Tennessee Supreme Court Halts Executions for 4 death row Inmates

The Tennessee Supreme Court today issued an order staying the execution of Stephen Michael West scheduled for Nov. 30 to allow the trial court to test the constitutionality of the state’s new lethal injection procedure.

Pending the resolution of this issue, the Court has also stayed the scheduled executions for Billy Ray Irick, Edmund Zagorski and Edward Jerome Harbison.

On Nov. 22, West and Irick filed motions requesting the Tennessee Supreme Court postpone their executions after a Davidson County Chancery Court ruled the state's lethal injection procedure to be unconstitutional. After a 2-day evidentiary hearing, the trial court ruled the state's current procedure did not offer a safeguard to ensure the prisoner was unconscious before the final 2 drugs are administered.

In the State's response, filed Nov. 24, they argued that a stay of execution should not be granted as it had changed its execution procedure to include a test to confirm that the inmate is unconscious before the administration of the final 2 drugs. After considering the motions filed by both parties, the Supreme Court denied West and Irick's motions to postpone their scheduled executions.

West filed a motion to reconsider on Friday arguing that he was not afforded the opportunity to respond to the State's new execution procedure. The Supreme Court has granted West's motion to reconsider to allow the constitutionality of the new procedure to be fully tested in trial court.

The Supreme Court has directed the trial court to allow the parties to submit argument or evidence on the revised protocol, and the trial Court must render its final judgment within 90 days. The executions of West, Irick, Zagorski and Harbison are stayed pending any appeal of the trial court's judgment and until the State files motions to reset the execution dates of each prisoner.

Source: WDEF News, November 29, 2010

Tennessee Supreme Court Delays Execution For West

The Tennessee Supreme Court has issued an order staying the execution of Stephen Michael West to allow the trial court to test the constitutionality of the state's new lethal injection procedure.

The Supreme Court issued the stay on Monday. West had been moved to death watch and was scheduled to die by lethal injection at 10 p.m. on Tuesday.

A 2-day evidentiary hearing in Davidson County Chancery Court found the state's lethal injection procedure to be unconstitutional because it did not ensure the prisoner was unconscious before the final 2 drugs are administered. The hearing was brought after West and another death row inmate, Billy Ray Irick, filed motions to stay their executions.

The state filed a response 2 days later that a stay of execution should not be granted as it had changed its execution procedure to include a test to confirm that the inmate is unconscious before the administration of the final 2 drugs. After considering the motions filed by both parties, the Supreme Court denied West and Irick's motions to postpone their scheduled executions.

On Friday, West filed a motion to reconsider arguing that he was not afforded the opportunity to respond to the State's new execution procedure. The Supreme Court has granted West's motion to reconsider to allow the constitutionality of the new procedure to be fully tested in trial court.

The Supreme Court has directed the trial court to allow the parties to submit argument or evidence on the revised protocol, and the trial Court must render its final judgment within 90 days.

The executions of West, Irick, Edmund Zagorski and Edward Jerome Harbison are stayed pending any appeal of the trial court's judgment and until the State files motions to reset the execution dates of each prisoner.

West was convicted in the 1986 stabbing deaths of Wanda Romines and her 15-year-old daughter, Sheila Romines, in Union County.

In 2001, he was hours away from death when a judge granted him a stay so he could pursue federal appeals, which he has since completed. Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen declined to intervene when West's attorneys asked for clemency.

Source: newschannel 5, November 29, 2010

Comments

Tennessee Supreme Court denies stay for death row inmate Christa Pike

(TNND) — As Tennessee prepares for a Sept. 30 execution, the Tennessee Supreme Court has denied death row inmate Christa Gail Pike’s request to stop it. The court rejected Pike’s challenge to the state’s lethal-injection protocol, finding that her thrombocytosis diagnosis, a condition involving elevated blood platelets, did not show the execution would violate the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Philippines | President Marcos Grants Absolute Pardon to Mary Jane Veloso

President Marcos Confirms Decision to Grant Absolute Pardon to Mary Jane Veloso President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has signed an absolute pardon for Mary Jane Veloso after more than a decade. On Friday (September 25, 2026), the President confirmed the decision during a visit to Guiuan, Eastern Samar. According to him, the pardon was officially signed the previous day, marking a major development in the case.

