Convicted rapist, murderer to get off death row
HOUSTON – A convicted rapist and murderer will be removed from death row due to new evidence and changes in the law, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Robert James Campbell, 44, was sentenced to death in the 1990's for the murder of Alexandra Rendon.
Rendon, a Houston bank teller, was kidnapped from a gas station and driven to a remote location in south Houston in 1991. Campbell and an accomplice raped and robbed her. Campbell then fatally shot Rendon in the back as she tried to run away.
Campbell was set to be executed in 2014, but the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals halted the punishment at the last minute.
The court allowed defense attorneys to pursue an appeal, which claimed Campbell was mentally impaired due to his low IQ, and ineligible for the death penalty.
A 70 IQ is the minimum threshold set by the court.
The appeal has been pending ever since.
Then Wednesday morning, prosecutors with the Texas Attorney General’s Office filed a request for the case to be sent back to state court to be sentenced again.
Prosecutors say they can no longer contest Campbell is intellectually disabled due to new evidence and a recent Supreme Court decision regarding intellectual disability and the death penalty.
Attorneys say they recently found an IQ test that Campbell had completed in the sixth grade. He scored a 68, which is below the execution standard.
Both the original prosecutors and defense attorneys reportedly overlooked the document in 1991.
Because of the new developments, officials say Campbell will likely be re-sentenced to life in prison.
Due to the laws at the time of the original trial, he will immediately be eligible for parole.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said Wednesday that she will do everything in her power to ensure Robert James Campbell is never released from prison.
http://www.khou.com/mb/news/crime/co...-row/438466843
Bookmarks