Execution Halted For Texas Accomplice Who Wasn’t Triggerman

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A court has halted the execution of a Texas man who was sentenced to death for a fatal 1996 robbery in which he didn't pull the trigger.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday put Jeffery Wood's execution on hold. The 43-year-old Wood was scheduled to die Wednesday. Wood and his friend Daniel Reneau were convicted in the shooting death of a store clerk. Wood waited in a car while Reneau shot the clerk.

The case has drawn highly unusual opposition from Republican lawmakers. It also has captured attention across the U.S. over Wood's culpability, his mental competence and criticism surrounding his original trial.

The appeals court ordered a lower court to review defense claims that the sentence was based on false testimony and false scientific evidence.