HOUSTON – A Texas jury has sentenced a convicted murderer to death for a third time for the 1983 killing of a tavern owner.
Raymond DeLeon Martinez is again on death row after two previous death sentences were overturned.
A Harris County jury deliberated less than four hours Thursday before imposing the sentence.
The 63-year-old Martinez was convicted of robbing and murdering Herman Chavis.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 2007 tossed out the earlier sentence because it said jurors did not have proper instructions to consider mitigating evidence.
The Houston Chronicle reports Martinez attorney Jerome Godinich tried to enter into a plea bargain that would have sent Martinez to prison for the rest of his life.
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