Christian campaigners have welcomed the halting of the execution of Jeffery Wood, who was convicted as an accomplice to a murder he did not commit in 1996.
Shane Claiborne, an activist who has campaigned to end the death penalty in the US, wrote on his Facebook page: "Thanks to all who worked so hard to try and stop his execution. May we continue to work together to stop EVERY execution. Prayers and love go out tonight to Jeff on his birthday, to his legal team and his family, and to all the victims of violence and execution.
"May God show us a better way of doing justice than killing to show that killing is wrong."
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals announced on Friday that the execution, which was scheduled to take place on August 24 by lethal injection, would be halted.
Wood's sentence had raised questions about how the state applies the death penalty.
The 43-year-old was convicted of taking part in a 1996 convenience store robbery during which clerk Kriss Keeran was fatally shot.
In its decision, the appeals court asked a lower court to review his sentence and claims from Wood's lawyer that it was obtained in violation of due process because it was based on false testimony and false scientific evidence.
Wood's layer questioned a witness for the prosecution, forensic psychiatrist Dr. James Grigson, who told a court in the 1990s Wood would commit future acts of violence and was a threat to society.
Grigson, nicknamed "Dr. Death" for his willingness to testify against people facing the death penalty, was expelled from the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians and the American Psychiatric Association for ethical violations: making diagnoses of capital murder defendants without first examining them.
"The court did the right thing by staying Mr. Wood's execution and authorizing his claims related to Dr. Grigson's false testimony during the sentencing phase to be considered on the merits," said Jared Tyler, Wood's lawyer.
Wood was unarmed in a vehicle outside the store when it was robbed. Prosecutors have said Wood knew the clerk might be shot. Wood's lawyers said he was unaware that a robbery was underway.
Wood's roommate at the time, Daniel Reneau, was convicted of pulling the trigger and executed on June 13, 2002.
"I am not aware of a case where a person has been executed with so minimal culpability and with such little participation in the event," Tyler said in an interview.
Under Texas' "Law of Parties," a person can be charged with capital murder even if the offense is committed by someone else.
After he heard a shot, Wood entered the store to help Reneau steal a cash box, safe and security video system.
Ten people have been executed as accessories to felony murder since the United States reinstated the death penalty in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which monitors capital punishment.
Five have been in Texas, which has executed more people than any state since the death penalty was reinstated.
In an article for Religion News this week, Claiborne branded Texas "the death state".
"It blows my mind and breaks my heart that we continue to trust our very imperfect government with the ultimate and irreversible power of life and death," he said.
"It is time to end the death penalty in America. In the name of Jeff Wood. And in the name of another executed man ... named Jesus."
Additional reporting by Reuters
