Current:Home > ContactSouth Carolina does not set a date for the next execution after requests for a holiday pause -EquityExchange
South Carolina does not set a date for the next execution after requests for a holiday pause
View
Date:2025-04-14 23:07:33
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s Supreme Court has not set a date for the state’s next execution after lawyers for four inmates out of appeals asked them to postpone deaths until after Christmas and New Year’s.
The justices typically issue notices on Fridays because it gives the maximum amount of time of 28 days to prepare for the execution which by law is to be carried out on the “fourth Friday after the receipt of such notice.”
The Supreme Court also promised in August to space out the executions in five week intervals to give prison staff and defense lawyers, who are often representing several condemned inmates, time to handle all the legal matters necessary. That includes making sure the lethal injection drugs as well as the electric chair and firing squad are ready and researching and filing last minute appeals.
South Carolina’s death chamber has a backlog because of a 13-year pause in executions in part because the state couldn’t obtain the drugs needed to carry out lethal injections until the General Assembly passed a law keeping the name of the provider secret.
Six inmates ran out of appeals during that time. Two have been executed and four are awaiting their fate.
The justices could have issued a death warrant this past Friday for Marion Bowman Jr. that would have been carried out on Dec. 6.
But the day passed with no word from the Supreme Court, including what the justices thought of the request from the inmates last Tuesday to take a break from executions until early January.
“Six consecutive executions with virtually no respite will take a substantial toll on all involved, particularly during a time of year that is so important to families,” the lawyers for the inmates wrote in court papers.
Attorneys for the state responded that prison officials were ready to keep to the original schedule and the state has conducted executions around the Christmas and New Year’s holidays before, including five between Dec. 4, 1998, and Jan. 8, 1999.
Bowman, 44, was convicted of murder in the shooting of friend 21-year-old Kandee Martin whose burned body was found in the trunk of her car in Dorchester County in 2001. Bowman has spent more than half his life on death row.
Bowman would be the third inmate executed since September after the state obtained the drug it needed to carry out the death sentence. Freddie Owens was put to death by lethal injection Sept. 20 and Richard Moore was executed on Nov. 1,
South Carolina was among the busiest states for executions back then, but that stopped once the state had trouble obtaining lethal injection drugs because of pharmaceutical companies’ concerns they would have to disclose they had sold the drugs to officials.
The state Legislature has since passed a law allowing officials to keep lethal injection drug suppliers secret, and in July, the state Supreme Court cleared the way to restart executions.
veryGood! (7)
Related
- Nearly 400 USAID contract employees laid off in wake of Trump's 'stop work' order
- Nick Jonas' Wife Priyanka Chopra and Daughter Malti Support Him at Jonas Brothers' Tour Opener
- Far-right populist emerges as biggest vote-getter in Argentina’s presidential primary voting
- 3 found dead in car in Indianapolis school parking lot
- Bodycam footage shows high
- Is Biden's plan to stem immigration seeing any success?: 5 Things podcast
- Heartbroken Dwayne Johnson Sends Love to Local Heroes Amid Maui Wildfires Recovery Efforts
- Do not use: FDA recalls some tests for pregnancy, ovulation and urinary tract infections
- Global Warming Set the Stage for Los Angeles Fires
- Taylor Lautner Reflects on the Scary Way Paparazzi Photos Impact His Self-Esteem
Ranking
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- 'We in the Hall of Fame, dawg': Dwyane Wade wraps up sensational night for Class of 2023
- A's pitcher Luis Medina can't get batter out at first base after stunning gaffe
- Michael Oher, former NFL tackle known for ‘The Blind Side,’ sues to end Tuohys’ conservatorship
- Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
- Michael McDowell edges Chase Elliott at Indianapolis to clinch NASCAR playoff berth
- Raise a Glass to Vanderpump Rules Star Tom Schwartz's Shocking Blond Hair Transformation
- Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin takes the field in first NFL game since cardiac arrest
Recommendation
Trump issues order to ban transgender troops from serving openly in the military
3-year-old migrant girl dies aboard bus headed from Texas to Chicago
A police raid of a Kansas newsroom raises alarms about violations of press freedom
Ashley Olsen Gives Birth to First Baby: Everything to Know About Husband Louis Eisner
Nevada attorney general revives 2020 fake electors case
As Maui rescue continues, families and faith leaders cling to hope but tackle reality of loss
Glover beats Cantlay in playoff in FedEx Cup opener for second straight win
Do not use: FDA recalls some tests for pregnancy, ovulation and urinary tract infections