: Former HISD executive Brian Busby and contractor Anthony Hutcherson were found guilty of federal corruption charges related to a multi-million dollar fraud scheme. The scheme, which began in 2018, involved inflated maintenance and landscaping contracts that funneled $7 million from the district into their pockets. Busby, the former chief operating officer, secured contracts for Hutcherson in exchange for cash, luxury renovations, and kickbacks. Both men were convicted of 33 charges, including conspiracy, bribery, and witness tampering. They face up to 35 years in federal prison, with sentencing set for July 28th.

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Brian Busby was COO of the district. Anthony Hutchinson was a contract vendor. They’re both now facing prison time.

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Court restores status of 3 international students in Texas

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18 hours ago

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April 18, 2025

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feeds.texastribune.org – By Jessica Priest – 2025-04-18 17:04:00

By Jessica Priest, The Texas Tribune

“Court orders immigration officials to restore legal status of three people who came to Texas on student visas” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

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Federal judges have ordered immigration officials to temporarily restore the legal status of three people from India who came to Texas on student visas.

Manoj Mashatti, Chandraprakash Hinge and Akshar Patel are among more than a thousand students nationwide whose permission to be in the U.S. was revoked. International students have been discovering in recent weeks that their immigration status was marked as terminated in a database used to keep track of international students known as the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS.

Mashatti obtained an F-1 student visa to pursue a master’s degree in business analytics at the University of Texas at Dallas. He graduated in May 2024 and then applied for and received authorization to work as a full-time data engineer, according to his lawsuit. UT-Dallas informed him his status was terminated on April 2 based on a prior arrest for driving while intoxicated. He had completed probation for that charge.

Court documents provide fewer details about Hinge and Patel. Their attorney said they were both students at the University of Texas at Arlington and have graduated.

Hinge came to the U.S. in 2020 to get a graduate degree. Patel was an undergraduate student who says his immigration status was terminated from SEVIS solely because of a November 2018 arrest for reckless driving. That case was dismissed.

Both their LinkedIn profiles indicate they still live and work in North Texas, Hinge as a thermal engineer and Patel in the computer science field.

Steven Brown, the immigration attorney representing the students, filed separate lawsuits for each one against Todd M. Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in federal courts in Washington, D.C.

The judge in Hinge’s case said ICE had offered conflicting positions in both its court filings and oral arguments about what effect its actions had on Hinge’s visa. The judge wrote in his order that the student’s legal status should remain unchanged.

Brown said none of his three clients have left the country.

He added that he may be bringing more lawsuits against ICE on behalf of other international students in Texas and across the country whose legal immigration status has been revoked.

Brown said the way ICE is targeting students appears to be “arbitrary” and “capricious.” That’s also how four UT Rio Grande Valley students who have sued the Department of Homeland Security have described federal immigration officials’ actions. Those students’ attorney, Marlene Dougherty, declined to comment to The Texas Tribune on Friday.

The federal government has said it is targeting people who have committed crimes or participated in protests it views as antisemitic.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said in a statement to the Tribune that it regularly reviews whether visa holders are complying with requirements to remain in good standing. SEVIS terminations may occur for various reasons, the statement said, including if they stopped going to school or working. When it finds violations, the agency added, it notifies the Department of State, which may consider revoking the students’ visa after considering their criminal history and other national security concerns.

“This process is nothing new and is part of a longstanding protocol and program,” a senior DHS official said. “Individuals who remain in the U.S. without lawful immigration status may be subject to arrest and removal. If a SEVIS record is terminated or a visa revoked, the individual will be notified and typically given 10 days to depart the country voluntarily. The safest and most efficient option is self-deportation using the CBP Home app.”

A Department of State spokesperson said the agency does not comment on ongoing litigation and its actions in specific cases for privacy reasons.

The Consulate General for India could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday.

International students across the country are asking federal judges to temporarily block the government from changing their legal immigration status. In this week alone, judges in at least five states have granted their requests, according to CNN and Reuters.

The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

Disclosure: University of Texas – Arlington and University of Texas – Dallas have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/18/texas-international-student-cases/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

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Texas breaks jobs records again, but oil-gas sector outlier indicates volatility | Texas

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April 18, 2025

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Texas breaks jobs records again, but oil-gas sector outlier indicates volatility | Texas

www.thecentersquare.com – By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-18 15:31:00

(The Center Square) – Texas broke its own employment records again in March,  leading the U.S. in job creation. The outlier was in the oil and natural gas sector, which reported a loss, breaking its own pattern of job records, reflecting market volatility.

As in previous months, Texas broke its own employment records for having the greatest number of jobs, the greatest number of Texans working and the largest labor force in state history in March, according to the latest Texas Workforce Commission data.

Texas employers reported the largest labor force in state history again with a new record of 15,778,500, marking 57 of 59 months of growth. Over the year, Texas’ civilian labor force added 301,400 workers, more than any other state.

Texas also reached a new high for the greatest number of Texans working last month, including the self-employed, totaling 15,137,500.

Texas also added 26,500 positions over the month to reach a total of 14,282,600 nonfarm jobs in March. Texas employers added 192,100 nonfarm jobs over the year, more than any other state, bringing the annual nonfarm growth rate to 1.4%, again outpacing the national growth rate by 0.2%.

“Texas leads the nation in job creation thanks to our booming economy and highly skilled workforce,” Gov. Greg Abbott said. “Every month, Texas welcomes businesses from across the country and around the world to innovate and invest in our great state. By funding our schools more than ever before and expanding career and technical training programs, we will prepare more Texans for better job and bigger paycheck opportunities to build a more prosperous Texas.”

“The robust Texas economy continues to create opportunities for our workforce, as evidenced by over 544,000 job postings in March, despite record employment,” noted TWC Commissioner Representing Labor Alberto Treviño III. “TWC is committed to ensuring Texans can capitalize on this economic momentum by providing services like career counseling, job search assistance, and skills training, helping them develop a clear path to career success.”

Texas is also “outpacing the nation in various industries, reinforcing the state’s reputation across the world as the best for doing business,” TWC Commissioner Representing Employers Joe Esparza said.

Last month, the Private Education and Health Services industry reported the largest over-the-month increase after adding 9,500 jobs, according to the data. Construction added 8,500 jobs over the month; Trade, Transportation, and Utilities added 6,100. As Texas expands construction and infrastructure projects statewide, the construction industry reported the largest growth in the country of 3.4% over the year, outperforming the industry’s growth rate nationally by 1.6%.

Unlike previous months, the Texas upstream sector reported a loss of 700 jobs over the month in oil and natural gas extraction. Total jobs in the sector hovered just over 204,400.

The upstream sector includes oil and natural gas extraction and some types of mining. It excludes other sectors like refining, petrochemicals, fuels wholesaling, oilfield equipment manufacturing, pipelines, and gas utilities, which support hundreds of thousands of additional jobs statewide.

That’s down from the sector adding 1,900 jobs over the month in February, bringing the total upstream employment to 205,400 two months ago before the Trump tariff war began, The Center Square reported.

“As a result of recent commodity price movement and significant market volatility, there are high uncertainties in outlooks for future energy supply, demand and prices,” the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association notes in an analysis of the employment data.

TIPRO and others have expressed concerns about the Trump administration tariff policy and pushing for foreign crude production, which is negatively impacting the industry and caused oil prices to tank, The Center Square reported. A silver lining, industry executives argue, is the administration rolling back Biden-era regulations that targeted it, The Center Square reported.

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