Texas Execution Information Center

Execution Report: Jessy San Miguel

Continued from Page 1

Although San Miguel confessed to all four murders, he was only tried and convicted for killing Phelan. He and his attorney contended he was unfairly convicted because of racial stereotyping. Court records show that the prosecutor uttered a sentence that included various turns of the phrase "run for the border," a Taco Bell ad slogan. They also claim that San Miguel's defense attorney made numerous allegedly biased statements.

Spokesmen for the state of Texas point out that none of the alleged race-based statements were made by state-introduced witnesses or expert witnesses, and claim that the state did nothing wrong during the trial.

"The evidence is so obvious that I had a very unfair trial," San Miguel said in a death row interview. "They did not base their decisions on my history, on my individuality. It was based on me being a Mexican." Of the murders, he said, "there is nothing I could do to stop what happened. People react in the heat of the moment ... when something happens out of instinct, we just do it. We don't do it out of intent, we don't do it on purpose, it just happens."

The Texas Board of Pardons and paroles rejected a clemency request from San Miguel, by a vote of 18 to 0. The Supreme Court rejected his final appeal, and Governor George W. Bush declined to grant a temporary stay.

At his execution, San Miguel urged his family and relatives to be strong and said he loved them. He did not acknowledge the presence of the six members of his victims' families. He was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m.

Jerome Green accepted a plea bargain and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. He will be eligible for parole in 2004.

divider

By David Carson. Posted on 16 July 2000.
Sources: (unavailable)

Privacy PolicyContactAdvertising