Texas Governor commutes death sentence

As covered here and here at StandDown Texas Project, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted today to recommend that Texas Governor Rick Perry commute Kenneth Foster’s death sentence to life, and Governor Perry has now announced he has commuted Foster’s death sentence.  Governor Perry’s statement is available at this link, and here is a snippet:

“After carefully considering the facts of this case, along with the recommendations from the Board of Pardons and Paroles, I believe the right and just decision is to commute Foster’s sentence from the death penalty to life imprisonment,” Gov. Perry said.  “I am concerned about Texas law that allows capital murder defendants to be tried simultaneously, and it is an issue I think the legislature should examine.” The TBPP voted 6-1 to recommend commutation, and the governor signed the commutation papers Thursday morning.