For decades, Missouri executions played out in similar fashion: An inmate was strapped to a gurney in a drab room, alone except for the eyes of witnesses staring through thick glass as unidentified executioners administered the lethal chemical from behind a cinderblock wall.

A Texas death row inmate whose case clarified the role of spiritual advisers in death chambers nationwide has been executed, despite the efforts of a district attorney to stop his lethal injection.

Earlier this year, Ramirez won a legal fight to have his pastor beside him at his execution.

The Nueces County district attorney, Mark A. Gonzalez, has moved to withdraw the death warrant for John Henry Ramirez, convicted of a 2004 robbery and murder.

Conservative Supreme Court justices are expressing skepticism about saying that Texas must agree to a death row inmate’s request to allow a chaplain to pray out loud and touch him during his execution.

Executions in the nation’s busiest capital punishment state face delays amid legal questions over Texas’ refusal to allow spiritual advisers to touch people as they are being put to death.

Another Texas inmate has had his execution delayed over claims the state is violating his religious freedom by not letting his spiritual adviser lay hands on him at the time of his lethal injection.

A Texas death row inmate has won a reprieve from execution for killing a convenience store worker during a 2004 robbery that garnered $1.25.

A Texas death row inmate has won a reprieve from execution for killing a convenience store worker during a 2004 robbery that garnered $1.25.

A Texas death-row inmate has sued state prison officials to allow his pastor to lay hands on him as he dies from a lethal injection.

A Texas death-row inmate has sued state prison officials to allow his pastor to lay hands on him as he dies from a lethal injection.