Around 8:20 on the evening of Sept. 25, shortly before the state of Texas executed Michael Wayne Richard, the convicted murderer uttered his last words: “I guess this is it.”
But Richard’s death, rather than bringing closure, created a controversy that continues with no end in sight � a controversy involving the presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the Texas Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the Governor and lawyers at the nonprofit Texas Defender Service.