Smith has received an execution date of June 4, 2020
https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/wireSt...dates-68313707
Smith has received an execution date of June 4, 2020
https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/wireSt...dates-68313707
Smith has filed a motion for a stay of execution to the TSC because of coronavirus
Thank you for the adventure - Axol
Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park
Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt
I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello
I guess the new normal is that there's gonna be a ton of coronavirus fad appeals over the next few weeks/months because the crazies on the TCCA gave Hummel a stay
Violence and death seem to be the only answers that some people understand.
April 9, 2020
Attorneys for Tennessee death row inmate seeking execution stay say they've lost "critical" time due to pandemic
The attorney for a Tennessee death row inmate seeking a stay of execution has said her team has lost "critical time" working on his case due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Oscar Franklin Smith, 70, is due to be executed on June 4 at 7.00pm for the 1989 slayings of his estranged wife Judy Lynn Smith and her two sons, Chad and Jason Burnett.
Last month, Smith's attorneys filed a motion seeking to delay Smith's execution by six months, saying the severe disruptions to daily life during the COVID-19 outbreak had hindered their ability to prepare a clemency case for Smith, who has always maintained his innocence.
In an update to that filing this week, obtained by Newsweek, one of his attorneys argued that Smith's execution needs to be put on hold as cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, have "ballooned" in Tennessee. The state has more than 4,300 confirmed cases and 79 deaths, according to the latest figures from the Tennessee Department of Health.
Kelley Henry, supervisory assistant federal public defender in Nashville, said the state has taken measures to mitigate the spread of the virus—but abiding by the shelter-in-place order has resulted in "the loss of critical time needed to represent Mr. Smith during this critical period."
She argued the state should follow the example set by Texas, which has so far stayed three executions due to the pandemic.
She added that a delay would "benefit the prison" as an execution taking place during a pandemic "presents needless additional risk" to the staff and inmates at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, where Smith is housed.
"A stay of Mr. Smith's execution will benefit the prison at this time," Henry wrote in the motion. Additionally, she said the "execution protocol does not address the carrying out of executions in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prison staff will require additional training in providing safeguards to protect witnesses to the execution, the media, lawyers for the state and defense, and others who will attend the execution."
The filing also included an affidavit from Emily Olson-Gault, the director and chief counsel of the American Bar association Death Penalty Representation Project, who said capital defenders and pro bono attorneys across the U.S. are finding it increasingly difficult to do their jobs during the coronavirus crisis.
"During the month of March 2020, I have spoken with capital defenders and pro bono attorneys all over the United States as they attempt to cope with the unprecedented situation created by the COVID-19 global pandemic," she said.
"My understanding from these conversations is that most capital defense teams are unable to conduct the large majority of the investigation and expert work required in capital representation.
"This is due to restrictions set in place by state and local governments, as well as departments of corrections and institutional defender offices and law firms, out of a concern for public health and the welfare of employees. As a result, the already extremely limited time available to capital teams has been truncated significantly because of health concerns related to COVID-19."
She added that time is a "scarce resource" in all capital cases, but when the available time is limited further, it "jeopardizes due process and fairness."
Attorneys for Smith are unable to meet with their client and cannot carry out interviews to obtain information for his clemency petition, according to the original motion. A typical clemency effort consumes hundreds of hours of staff time and requires extensive travel to meet with witnesses and in-person interviews, it added.
"It would be irresponsible and against the public's interest to conduct the necessary investigation during this pandemic," Henry wrote. "Mr. Smith's team cannot conduct the work necessary to fulfill their obligation to him without putting themselves and others at risk."
Newsweek has contacted Tennessee Governor Bill Lee's office for comment.
https://www.newsweek.com/attorneys-t...ndemic-1497048
"How do you get drunk on death row?" - Werner Herzog
"When we get fruit, we get the juice and water. I ferment for a week! It tastes like chalk, it's nasty" - Blaine Keith Milam #999558 Texas Death Row
I guess these attorneys have never heard of Zoom, Skype, Phone and the internet.
Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.
"They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters
Off topic, but I still don’t get the hype surrounding Zoom - especially in education. I don’t get why people didn’t gravitate towards Discord - a well-established video chat platform with which many students are already familiar - over an app that nobody has heard of before March 2020 and that has very questionable data policies.
Violence and death seem to be the only answers that some people understand.
Here is the execution order rescheduled for Thursday February 4, 2021. Smith has up to Wednesday January 20, 2021 to decide for a method of execution. Smith has the choice to select the electric chair. If Smith refuses to select the electric chair, Smith will be scheduled for execution by lethal injection.
https://files.deathpenaltyinfo.org/d...2020-04-17.pdf
"How do you get drunk on death row?" - Werner Herzog
"When we get fruit, we get the juice and water. I ferment for a week! It tastes like chalk, it's nasty" - Blaine Keith Milam #999558 Texas Death Row
Smith’s request for an evidentiary hearing has been denied by the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals.
https://law.justia.com/cases/tenness...ca-r3-ecn.html
Thank you for the adventure - Axol
Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park
Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt
I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello
Pathetic, whining they need more time. It’s been 31 years, it’s time for this dog to be put down.
DP in Tennessee is over.
Tenn. death row inmate granted indefinite stay of execution due to COVID-19
WVLT 8
The Tennessee Supreme Court announced it has stayed the execution of Oscar Smith indefinitely due to a COVID-19 surge within the state.
Smith was originally set to be executed in the summer of 2020. The date was then rescheduled for February 4 due to the pandemic.
Records from the court do not show a new date for his execution.
Smith was convicted in 1989 for the murder of his estranged wife and her two sons.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime...19/ar-BB1cwV3G
"There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche
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