Though he confessed to the murders, Balentine’s lawyers argued he might have been spared a death sentence if not for pervasive racial bias at his trial.
, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.Texas on Wednesday evening executed John Lezell Balentine hours after the state's highest criminal court reinstated the execution, overruling a state district judge who had delayed it last week because his lawyers weren't given enough notice of the execution date.
One of the victims was his ex-girlfriend’s brother, who had disapproved of the couple’s interracial relationship and previously threatened Balentine in a dispute that grew racist. Balentine did not recognize the other two victims. A jury found Balentine guilty of capital murder in 1999. The execution date was set after a flurry of court filings and rulings and following years of appeals.
The lower court's ruling conflated two parts of a state code article in question and"misstates the law," the judges wrote in the opinion. One juror tried to send a note to the judge saying she did not want to sentence Balentine to death, but the foreperson ripped it up, according to the filing. At least four jurors expressed opposition to execution.
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