Law of Parties all over again: Death row inmate hopes for Perry's intervention

Robert Lee Thompson (pictured) didn't fire the shot that killed a Houston convenience store clerk; his accomplice did. But barring Gov. Rick Perry's intervention, Thompson will be the one headed to the Texas death chamber next month while the accomplice serves a life sentence.

Thompson, 34, and Sammy Butler, 32, were tried for capital murder for the Dec. 5, 1996 stickup of a Braeswood Boulevard convenience store in which clerk Mansoor Rahim was killed. Under Texas' law of parties, all participants in a such cases are eligible for the death penalty, regardless of who did the actual killing.

Thus, Thompson, who wounded but did not kill another employee, was convicted and sentenced to die. But prosecutors failed to prove Butler intended to kill his victim, leading to a noncapital conviction and a life sentence for the triggerman. Butler will be eligible for parole in 2036.

Thompson's lawyer Patrick McCann calls the situation “egregious,” and describes the case as a “legal Catch-22 that could only happen in Harris County.”

Rebuffed by a series of appeals courts, McCann on Monday turned to the state's pardons and paroles board in a near-last-minute bid to save his client from a Nov. 19 execution.

In a six-page petition, the lawyer asks the board to recommend that Perry issue a 180-day reprieve or commute the sentence to life in prison. It's a long shot, McCann knows. The pardons board rarely advocates clemency and the governor almost never grants it.

In the petition, McCann likens Thompson's case to that of San Antonio robber Kenneth Foster — the only capital murder case in which Perry voluntarily commuted a death sentence to life in prison.

Three hours before the scheduled execution in August 2007, Perry spared Foster's life, expressing concern that trials for Foster and his accomplice had been held simultaneously. Foster had been a getaway driver in the 1996 robbery in which his accomplice killed a store employee.

The trials for Thompson and Butler were not held simultaneously, McCann conceded, but Thompson was tried first — and that was just as unfair, he contended.

Turning to the pardons board is an indication that McCann believes Thompson is running out of options. Similar arguments gained no traction with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. Since January 2001, more than 200 Texas killers have been executed. In more than 120 instances, the pardons board rejected killers' petitions. Given the slim chance board members will act favorably on a petition, many condemned killers don't bother asking.

“I'm always hopeful when it's a law of parties case and my client hasn't killed,” McCann said. “I'll admit the odds are against us, but if Gov. Perry has shown one thing, it's that he's receptive to hearing law of parties cases.”

Thompson, interviewed recently on death row, said his case “shows why the death penalty in Texas is corrupt. They're trying to justify capital murder. Where is the capital murder?”

Trial testimony revealed Thompson shot store clerk Mubarakali Meredia four times but did not kill him. After the clerk opened the cash drawer, Thompson placed his pistol to Meredia's neck and pulled the trigger a fifth time. The weapon was out of bullets. Thompson then clubbed Meredia with his pistol.

The shot that killed Rahim, Meredia's cousin, was fired by Butler as the robbers fled the parking lot.

Prosecutors on Monday said they have not seen Thompson's clemency petition.

In the punishment phase of Thompson's trial, prosecutors called witnesses who testified that he had participated in at least seven other robberies.

Source: Houston Chronicle, Oct. 27, 2009

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