Tarrant County is overcharging people in criminal cases and disproportionately seeking the death penalty in cases against minorities, according to a new report from a legal nonprofit advocacy group.
“No one should face execution because of the color of their skin or the zip code in which they live,” Burke Butler, co-executive director of Texas Defender Service, said. “But the reality is that that’s exactly what’s happening in Tarrant County right now.”
Overcharging refers to a prosecutor adding harsher or multiple charges to a single crime, usually meant to intimidate a defendant to take a plea deal…