In what can only be described as a “he actually did?!” moment, Governor Perry commuted the death sentence of Kenneth Foster just six hours before he was scheduled to die. As y’all likely know, Foster was sentenced to death under Texas’ law of parties statute, allowing him to be sentenced to death despite not being the triggerman in a 1996 murder.
Death penalty opponents hailed the decision, stating their disbelief that Perry was indeed human. With a conscience and everything.
In order to make it look like he wasn’t bowing to protesters’ requests, Perry cited his problem with trying capital defendants together as the reason behind commuting the sentence. But no one will remember that. They’ll just remember the time that the tinman proved he had a heart.