Mississippi inmate Richard Jordan denied relief in execution drug appeal day before execution set

The court upheld the previous ruling, stating Jordan didn't prove the three-drug lethal injection protocol would cause undue suffering.

Mississippi prisoner Richard Gerald Jordan was dealt another blow in his last-minute effort to stop his execution, set for Wednesday, June 25.

On Tuesday afternoon, June 24, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate's ruling on Jordan's petition for a preliminary injunction to protest the state's three-drug protocol for lethal injection executions.

Jordan was convicted in 1977 for the 1976 kidnapping and murder of Edwina Marter.

At 79, Jordan is the oldest and longest-serving prisoner on Mississippi's death row.

The appellate judges said in their opinion that Jordan did not meet his burden of proof that he would be subject to needless pain and suffering after the administration of the first drug, midazolam, a sedative.

"The court found that Jordan offered no evidence that the two prisoners recently executed under this protocol suffered any pain," the Fifth Circuit court wrote in its opinion.

The court referred to the Mississippi executions of David Cox in 2021 and Thomas Loden in 2022.

The Fifth Circuit judges also said at this point, the execution would be the only just conclusion to the case.

"Jordan has enjoyed repeated review of his claims in the Mississippi courts, the district court, this court, and the Supreme Court — for nearly 50 years," the court said, quoting from a 1998 California case, Calderon v. Thompson. "At this point, 'finality acquires an added moral dimension. Only with an assurance of real finality can the State execute its moral judgment in a case.

"Only with real finality can the victims of crime move forward knowing the moral judgment will be carried out.'"

Also on Tuesday, Gov. Tate Reeves denied clemency to Jordan.

"The governor has reviewed the clemency petition and met with his counsel to discuss the request and the facts of this case," Reeves' Deputy Chief of Staff Cory Custer said in a statement. "By his own admission, Richard Jordan is guilty of kidnapping for ransom Mrs. Edwina Marter at gunpoint from her home where her three-year-old son was sleeping, forcing her to drive into the Desoto National Forest and shooting her in the back of the head. 

"Following this premeditated and heinous act, Mr. Jordan demanded and was paid a $25,000 ransom prior to being apprehended by law enforcement. He has been convicted by multiple juries of capital murder and sentenced to death. His most recent round of appeals and stay motions have been considered and rejected by the United States Supreme Court, the Mississippi Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the United States District Court. 

"At this time, all necessary procedures are being followed with the anticipation that the execution will proceed as scheduled."

Earlier Tuesday, Amnesty International sent a statement to media outlets, asking Reeves to grant Jordan's request for clemency.

“Governor Tate Reeves is the only person with the power to spare Jordan’s life," Amnesty International USA’s Deputy Director of Research Justin Mazzola said in the statement. "He must use this power to halt this execution, commute Richard Jordan’s sentence and work towards ending the death penalty in Mississippi more broadly.

“Richard Jordan’s death sentence has been reversed three times for constitutional errors, as well as due to Jordan’s good behavior and positive influence in prison, his remorse about the crime and his military service in Vietnam. However, there is strong evidence that his eventual, fourth death sentence was driven by unconstitutional statements made at trial by a vindictive prosecutor.

“Regardless of the specifics of Richard Jordan’s case, the death penalty is wrong in all cases because it violates the right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Governor Reeves must act to stop this execution.”

Jordan has one option left in an emergency stay of execution filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday.

Source: clarionledger.com, Lici Beveridge, June 24, 2025

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

— Oscar Wilde