A death row inmate from Brazos County is getting another court hearing.
That’s after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled the trial judge who removed himself after sentencing John Thuesen for capital murder nearly seven years ago was not allowed to return to preside over Thuesen’s post-trial appeals.
Justices on the state’s highest criminal court found that the judge who assigned a replacement did not issue a formal ruling allowing the original judge to return.
The replacement judge was ordered to return and take no longer than 180 days to hear Thuesen’s appeal and make a ruling.
This week’s decision by the criminal appeals court, the first of its type in Texas, does not change the local jury’s decision that Thuesen killed his ex-girlfriend and her brother in College Station almost eight years ago…or the death penalty sentence issued by the trial judge.
Click HERE to read and download the ruling from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.