Governor Perry's statement is here.
“After reviewing all of the facts in the case of Robert Lee Thompson, who had a murderous history and participated in the killing of Mansoor Bhai Rahim Mohammed, I have decided to uphold the jury’s capital murder conviction and capital punishment for this heinous crime. There is no reason to set aside the capital murder conviction handed down by a Texas jury and upheld by numerous state and federal courts.”
A Texas governor may accept the Board's recommendation and commute a death sentence, however, he/she is not obligated to do so.
In 2004, the Board recommended that Perry commute the death sentence of Kelsey Patterson due to Patterson's severe mental illness. Perry rejected that recommendation, and Patterson was executed. Perry's only commutation of an inmate facing imminent execution was that of Kenneth Foster in 2007.
UPDATE - Michael Graczyk's inital AP report is here.
Gov. Rick Perry refused to spared a man facing execution Thursday evening for his role in a fatal robbery, rejecting a parole board recommendation that the death sentence of 34-year-old Robert Lee Thompson be commuted to life in prison.
Perry's decision came about 30 minutes before Thompson was set to be taken to the Texas death chamber for lethal injection. On Wednesday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles made the rare recommendation for Thompson, who was not the triggerman in the fatal shooting of a Houston convenience store clerk 13 years ago.
Earlier coverage begins with this post.
More on the law of parties -- treatment of non-trigger-person accomplices -- is in the law of parties index. Our coverage of the 2007 Foster commutation is here. Two commentaries are:
Another commentary on Texas clemency is:
In 2005, Texas Appleseed and the Texas Innocence Network published, "The Role of Mercy: Safegaurding Texas Justice Through Clemency Reform," which examined best practices in executive clemency.
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