...K P F T news

BRIEF: On Tuesday, the State of Texas executed Gary Wayne Etheridge who was convicted of the 1990 stabbing death of a 15-year-old girl in Brazoria County. In late June, Etheridge was granted a rare stay by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, so that it could hear his lawyer argue that the original judge had previously recused himself from the case. Shortly after the trial, the judge said Etheridge "was a piece of garbage and nothing but a blight on society" in the courtroom after the jury handed him a guilty verdict. A new judge simply signed the new death warrant later, according to Jim Marcus, Etheridge's attorney.

Next Wednesday, Toronto Patterson is scheduled to be executed for the Dallas shooting-death of 3-year-old Ollie Brown. The child was killed along with her sister and mother. Patterson was a juvenile [17] when the crime occurred. The United States is one of only 6 countries that allows for the execution of minors. Texas currently has 456 people on death row.

E-mail Brandon Moeller at brandonmoeller@hotmail.com .