Dominique Green

Dominique Jerome Green, 30, was executed by lethal injection on 26 October 2004 in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of a man in a parking lot robbery.

On 14 October 1992, Green, then 18, Michael Neal, 18, Paul Lyman, and another unidentified accomplice spotted Michael Lastrapes in the parking lot of a Houston-area convenience store. While Lyman and the other person waited in a car, Green and Neal approached Lastrapes and demanded his wallet. When Lastrapes refused, Green shot him in the chest. Green then ripped Lastrapes' pants pocket off and took his wallet, which contained $50.

Three days later, a Houston police officer spotted a stolen car traveling on a highway. The officer pursued the vehicle until it swerved off the road into a ditch. The driver, Dominique Green, attempted to flee on foot, but was found hiding in a nearby field. Two of the other robbery participants were also in the car, as was a Tech-9 semiautomatic rifle. A firearms expert later testified that the weapon found in the car was the same one used to murder Andrew Lastrapes.

While in jail awaiting trial, Green wrote a letter that included the phrase "I forever be a trigga happy nigga," a quotation from a rap recording about a violent armed robbery.

All three of Green's accomplices testified against him at his trial. Green admitted being involved in the robbery, but denied being the trigger man. Under Texas law, a defendant can be found guilty of capital murder if he participated in the crime, regardless of whether he directly caused the victim's death.

At age 18, Green had no prior prison record, but he had previous convictions for burglary, weapon possession, and marijuana possession. At his punishment hearing, nine people testified to being robbed by Green and his co-defendants.

A jury convicted Green of capital murder in July 1993 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in September 1996. For the next eight years, all of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Michael Neal pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and received a 40-year prison sentence. Paul Lyman pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and received a 10-year prison sentence. Information on their current status was unavailable for this report. Charges were filed against the fourth robbery participant, but the grand jury refused to indict him. Green's lawyers contended that this amounted to illegal racial discrimination, as the fourth person was white, while Green, Neal, and Lyman were all black. The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected this argument, noting that the participants were charged and sentenced according to their respective degrees of culpability in the crime.

From death row, Green said that he was a changed person. A prison spokeswoman said that Green had no major disciplinary record and was considered a well-behaved prisoner. His clemency request was supported by Lastrapes' mother and two brothers. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied Green's request for a commuted sentence by a 5-1 vote. Governor Rick Perry also declined to issue a reprieve.

In the days before his execution, lawyers working for Green filed a motion for a stay, based on problems at the Houston Police Department's crime lab. Among several other evidence-related problems at the crime lab was the discovery in August of 280 boxes of evidence that had not been thoroughly examined and cataloged. Lawyers claimed that evidence pertaining to Green's case could be in those boxes. Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal stated that the newly-discovered evidence did not contain any evidence affecting Green's case. A federal judge granted the defense's request for a stay on Tuesday at midday, but the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that order later in the day. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Green's case at 7:20 p.m.

In his last statement, Green offered thanks and encouragement to his friends and supporters. He also said, "I am not angry, but I am disappointed that I was denied justice." He was pronounced dead at 7:59 p.m.