Alabama death row inmate asks appeals court to block this week’s scheduled execution

An Alabama death row inmate has asked a federal appeals court to stop his execution scheduled for this week, arguing the state hasn’t made sufficient changes to its capital punishment system after problems relating to several other scheduled lethal injections prompted a three-month pause on executions.

Attorneys for James Barber filed the motion to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on his behalf on Friday after a district court judge denied his request for a preliminary injunction to stop his execution by lethal injection, which is scheduled to take place at any time during a 30-hour period starting Thursday morning after midnight, court documents show.

They argued the state has “not made any meaningful improvements to their lethal injection protocol and practices since” an execution and two called-off executions in 2022 – three cases in which they say the Alabama Department of Corrections had trouble properly establishing intravenous lines.

Barber is set to be the first person executed since Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey asked Attorney General Steve Marshall in November to halt all executions and requested a “top-to-bottom review of the state’s execution process.”

Alabama to resume executions after multiple failed injections prompted system review, governor says

The request for the review came after problems with the three other cases came into the national spotlight:

• In November, corrections officials halted the scheduled execution of Kenneth Smith after administrators faced issues finding a vein to set an intravenous line, and after officials said they faced time restraints caused by a late-night court battle.

• In September, officials called off Alan Miller’s scheduled execution, citing an inability to meet protocols before a midnight deadline. AL.com reported that after the US Supreme Court ruled the execution by lethal injection could happen, state officials couldn’t access Miller’s veins within time limits.

• In July 2022, Alabama executed Joe Nathan James Jr. by lethal injection. The Death Penalty Information Center has said the execution was delayed for three hours because of difficulties establishing an intravenous line.

Ivey said in November she did not believe Department of Corrections officials or law enforcement were at fault for recent problems, but that “legal tactics and criminals hijacking the system are at play here.”

In February, she said executions would resume after the Department of Corrections said it completed its review. Among other things, the department said it would add to its pool of available medical personnel for executions, and that it conducted rehearsals to ensure staff were well trained and prepared to carry out their duties during the execution process.

That month, Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm also cited a recent change in the Supreme Court of Alabama rule for scheduling executions, at the governor’s request. The new rule allows the governor to set a “time frame” for the execution to take place, which Hamm said would “make it harder for inmates to ‘run out the clock’ with last-minute appeals and requests for stays of execution.”

In Barber’s appeal, his attorneys argued he faces a “substantial risk of severe harm” due to his elevated body mass index, which they say makes it more difficult to access his veins. They said this complication makes him vulnerable to suffering a failed lethal injection.

Barber – just like Smith and Miller – has asked to be executed by nitrogen gas rather than lethal injection, which would avoid injection into his veins. The Alabama state legislature has approved the use of nitrogen gas, but the state has said it hasn’t yet finalized the protocols.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals held a hearing to listen to oral arguments in the case on Monday, court records show. It is unclear when a ruling will be made.

A jury convicted Barber in 2003 of murder in the 2001 death of 75-year-old Dorothy Epps in Harvest, Alabama, court documents show. He was sentenced to death in 2004.

Source: CNN, Staff, July 18, 2023

_____________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW US ON:

CONTACT: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

Texas executes Cedric Ricks

A Texas man was put to death Wednesday evening for fatally stabbing his girlfriend and her 8-year-old son in 2013, apologizing profusely to her older son who survived with multiple stab wounds and witnessed the execution. Cedric Ricks, 51, was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. CDT following a lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was condemned for the May 2013 killings of 30-year-old Roxann Sanchez and her son Anthony Figueroa at their apartment in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Bedford. Sanchez’s 12-year-old son, Marcus Figueroa, was stabbed 25 times and feigned death in order to survive.

Missouri Man Said DNA Test Could Prove Innocence. He Was Executed Before a Court Ruled.

Lance Shockley died by lethal injection last year. State courts have rejected prisoners’ requests for DNA testing in recent years. Lance Shockley, a man on death row in Missouri, wanted items from the crime scene to undergo DNA testing to potentially prove his innocence. The court scheduled proceedings on his request — but the date set was for two days after his execution. Patty Prewitt can’t have her DNA tested — and fully clear her name — because her sentence was commuted and she is no longer in prison. And others, including Lamar McVay, who is serving 30 years for a robbery, can’t even get an answer from the state on his DNA testing request. He's still awaiting a ruling on a motion he filed in September 2022.

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a written record of convicted killer Hamida Djandoubi's last moments before he was guillotined in a Marseilles prison on September 10, 1977. This written record -- dated September 9 -- was written by a judge appointed to witness the execution. Djandoubi's execution was the last execution carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. Then-President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who had voiced his "loathing for the death penalty" before he was elected to office, flatly turned down Djandoubi's appeal for clemency and chose to let "Justice run its course", as he did on two previous instances ( Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977). Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was executed in Marseilles' Baumettes prison in September 1977. The following text was writ...

