Governor Rick Perry accepted a recommendation from the state parole board and said today he would spare condemned prisoner Kenneth Foster from execution and commute his sentence to life. Foster had been scheduled to die on 30th August 2007.
"After carefully considering the facts of this case, along with the recommendation from the Board of Pardons and Paroles, I believe the right and just decision is to commute Foster's sentence from the death penalty to life imprisonment," Perry said in a statement.
"I am concerned about Texas law that allowed capital murder defendants to be tried simultaneously and it is an issue I think the Legislature should examine."
The seven-member parole board had voted 6-1 to recommend the commutation.
Perry did not have to accept the highly unusual recommendation from the board whose members he appoints.
Foster was the getaway driver and not the actual shooter in the slaying of a 25-year-old man in San Antonio 11 years ago.
Foster acknowledged he and his friends were up to no good as he drove them around San Antonio in a rental car and robbed at least four people 11 years ago before the slaying of Michael LaHood Jr.
"It was wrong," Foster, 30, said recently from death row. "I don't want to downplay that. I was wrong for that. I was too much of a follower. I'm straight up about that."
13 Texas legislators wrote clemency letters
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram wrote an editorial today in which they mention the letters by Rep Harold Dutton and other state representatives urging clemency for Kenneth Foster. The editorial says Perry should listen to Texans, and now he has.
Fosters' family and supporters now plan to challenge the life sentence.
Find out more about Kenneth's case, visit
http://www.freekenneth.com/
4WardEver would like to thank everyone who took the time, and cared enough to sign the petition to save Kenneth from lethal injection.
"I am concerned about Texas law that allowed capital murder defendants to be tried simultaneously and it is an issue I think the Legislature should examine."
The seven-member parole board had voted 6-1 to recommend the commutation.
Perry did not have to accept the highly unusual recommendation from the board whose members he appoints.
Foster was the getaway driver and not the actual shooter in the slaying of a 25-year-old man in San Antonio 11 years ago.
Foster acknowledged he and his friends were up to no good as he drove them around San Antonio in a rental car and robbed at least four people 11 years ago before the slaying of Michael LaHood Jr.
"It was wrong," Foster, 30, said recently from death row. "I don't want to downplay that. I was wrong for that. I was too much of a follower. I'm straight up about that."
13 Texas legislators wrote clemency letters
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram wrote an editorial today in which they mention the letters by Rep Harold Dutton and other state representatives urging clemency for Kenneth Foster. The editorial says Perry should listen to Texans, and now he has.
Fosters' family and supporters now plan to challenge the life sentence.
Find out more about Kenneth's case, visit
http://www.freekenneth.com/ 4WardEver would like to thank everyone who took the time, and cared enough to sign the petition to save Kenneth from lethal injection.
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