Robert Streetman was executed by the State of Texas for a murder committed during a robbery
According to court documents Robert Streetman would break into the home and would shoot and kill the female homeowner. Robert and his accomplices believed that the couple who lived in the home had a large amount of cash in the residence. In the end they made off with a dollar
Robert Streetman would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Robert Streetman would be executed by lethal injection on January 7 1988
Robert Streetman Photos
Robert Streetman FAQ
When was Robert Streetman executed
Robert Streetman was executed on January 7 1988
How was Robert Streetman executed
Robert Streetman was executed by lethal injection
Robert Streetman Case
State officials refused to halt the execution of Robert Streetman despite the fact his lawyer was filing a stay that would have likely been granted by the Supreme Court, the Texas Civil Liberties Union charged Friday.
‘There seems to be a policy in this state, when in doubt, execute,’ TCLU Executive Director Gara LaMarche said. ‘The process stinks. It leaves a great deal to be desired.’
Streetman, 27, convicted of killing a 44-year-old woman in a $1 robbery, was executed at 3:26 a.m. Thursday while his attorney was trying to get the attorney general’s office and the governor’s office intervene.
The execution of Streetman, the first in the United States this year, was delayed two hours while the Supreme Court considered his case, and was put off for an additional hour while the attorney general’s office clarified the status of his appeals.
A 4-4 split vote by the Supreme Court on Streetman’s first stay request cleared the way for the execution.
However, Justice William Brennan said Thursday that the court had agreed to hear a separate case that raised two of the same issues as Streetman’s case.
Two minutes after Streetman was brought to the death chamber and strapped to a gurney, but before needles could be inserted, the attorney general’s office stopped the execution for more than an hour while they clarified whether a second appeal had been filed.
Assistant Attorney General Bob Walt said Streetman’s attorney, Robert McGlassen, called him about 10 minutes after the Supreme Court decision and said he was going to file a second appeal.
The temporary hold was lifted, and the lethal drugs were administered at 3:19 a.m. CST. But before Streetman was declared dead seven minutes later, the telephone rang in the death chamber.
‘The telephone call was made by the governor’s office,’ said Texas Department of Corrections spokesman Charles Brown. ‘Basically what they wanted to know, since we had a delay, was where we were in the process. The response was we had begun the process.
‘At that point in time, when we received that call, we were at a point of no return,’ Brown said.
LaMarche said McGlassen was in the process of filing a written stay when he was informed that his client was dead.
‘Everybody knew that a motion would have been prepared that would have likely been granted,’ LaMarche said. ‘When life and death is at stake, that does not seem too much to ask.’
Pete Wassdorf, an attorney in the governor’s general counsel office, said a staff member called the prison after McGlassen contacted them seeking a reprieve. Had the execution not already begun, it would have been delayed again while Gov. Bill Clements considered McGlassen’s arguments, Wassdorf said. Clements already had reviewed Streetman’s case and said he would not block the execution, Wassdorf said, but officials would have given McGlassen time to state his arguments.
Streetman, who quit school after the 9th grade, was condemned for the Dec. 17, 1982, slaying of Christine Baker, 44, of Kountze, who was shot as she sat knitting and watching television in her farmhouse.