The Supreme Court case David Lee POWELL v.
TEXAS, decided in 1968, upheld the constitutionality of a Texas law prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sundays.
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The case originated when David Lee Powell, a liquor store owner, was convicted of violating the state's Sunday-closing law.
He argued the law violated his constitutional rights.
However, the Supreme Court ruled that the law was a valid exercise of the state's power to regulate alcohol sales and did not violate the Constitution.
This was not the same David Lee Powell who was executed in 2010 for the 1978 murder of an Austin police officer.
The two cases involved different individuals.
The David Lee Powell who was executed in 2010 had been on death row for over 32 years, one of the longest death row incarceration periods in Texas history.
Powell was 27 years old at the time of the 1978 murder.
He was 59 years old when he was executed in 2010, having spent more than half his life on death row.
The murder occurred during a routine traffic stop, when Powell shot and killed 26-year-old Austin police officer Ralph Ablanedo with an AK-47 assault rifle.
Powell's case involved three trials and multiple appeals, including a rejection of his latest appeal by the U.S.
Supreme Court just days before his execution.
Texas had executed 460 individuals since 1976 at the time of Powell's execution, making it one of the most active death penalty states in the country.
The lengthy appeals process in Powell's case highlighted the complexities and challenges of the death penalty system in the United States.
Forensic evidence and eyewitness testimony were crucial in linking Powell to the murder of Officer Ablanedo, despite his claims of innocence.
Powell's execution in 2010 was the 28th in the U.S.
that year and the 1,216th since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976.