HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- Gov. Rick Perry refused to spare 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.
The shooter, Sammy Butler, was convicted and received life in prison.
Perry was not required to follow the recommendation of the board, whose members he appoints.
