‘Texas 7’ Fugitive Gets Execution Reprieve

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) _ One of the infamous “Texas 7” fugitive gang has won a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court one week before his scheduled execution.

Donald Newbury was to die Feb. 1 for his part in the fatal shooting of a Dallas-area police officer. Justice Antonin Scalia granted the reprieve Wednesday.

Attorneys argued that he should be spared while justices consider an Arizona case that questions whether death row inmates are entitled to better legal help during initial appeals. The court already has heard arguments on that case.

Newbury and six other inmates fled a South Texas prison 11 years ago in the state’s biggest prison break. He would have been the second of the gang executed for the Christmas Eve 2000 killing of Irving police officer Aubrey Hawkins during a robbery.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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