Texas to Execute 400th Inmate

Tonight, unless an unlikely eleventh-hour reprieve is granted, Texas will execute its 400th inmate since the state resumed the practice in 1982.

32-year-old Johnny Ray Conner was convicted for murdering Houston resident Kathyanna Nguyen during a grocery store robbery in 1998. Nguyen, the store's owner, had been trapped behind the counter and was surrounded by a bulletproof enclosure; the killer reached his gun through the change slot and shot her in the head.

Several witnesses positively identified Conner as the gunman, claiming that they saw him running away. At the trial, the jury deliberated for less than an hour before submitting a guilty verdict. The death sentence came shortly afterwards.

Conner's lawyer—University of Miami law professor Kenneth Williams— recently appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that an old leg injury would've caused Conner to noticeably limp while fleeing from the crime scene. It's doubtful that any reprieve will be granted.

The impending execution drew international attention on Tuesday, when the European Union publicly urged Governor Perry to step in and temporarily suspend it.

"The irreversibility of the punishment means that miscarriages of justice – which are inevitable in all legal systems – cannot be redressed," wrote EU officials in a statement.

The Governor's office returned a flowery response whose message could be more or less summed up as: fuck off.

"230 years ago, our forefathers fought a war to throw off the yoke of a European monarch and gain the freedom of self-determination," said Robert Black, Perry's spokesman. "While we respect our friends in Europe, welcome their investment in our state and appreciate their interest in our laws, Texans are doing just fine governing Texas."

Meanwhile, the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty has organized a protest vigil in front of the Capitol, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. tonight.

More:
EU urges Perry to halt execution (Dallas News)
Perry rejects EU's call to stop executions (Houston Chronicle)
Execution of convicted killer would be 400th in Texas (AP)
Johnny Ray Conner's Personal Statement (Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty)