Gregorio Cortez Appeals: 1902-04

Cortez still remained in jail for killing Sheriff Glover at the Roblero ranch. When his attorneys returned yet again to the state court, his luck ran out. The court found that Glover's intention to arrest Cortez without pausing to seek a warrant was lawful and prudent because of the sheriff's knowledge of the Morris killing. Allowing deputy Choate to testify about the Morris incident in the Glover trial was accepted as unpredjudicial and pertinent to the posse's motive. A statement Cortez made in jail when he was told that the Robleros were blaming the killing on him was ruled admissible as a confession.

The court dismissed most of the remaining defense challenges to the trial court's decisions and upheld Cortez's life sentence on June 15, 1904. Ironically, the ruling implied that the appeal might have been successful had it been based on the fact that the Glover incident resulted from Sheriff Morris's unlawful arrest attempt. Because the defense had chosen to appeal the sentence on other grounds, however, the court was precluded from judging the matter in this way. Cortez began to serve his sentence at Huntsville penitentiary.

Clemency requests for Cortez continued and were even supported by his jailers. On July 14, 1913, Cortez accepted a conditional pardon from Governor Oscar B. Colquitt and was released. He never apologized for defending himself and his family. His courage and legendary flight were celebrated in a popular border song, "El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez," which was sung for decades on both sides of the Rio Grande. His story was also told in a 1983 film, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez.