Opponents say 'law of parties' is archaic and unjust
By ALLAN TURNER and ROSANNA RUIZ Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Aug. 20, 2008, 11:16PM

At least three Texas death row inmates have been executed under the law of parties, which makes accomplices as liable as the actual killer in capital murder cases.

The 1996 robbery of Kerrville's Goldstar Texaco was far more than a nickel-and-dime job.

Inside the convenience store safe lay $11,000 in cash and checks. But when David Reneau, a stocky, 20-year-old nurse's aide, pulled a pistol and announced the stickup, everything went wrong.

As Reneau's partner, Jeffery Wood, waited in the getaway car, the bandit fatally shot store clerk Kriss Keeran in the face.

Six years later, Reneau was executed for the murder. Today, unless courts or Gov. Rick Perry intervene, Wood also will be put to death.

Wood's case was a rare death sentence under Texas' law of parties, which holds accomplices in murders just as culpable as the person who pulled the trigger or wielded the knife. The case has prompted protests by those who contend that the law and the punishment are archaic.

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