Johnny Conner

Johnny Ray Conner, 32, was executed by lethal injection on 22 August 2007 in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of a convenience store owner in an attempted robbery.

On 17 May 1998, Conner, then 23, entered a north Houston convenience store at night and brought a drink to the counter, as if to buy it. The store owner, Kathyanna Nguyen, 49, was behind the counter, which was enclosed with bulletproof glass, but had a small opening used to pass items to and from customers. Conner then produced a .32-caliber revolver and, inserting his hand in the opening, pointed the gun at Nguyen. Just then, Julian Gutierrez walked into the store to pay for gasoline he had pumped. Gutierrez testified that he heard someone say, "Give me all your money," and that he looked up from counting his money and saw a man pointing a gun at Nguyen. Conner then turned and pointed the gun at him. Gutierrez then dropped the money he was holding and ran from the store. Conner fired one shot, striking Gutierrez in the chest and arm. He then fired two shots into Nguyen's head. He then fled from the scene, leaving behind the money Nguyen had left for him.

Police found a juice bottle on the floor near the counter. Two fingerprints were found on it. One belonged to Conner; the other was not identified.

Several people who were outside the store saw a man running from the grocery store. Although their descriptions of the man's appearance and clothing varied, three eyewitnesses, including Gutierrez, identified Conner as the robber from a photo lineup. Conner turned himself in to the Harris County Jail on 17 June.

At Conner's trial, Gutierrez testified that after he was shot once, he heard several more gunshots. He turned to see the robber shooting at Nguyen. He testified that the robber wore white tennis shoes, brown shorts, a white t-shirt, and a red cap.

Tony Tostado, who lived with Nguyen and operated a restaurant next door to her store, testified that he ran over to the store after hearing gunshots. Upon entering the store, he saw a man with a gun. Tostado testified that he tried to grab the man, but he got away. He then saw Nguyen on the floor, bleeding profusely. He called 911 on the pay phone outside the grocery store. While he was on the phone, he saw the fleeing suspect, who was not wearing a hat.

Agnes Hernandez testified that she was in her vehicle, stopped at a nearby intersection, when she saw a black man wearing a white shirt and dark shorts and no hat running with his hand under his shirt. She said that he ran quickly for about a block, then got in a vehicle and drove away. She followed the suspect, who nearly ran over a man and child as he sped away, until he reached the freeway. She then drove back to the store.

Christine Flores testified that she was driving in the area, saw a man running in the street, and had to slow down to avoid hitting him. She testified that the man, who she identified as Conner in a photo lineup, looked directly at her. He was wearing blue jeans and no hat. She also stated that the man did not have a tattoo (Conner had a teardrop tattoo on his right cheek).

Michael Hamilton and Martha Meyers were driving near the scene when a man ran from the store and crossed in front of them. Meyers testified that the suspect was between 5' 10" and 6' 1" (Conner was 5' 7"), wore blue shorts and long pants, a light gray t-shirt, and a white Nike cap. She also stated that he had no tattoo on his face. Meyers testified that she and Hamilton followed Hernandez as Hernandez followed the suspect. Meyers identified Conner as the suspect in a photo lineup.

Melecio Sanchez testified that he was sitting in a nearby bar when he heard two gunshots. He saw a black man wearing a white shirt, dark shorts, and blue cap running out of the store.

Conner's lawyers argued that the fingerprint on the orange juice bottle did not mean he was at the store when the crime occurred. They pointed out that the bottle did not appear in photos of the crime scene taken by police.

Conner had a criminal history of trespassing, drug possession, assault, and robbery going back to the age of ten. He also had a history of domestic violence as an adult. Former girlfriend Tamara Ekanem testified that in May 1995, Conner choked her and hit her with a stick, and a year later, threatened to kill her. Linda Gaspar testified that Conner hit or slapped her on three occasions between August 1996 and April 1997.

A jury convicted Conner of capital murder in June 1999 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in September 2001.

In his habeas corpus appeals, Conner alleged that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at his trial because his lawyers failed to investigate a 1996 leg injury that left him with a condition called "foot drop," which caused him to limp. Conner alleged that he could not run easily because of this limp, and that he could not have committed the crime, as witnesses testified that the robber ran quickly, and none of them mentioned a limp. In affidavits, his trial lawyers, Ricardo Rodriguez and Jonathan Munier, stated that while Conner mentioned a leg injury, he told them that it had healed and he was fine. The lawyers stated that Conner never mentioned any continuing problems with his leg, and that they never saw him limp. Conner's state appeals were unsuccessful, but in March 2005, after an evidentiary hearing including testimony from medical experts and from Conner himself, who testified that he told his attorneys he could not run, but they refused to listen to him, a federal district court agreed with his claims and granted him the right to a new trial.

The state of Texas appealed this decision to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which vacated the district court's opinion and reinstated Conner's conviction and death sentence in January 2007. The Fifth Circuit court ruled that Conner's claim of having a limp was dubious, as several witnesses at his 2003 hearing testified to either not noticing any limp until Conner pointed it out, or not noticing it at all. The court further ruled that it was not pivotal whether Conner had a limp, because no medical expert ever testified that Conner could not run in 1998, and none of the witnesses at his trial were asked whether the suspect ran with a limp or whether there was anything unusual about his gait. Finally, the court ruled that there was sufficient incriminating evidence from the bottle fingerprint and Gutierrez's testimony to convict him even if all of the testimony from witnesses who saw him flee the scene was removed. Conner's subsequent appeals were denied.

Conner declined to speak with reporters the week preceding his execution. On an anti-death-penalty web site, he called his conviction an "atrocious act of barbarity against the law and mankind."

At his execution, Conner asked the warden for permission to speak longer than the customary two minutes allotted for condemned prisoners' last statements. Ngyuen's daughter, Marie Ngyuen; sister, Katherine Le; and their husbands watched from a viewing room. Conner asked them to point out the victim's daughter, so that he could look at her, and asked her to look at him. "I want you to understand something: hold no animosity towards me," Conner said to her. "I am not mad at you. Even though you don't know me, I love you. I ask y'all in your heart to forgive me." Marie Ngyuen nodded her head, but Le stared at the wall and did not look at Conner, even though he repeatedly asked her to.

"What is happening to me is unjust, and the system is broken," Conner continued. However, he asked his relatives to forgive him and accept his execution. "I didn't mean to hurt you. Continue to live your life and don't be angry at what is happening to me. This is destiny. This is life. This is something I have to do. Allah wants me home." After speaking for about three minutes, Conner appeared to have concluded his statement, and the lethal injection was started. He then said "I love you and ..." then lost consciousness. He was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m.

Conner's execution was the 400th in the state of Texas since executions resumed in 1982 following a nationwide moratorium. The day before the execution, the European Union sent Governor Rick Perry a letter urging him to stop allowing executions in Texas. Perry replied through a spokesman that the European Union should mind its own business.