Court returns ex-Fort Bragg cook to execution track
Legal Events
A former Fort Bragg soldier who killed four women and raped others more than 25 years ago is again headed for execution.
The Fayetteville Observer reports Ronald Gray last week lost a battle to keep in place a federal court's order issued eight years ago blocking his execution.
The former Army cook's death sentence would be the first for the U.S. military since 1961.
Gray was convicted and condemned in military court in 1988 for two murders and three rapes while stationed at Fort Bragg. He pleaded guilty in civilian courts to two more murders and five separate rapes.
Gray is being held at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Gray was scheduled to die in 2008 after President George W. Bush signed an execution order.
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Texas Adopts Statewide Texting-While-Driving Ban
Effective September 1, 2017, Texas will become the 47th state to pass a statewide ban on texting while driving. Governor Abbott’s signing of House Bill 62 is an effort to unify Texas under a uniform ban and remedy the “patchwork quilt of regulations that dictate driving practices in Texas.”
The bill specifically prohibits drivers from reading, writing, or sending an electronic message on a device unless the vehicle is stopped. That includes texting and emailing. It does not, however, prohibit dialing a number to call someone, talking on the phone using a hands-free device, or using the phone’s GPS system.
Violations would be punishable by a fine ranging from $25 to $99, to be set by each municipality. Although penalties could rise to as much as $200 for repeat offenders.
Studies have found that a driver’s reaction time is half as much when a driver is distracted by sending or reading a text message. According to state officials, in 2015 more than 105,000 traffic accidents in Texas involved distracted driving, leading to at least 476 fatalities.