William Thompson Faces Execution in Florida Amid Dementia, Terminal Illness Concerns

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an execution warrant for 74-year-old prisoner William “Bill” Thompson less than 24 hours after he was released from the hospital to the hospice wing of the prison. After his attorneys raised serious concerns about his mental competency and deteriorating physical health, Gov. DeSantis agreed to temporarily stay the execution so Mr. Thompson’s competency can be evaluated on October 1. If he is found competent, his execution remains scheduled for October 13.

DNA evidence doesn’t match man who spent decades on death row, Utah prosecutors say

Douglas Stewart Carter, 71, was sentenced to death in 1985 after a jury found him guilty of murdering Eva Olesen Prosecutors are dropping their plan to seek the death penalty in an upcoming retrial of a Utah man who spent decades on death row for a 1985 killing in which newly analyzed DNA evidence did not match him. Douglas Stewart Carter, 71, was sentenced to death in 1985 after a jury found him guilty of murdering Eva Olesen, the aunt of a former Provo police chief. The state Supreme Court last year ordered a new trial, citing misconduct by investigators. Carter remains in custody and maintains his innocence.

Tennessee | Governor permits Christa Pike execution: 'I am upholding the sentence'

Gov. Bill Lee does not plan to stop Christa Pike's execution. Pike, 50, is scheduled to be killed by lethal injection 10 a.m. Sept. 30 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. “After deliberate consideration of Christa Gail Pike’s request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene," Lee said in a statement released Sept. 28. Pike's attorneys lamented the news.

Florida | He executed death row prisoners. Then they came back to haunt him

Dunnellon, Florida—Every night, one of the men Ron McAndrew killed would sit at the foot of his bed and stare, blankly, into his tortured soul. He knew they were coming. He’d shift over in his sheets to make room. “They never said anything,” McAndrew recalls, his aged voice straining from the weight of the memory. “They just sat there and looked at me.” But their eyes would talk. They would ask, "How could you do such a thing?’” says McAndrew. “You always claimed to be a good person. And now you’re killing people.”

Texas executes Ker’Sean Ramey

Texas executes man for a triple killing, days after other man convicted in case was put to death A man was executed Wednesday evening in Texas for a triple killing committed during an attempted robbery at a rural home, 1 week after the other man convicted in the case was put to death. Ker’Sean Ramey, 41, was pronounced dead at 6:34 p.m. CDT following a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was the 6th person executed this year in Texas, with 3 more lethal injections scheduled in the state over the next 2 months.

Florida executes Curtis Beasley

A 77-year-old man convicted of killing a woman with a hammer has become the 16th person executed this year in Florida A 77-year-old Florida man was put to death Tuesday for his conviction in a deadly hammer attack on a woman decades ago, becoming the 16th person executed to date this year in the nation’s busiest death chamber. Curtis Wilkie Beasley was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was convicted of 1st-degree murder, robbery, and grand theft auto in the 1995 hammer attack on Carolyn Monfort at her home south of Orlando.

Singapore | Ministry of Home Affairs refutes claims that death penalty was discussed during visit by Israel's security ministry

The Ministry of Home Affairs says discussions with the Israeli government involved the sharing of best practices in emergency response, crime prevention, and forensics. Issues relating to the death penalty “were never part of the meeting and were not discussed." SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday (Sep 11) refuted claims by an Israeli media outlet that the death penalty was discussed during a visit by an Israeli delegation in May. The Haaretz newspaper reported on Sep 7 that a delegation comprising representatives from the Israel Prison Service and National Security Ministry made a “secret visit” to Singapore that month.

Tennessee | Christa Pike Requests Clemency Ahead of September 30 Execution Date; Experts’ Amicus Brief Points to ‘Substantial Risk’ of Re-traumatization

Lawyers for Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, filed a 226-page clemency petition with Governor Bill Lee, asking him to commute her death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole ahead of her September 30 execution date. Ms. Pike’s clemency petition outlines the case her team has built over decades of appeals: her actions at 18 years old cannot be separated from a childhood marked by repeated rape, sexual abuse, and neglect that went unaddressed by the adults and state systems meant to protect her. Once incarcerated, Ms. Pike was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog