Two inmates whose case before the U.S. Supreme court stopped executions around the country for seven months likely won't be the first in Kentucky to face lethal injection now that the high court has upheld the method.
The Kentucky Supreme Court has said it wants to hear three issues related to cop-killer Ralph Baze's case, while Thomas Clyde Bowling has a pending federal case contesting how Kentucky determines whether someone is mentally retarded and ineligible for execution.
Kentucky Public Advocate Ernie Lewis, whose office is defending Baze and Bowling, says those legal issues will postpone the executions of Baze and Bowling for at least several months. Meanwhile the ruling could clear the way for the executions of two confessed child-killers who have waived all but their mandatory appeals.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 7-2 vote on Wednesday, turned away a challenge by Baze and Bowling.
"The people who carry out our protocol are professional, are trained and are ready to do it in such a manner that is professional, that is humane as possible under the circumstances and certainly does not create a substantial risk of ... unnecessary pain to those being executed," said J. Michael Brown, Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet Secretary.
Baze was sentenced to death for the slayings of two eastern Kentucky lawmen in 1992, while Bowling is awaiting execution for the slaying of Edward and Tina Earley outside the couple's Lexington dry-cleaning business in 1990.
The high court took the case as Baze faced a pending execution date last fall for the shooting deaths of Powell County Sheriff Steve Bennett and Deputy Arthur Briscoe. And, the Kentucky Supreme Court took up three issues related to Baze's case at about the same time, but a hearing on those issues was put on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court decided the constitutionality of the lethal injection method.
"My attorneys will continue to litigate as long as there are issues unresolved," said Lewis, the state's top public defender. "We still have some options."
Reacting to Wednesday's ruling, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway said his office is in the process of reviewing the status of all 38 Death Row inmates in Kentucky. Conway said Baze, Bowling and Victor Taylor, awaiting execution for killing two Louisville high school students, are "beginning to get near the very end of the appellate process."
He said he will pursue death warrants when appeals are exhausted, but did not set a time frame.
"I will say that it will be the policy of my office to try to expedite this process as much as possible," Conway said.
Gov. Steve Beshear said "under appropriate circumstances" he will sign death warrants.
"I'm obviously going to review every detail of every case that comes before me in that regard because it's an extremely serious matter as we all know," Beshear said Wednesday.
The Rev. Pat Delahanty, head of the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said the Supreme Court ruling wasn't a surprise.
"We never expected it to do more than maybe slow down executions in Kentucky or elsewhere," Delahanty said. "We're going to be facing some executions soon."
Two of Kentucky's Death Row inmates, Marco Allen Chapman and Shawn Windsor, have waived their appeals after pleading guilty and receiving death sentences.
Chapman, 36, killed 6-year-old Cody Sharon and 7-year-old Chelbi Sharon during a 2002 attack on their family in Gallatin County. The Kentucky Supreme Court upheld the guilty plea and death sentence, but have not yet ruled on a petition for a rehearing filed by his court-appointed attorneys, whom he has tried to dismiss. Chapman has sued the Department of Public Advocacy to stop them from trying to plead his case in the future.
If Chapman's efforts are successful, he will have no pending appeals to stop his execution.
Windsor, 45, pleaded guilty and asked to be executed for beating and stabbing his wife, Betty Jean Windsor and 8-year old son, Corey Windsor, in 2003. The Kentucky Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the validity of his plea and sentence.
Other death row inmates are challenging their convictions through appeals or DNA testing of old evidence. Some, such as death row inmate Gregory Wilson, are challenging the way Kentucky conducts executions.
The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling may have an impact on that litigation, said William Sharp, an attorney representing Wilson in the challenge. Sharp said he expects the state to cite the ruling in an attempt to dismiss the ongoing lawsuits.
Fayette County Commonwealth Attorney Ray Larson, who prosecuted Bowling 17 years ago, said the ruling should shut down any future challenges. Kentucky has 38 death-row inmates, including 11 that have been there for more than two decades. The state has executed two men since reinstating the death penalty in 1976, and only one by injection: Eddie Lee Harper in 1999.
"Enough is enough," Larson said.
Bookmarks