Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread: Robert Streetman - Texas Execution - January 7, 1988

  1. #1
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217

    Robert Streetman - Texas Execution - January 7, 1988




    Summary of Offense: Convicted for the 1982 murder and $1 robbery of a Kountze woman.

    Victim: Christine Baker

    Time of Death: 3:26 a.m.

    Manner of execution: Lethal Injection

    Last Meal: two dozen scrambled eggs, flour tortillas, french fries and catsup

    Final Statement:

  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Execution surprised lawyers seeking stay

    HUNTSVILLE - Attorneys for Robert Streetman, unaware his execution was being carried out, tried to win a last-minute reprieve for the condemned killer even as lethal drugs coursed through his veins before dawn Thursday.

    Austin attorney Robert McGlasson telephoned Gov. Bill Clements' office shortly after 3 a.m. Thursday to request a reprieve, but was informed that Streetman had just been executed for the murder and $1 robbery of a Kountze woman.

    Streetman's victim, Christine Baker, 44, was shot in the temple in December 1982 as she sat in her farm house knitting a Christmas sweater.

    It was the second trip to the death chamber within an hour for Streetman who had to be unstrapped from the gurney at 2:10 a.m. Thursday while officials checked to see if his lawyer had filed another appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.

    Prison officials were informed by the Texas attorney general's office that the execution was being delayed while the status of his standing with the court was investigated.

    After waiting nearly an hour in his holding cell, Streetman was returned to the death chamber and executed. He was pronounced dead at 3:26 a.m., seven minutes after the lethal drugs were injected.

    The U.S. Supreme Court's split 4-4 vote on the issue of a stay shortly after 1:30 a.m. cleared the way for his execution. The high court requires five votes favoring a stay to grant one. Because lower courts had previously denied a stay, the order to execute stood.

    Officials said McGlasson announced he intended to file a certiorari petition before the U.S. Supreme Court asking that justices review Streetman's case in full. McGlasson's appeal for a stay of execution challenged the constitutionality of instructions to the jury in Texas death penalty cases.

    The petition was never filed, however, according to the U.S. Supreme Court clerk.

    Pete Wassdorf, deputy general counsel for Clements, said the Texas Attorney General's office called his office and the TDC after the execution delay reporting McGlasson had not filed further appeals.

    "They said there were no pending matters, so the order was free to be executed," Wassdorf said.

    TDC officials asked Clements if he wished to grant a reprieve. But Clements had already been informed of the case facts and had decided not to issue one, Wassdorf said.

    It was not until Streetman was again strapped to the gurney - this time with drugs flowing through his veins - that McGlasson called the governor's office requesting a reprieve.

    "We had never received a request for a reprieve until the execution was being carried out, somewhere around 3:19 a.m.," Wassdorf said.

    Wassdorf said he called the death chamber upon hearing of McGlasson's request and was told that Streetman was dead.

    "They said it had already been carried out," he said. "His attorney didn't say very much and got off the phone quickly."

    Gara LaMarche, executive director of the Texas Civil Liberties Union, said McGlasson "thinks the ball was dropped and that they should have postponed it longer.

    "This situation cried out for the governor to grant a 30-day stay."

    McGlasson could not be reached for comment.

    Prison officials said Thursday's execution took the most time to carry out of all executions since Texas resumed capital punishment in 1982.

    Streetman was the first prisoner to be executed in the United States this year and the 27th in Texas since the death penalty was reinstated.

    Prosecutors described the ninth-grade dropout and former oil-field roughneck as a "thrill seeker" who killed Baker just to watch another human being die.

    Before the murder, Streetman said, "I'm going to do something tonight that I've always wanted to do - kill somebody," prosecutors said.

    Investigators said he went to Baker's home believing $180,000 was hidden there. The Bakers kept more than $60,000 in cash and cashier checks in the home, but only Baker's purse with $1 in change inside was taken.

    Nyle Henry Baker, the victim's husband, said his wife was not the sort of person who would want her killer to go unpunished.

    "It's kind of strange, you know. The execution doesn't change anything. She wouldn't have wanted someone to kill her and get away with it. But this doesn't change anything for me. It doesn't bring her back," the 58-year-old Vidor resident said Thursday.

    Meanwhile, a federal judge Thursday blocked the execution of Ruben Cantu, who had been scheduled to die early today for the November 1984 slaying of a 25-year-old San Antonio man.

    U.S. District Judge H.F. Garcia granted Cantu, 21, a three-month stay while he reviews the case.

    Cantu's attorney, Nancy Barohn of San Antonio, has appealed the conviction on 10 grounds, including Cantu's age at the time of the offense. He was 17 when he broke into Pedro Gomez's home and killed him.

    The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing an Oklahoma case that questions the propriety of executing killers who were juveniles when they committed their crimes, Barohn said. "Until that case is decided, I think they ought to hold off on Cantu's execution," she said.

    Although under Texas law Cantu was an adult when he committed his crime, the Supreme Court considers 18 the age of majority.

    http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/ar...id=1988_514738

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •