Texas Execution Information Center

Execution Report: Martin Robles

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On one arm, Robles had a tattoo of a demon eating the brains of Jesus Christ. At the punishment phase of his trial, he was instructed to show the tattoo to the jury. He was given the option of either removing his shirt in the courtroom or allowing the jury to take photographs of the tattoo into deliberations with them. He chose to remove his shirt. "And he didn't put the shirt back on," prosecutor James Sales recalled later. "He sat there, with his muscle shirt on, the rest of the trial and closing arguments."

A jury convicted Robles of capital murder in September 2003 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in April 2006. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Joe David Padron, who at the time of the killings had just completed a ten-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter with a deadly weapon, was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison. He remains in custody as of this writing.

On a web site operated by German death penalty opponents, Robles admitted he was in a gang, but claimed he was "wrongfully convicted" because "gang members just don't win."

"I was set up by the cops", he wrote, without elaborating.

Robles declined requests to be interviewed and did not request a last meal. No one attended his execution on his behalf, or for his victims. The only people present at his death were prison staff and reporters.

Robles' last words were reported as either "I love you, Israel," or "I love Israel." He was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m.

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By David Carson. Posted on 11 August 2011.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents, Associated Press, Huntsville Item, Reuters, deathrow-usa.us.

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