Alabama | Gov. Ivey commutes Charles “Sonny” Burton’s death sentence

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Gov. Kay Ivey has commuted the death sentence of Charles “Sonny” Burton, who was set to be executed Thursday. The governor’s office released the following statement: “Governor Kay Ivey on Tuesday announced that she has commuted the death sentence of Charles L. Burton to life in prison with no chance of parole. Mr. Burton was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1991 capital murder of Doug Battle in Talladega, Alabama. As required by law, the governor first reached out to a representative of Mr. Battle’s family. She also notified the attorney general. Governor Ivey’s letter to Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm is attached.

Alabama | Death row inmate granted clemency shares emotional message on day he was set to die

Alabama governor commuted death sentence of Charles Burton, 75, who didn't kill anyone An Alabama man who was outside a building when a man was killed in an armed robbery is looking at life as "a gift from God" after being granted clemency by the state’s governor just days before he was scheduled to be executed. Charles "Sonny" Burton, 75, was sentenced to death for his role in the robbery of a Talladega AutoZone store that left a man dead in 1991. While Burton left the store before Derrick DeBruce gunned down customer Doug Battle, he was tried and convicted as an accomplice, with prosecutors insisting Burton acted as the group’s leader in the armed robbery.

U.S. | These States Don’t Want You to See the Cruelty of Their Executions

The use of the death penalty has risen sharply in the United States, with more executions in 2025 than any year since 2009. It is a cruel and unjust development. In theory, the death penalty is reserved for “the worst of the worst.” In practice, it is very different. People who are executed for their crimes are disproportionately poor or intellectually disabled and often lacked good lawyers. They are also more likely to be sentenced to death if they have been convicted of killing a white person. Anthony Boyd, who maintained his innocence until Alabama executed him last year at age 54, had an inexperienced court-appointed lawyer and was convicted on disputed eyewitness testimony. Charles Flores, 56, has spent 27 years on death row in Texas for a murder conviction based solely on unreliable testimony from a hypnotized witness. Robert Roberson, who has autism, remains on death row there despite having been convicted on now-debunked evidence that he had shaken his daughter to death.

Maldives | Death penalty law for drug trafficking now in effect

MALÉ, Maldives (DPN) — The Maldives has officially brought into force an amendment to its Narcotics Act that introduces the death penalty for large-scale drug trafficking, marking a significant and controversial shift in the island nation’s criminal justice policy. The amended law, which took effect Saturday, March 7, 2026, allows for capital punishment in cases involving the smuggling and importation of specific quantities of illicit substances. The move fulfills a key pledge by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration to crack down on the country’s growing narcotics crisis and protect what he has termed the nation’s “100 percent Islamic society.” Thresholds for Capital Punishment Under the new provisions, the death penalty is not a mandatory sentence but an available option for the judiciary when specific criteria are met. The law establishes clear weight thresholds for substances brought into the country: Cannabis: More than 350 grams. Diamorphine (Heroin): More than 250 grams....

Texas Death Row Prisoner Andre Thomas Too Mentally Ill to Attend His Own Competency Hearing, Doctor Warns

A March 9, 2026, competency hearing for Andre Thomas, a death-sentenced prisoner in Texas, has been postponed to an unspecified date because of concerns that Mr. Thomas is too mentally ill to be transported to his competency hearing and he could not be re-examined by the State’s expert. Mr. Thomas was scheduled to be executed in April 2023; however, his execution date was withdrawn in March 2023 , citing concerns with his severe mental illness (SMI) and competency to face execution.

Vietnam | 4 get death penalty in Ho Chi Minh City's drug trafficking ring

The People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday sentenced four defendants to death for their roles in a large-scale drug trafficking ring in the city. Those receiving the death penalty for "illegal trading narcotic substances" were Nguyen Binh Dai (born in 1988), Mac Vinh Khiem (1991), Thai Duy Quang (1990), and Nguyen Binh Trieu (1972), all residents of HCMC. In the same case, Tran Tong Dung, born in 1974, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for illegal drug trading and storage. Huynh My Ngoc (2002), Thach Ngoc Yen Vy (2001), and Nguyen Dai Nghia (1997) received life sentences, while Pham Thanh Phuong (1997) from An Giang Province was sentenced to 20 years in jail for illegally transporting drugs.

Australia | The Iranian footballers returning to Iran ‘could face the death penalty’

SYDNEY — Six members of Iran’s women’s national football team have been granted humanitarian asylum in Australia after a high-stakes protest against their home government left them facing potential charges of "wartime treason." The athletes, who were competing in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, sparked a diplomatic crisis on March 2 by refusing to sing the Islamic Republic’s national anthem before their opening match against South Korea.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog