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Governor Perry denied clemency tonight, despite the recommendation of his Board of Pardons and Parole. Texas, subsequently, executed Robert Lee Thompson for his role as the wheelman in a fatal Houston store holdup. The actual killer got life.
Of course if Mr. Thompson had retained private counsel for his trial he’d still be alive as no one in Harris County has been sentenced to death, nonetheless executed, in the modern era with a private bar attorney.
Thompson, 34, was an accomplice to triggerman Sammy Butler who gunned down 29-year-old store clerk Mansoor Bhai Rahim Mohammed 13 years ago.
Butler received life in prison. A jury gave Thompson death.
Thompson’s lawyer told the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles Thompson’s punishment wasn’t fair and the panel voted 5-2 Wednesday to recommend his sentence be commuted to life.
Gov. Rick Perry was not obligated to follow that rare recommendation and the execution was carried out about 45 minutes after his decision.
Thompson, in brief comments from the death chamber gurney, invoked Allah as his God, and thanked friends and his mother for their love and support.
“I know Allah will forgive me,” he said.
He was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m., nine minutes after he was injected with the lethal drugs.
Thompson was the 23rd inmate executed this year in Texas and the second this week.
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