Robert Carter was a teen killer who was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of Sylvia Reyes
According to court documents seventeen year old Robert Carter would rob a gas station and would shoot and kill the manager Sylvia Reyes. After being arrested Carter would confess to the murder of RB Scott during another robbery five days prior
Robert Carter would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Robert Carter would be executed by lethal injection on May 18 1998
Robert Carter Photos
Robert Carter Case
Carter was arrested in 1981 and charged with the murder of Sylvia Reyes, who was fatally wounded during the robbery of a service station.1 On June 27, 1981, Carter confessed in great detail to the murder but stated that the shooting had been accidental and denied any intent to kill Reyes. Pursuant to this confession, the police obtained the murder weapon identified by Carter, and ballistics experts confirmed that the revolver had been used in the murder.B.
At trial, a witness identified as “David Josa” testified that he was entering the station on June 24, 1981, when he heard gunshots inside the station and observed two individuals leave it immediately thereafter. The first fled from the station but returned when the police arrived. The second, a young black man fitting Carter’s description, emerged from the store with “a wad of money” in his left hand and fled. Josa observed this person for only a few seconds but did not see a gun, nor was he able subsequently to identify Carter as the second man.
Another witness, Arthur Mallard, corroborated Josa’s testimony. Mallard identified himself as the first person out of the station and testified that he had observed a man fitting Carter’s description reach across the counter to take money from the cash register. When the station attendant resisted, Mallard heard a gunshot and fled the store. He was unable to identify Carter as the man he had seen.
The defense offered no evidence to rebut the state, and the jury returned a verdict of guilty to capital murder. At the penalty stage, the state called witnesses to establish that Carter had committed another murder six days prior to the charged offense. Although none of the witnesses directly observed the second murder, one identified Carter as the man she observed fleeing the scene. Finally, the state introduced Carter’s confession, in which he confessed to the second murder, once again.
In rebuttal, defense counsel offered the testimony of three witnesses–Carter, his mother, and a family friend–to establish Carter’s good character. Carter testified that he had not intentionally killed the two victims and pledged to rehabilitate himself if sentenced to life imprisonment rather than death. Finally, in response to the character evidence, detective L.B. Smith testified that Carter’s reputation as a peaceful and law-abiding citizen was “bad.” After brief deliberation, the jury affirmatively answered the three special issues submitted pursuant to TEX.CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 37.071 (Vernon 1981), and the trial court imposed the death sentence.
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/110/1098/527384/
