Texas’ top criminal court halted a man’s execution Wednesday, exactly 1 week before he was scheduled to die.
Lawyers for Edward Busby, 48, had appealed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, arguing Busby’s execution would be illegal because he is mentally disabled, the Marshall Project reported.
Busby was convicted of killing Laura Crane, 77, in January 2004 by stuffing her in a car trunk and duct taping her mouth shut, resulting in her suffocating to death.
Crane, a retired professor at Texas Christian University, was abducted in Fort Worth and police found her body in Oklahoma.
Busby’s prior appeals were rejected, according to court documents obtained by the Marshall Project, but his last ditch appeal for a stay was granted.
Busby’s intellectual disability claim will be reviewed by a lower court.
Texas executed 3 people in 2020 and 9 people in 2019.
The state has yet to execute anyone in 2021.
Busby’s execution was previously set for May 6, 2020, but was rescheduled because of the coronavirus pandemic. It was planned for Feb. 10 until Wednesday’s court ruling.
Source: New York Daily News, Staff, February 4, 2021
Texas appeals court stays next week's execution
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday stayed the execution of Edward Busby, ordering that a lower court hear his claim of intellectual disability.
Busby, 48, was scheduled to be given the lethal injection Feb. 10 for the 2004 slaying of Laura Lee Crane, 77, in Fort Worth.
The Texas Christian University professor died after Busby covered her nose and mouth with duct tape while attempting to kidnap and rob her. He transported her in the trunk of a car and her body was found in Davis, Okla.
Busby's stay application said his execution would violate the 8th and 14th amendments, which ban cruel and unusual punishment, and provide equal protections under the law, respectively.
The appeals court ordered his case be returned to a trial court for review of his claims.
The state delayed Busby's last execution date in May 2020 citing disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: United Press International, Staff, February 4, 2021
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