But He Didn't Fire the FATAL Shot

For some reason, the Pardon Board, and of course the Houston Chronicle wanted Governor Rick Perry to spare the life of Robert Lee Thompson. Thompson and another man were on a robbing spree back in 1996 in Houston. They robbed a store in which two clerks were shot, one fatally. The other man fired the fatal shot, but for some reason the jury couldn't be convinced that the robber intended to kill the clerk when he fired at him. The article states that the prosecution failed to prove the element of intent. I guess nobody heard of the element of knowing. Anyhow, the article harps on the fact that Thompson didn't fire the fatal shot. I guess as long as he didn't actually kill the clerk that Thompson doesn't deserve the death penalty. Even though he shot the other clerk four times and tried to shoot him again in the neck but he was out of ammunition. I guess that kind of person doesn't deserve the death penalty in the eyes of the Chronicle. The article also says that Thompson and his buddy targeted stores that Thompson felt "were exploitative of blacks." That means Thompson targeted stores ran by immigrants so shouldn't that be a hate crime? Yet, he didn't fire the actual fatal shot so the Chronicle and the board of pardons (for some odd reason) felt this worthless piece of trash should be spared.