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Update/Sad news on Thursday evening: Robert Lee Thompson is dead. He was executed today.
Perry rejects clemency in death penalty case
Accomplice executed for 1996 convenience store slaying.
By Mike Ward / Friday, November 20, 2009
“Rejecting a rare recommendation to commute a death sentence, Gov. Rick Perry refused Thursday to stop the execution of a man convicted of murder for his role in the 1996 shooting death of a Houston convenience store clerk. [Thompson was not even the person who killed the clerk.]
Less than an hour later, Robert Lee Thompson, 34, was executed at a state prison in Huntsville…”
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Previous post and appeal:
Dear Fellow Abolitionists,
NCADP is forwarding the below action at the request of our Texas Affiliate, the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. It is a very rare thing for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend clemency, so this is one of those unusual moments when your communication to Texas Governor Perry might actually help stop an execution. Please take the actions requested below immediately, up until 6pm Central Standard Time on Thursday, November 19. Thank you.
–abe
Abraham J. Bonowitz
Director of Affiliate Support
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Breaking news! The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has recommended that Robert Lee Thompson’s death sentence be commuted to life in prison. Thompson is scheduled to be executed by the State of Texas on Thursday, November 19, 2009. This is only the fourth such recommendation for clemency from the Board in cases where the inmate faced imminent execution.
Thompson’s lawyer successfully argued that he was not the triggerman in a December 1996 convenience store robbery-murder. His co-defendant, who was the actual killer of Mansoor Rahim, was tried separately and convicted on a lesser charge; he is serving a life sentence and will be eligible for parole.
Please call Governor Perry IMMEDIATELY! Urge him to follow the Board’s recommendation and commute Thompson’s sentence!
Office of the Governor
Citizen’s Opinion Hotline: 1-800-252-9600
Phone: (512) 463-2000
Fax: (512) 463-1849
Read more about the clemency recommendation in the Houston Chronicle.
Here’s more information about Thompson:
Robert Lee Thompson, 34, is scheduled to be executed on November 19, 2009. He and co-defendant Sammy Butler, 32, were tried for capital murder for the December 5, 1996 stickup of a Braeswood Boulevard convenience store in which clerk Mansoor Rahim was killed. Under Texas’ law of parties, all participants in such cases are eligible for the death penalty, regardless of who did the actual killing.
Thompson, who wounded but did not kill another employee, was convicted and sentenced to die. Prosecutors failed to prove Butler intended to kill his victim, however, leading to a non-capital conviction and a life sentence for the triggerman. Butler will be eligible for parole in 2036.
Please call Governor Perry as soon as possible and urge him to follow the Board’s recommendation by commuting Robert Thompson’s death sentence.
Thank you!
Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, Death Penalty, News, politics, progressive politics Tagged: | abolitionist, Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, execution, Governor Perry, Robert Lee Thompson, Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, Texas Parole Board
I personally knew this man and all I have to say is…..Walk a mile in his shoes before you judge him. This does not mean that I am excusing his actions, just letting you all know that there is a story behind the madness that lead to this young man beoming such a monster. A man who had no mother or father to show him a better way. Living with his aunt who was barely making it herself at 80 years old trying to raise an uneducated 21 y.o. man. He went to church faithful. He was a self taught pianist and received a little money for his time just to be able to have food for the night. He did not have the things that most of your kids have…warm, clean clothes…food to eat every night, and parents to teach you the way to be a man/woman. This was once a decent person who belonged to someone who loved them the same as you love. And somewhere along the way he took a very dark, very wrong turn and never quit found his way back….or at least we think. As long as he was remorseful and had made his peace, then he will be just fine. Be kind to others the way God intended because one day you too will have to answer for you sins however small you may THINK they are. No one sin is greater than the other.
Thank you, Karena.
We do not believe in the death penalty.
We told Robert Lee Thompson’s story because we value all human beings.
Thanks for the insight.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Wilder