(CN) - Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Tuesday rejected appeals by 28-year-old death-row inmate Reginald Blanton, who was convicted of a shooting death in a 2000 robbery. Blanton was executed Tuesday evening in Texas.
Blanton was convicted of breaking into Carlos Garza's San Antonio apartment and shooting him in the head.
Blanton insisted he was innocent, but security videos showed him pawning Garza's jewelry about 20 minutes after the shooting, according to The Associated Press.
The case sparked protests by death-penalty opponents, who argued that there wasn't enough hard evidence to justify Blanton's execution.
Michael Stark of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty told reporters that Blanton "was convicted without a shred of physical evidence" and pointed out a footprint on Garza's door -- possibly from the perpetrator kicking in the door -- was of a shoe several times smaller than Blanton's. Stark said the state's case was based on "coerced witness testimony and snitch testimony."
About two hours before Blanton's execution, Scalia rejected his petitions for writs of habeas corpus and certiorari.
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