Stays of Execution in 2012

January

17

PA

Ralph Birdsong

Stayed to allow time for appeals.

18

PA

Kenneth Hairston

Stayed to allow time for appeals.

18

OH

Charles Lorraine

U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost delayed the exe­cu­tion due to the Department of Corrections fail­ing to ​“fol­low its own rules for exe­cu­tions.” Frost said the state failed to doc­u­ment the drugs used in its last exe­cu­tion in November and failed to review the med­ical chart of the inmate who was put to death.

19

KY

Michael St. Clair

Stayed due to a pend­ing case on the fair­ness of the death penal­ty pro­to­col in Kentucky.

20

DE

Robert Gattis

Gov. Jack Markell cit­ed the ​“unusu­al and per­haps his­toric” rec­om­men­da­tion of the Delaware Board of Pardons, in a 4 – 1 vote, to com­mute Gattis’ sen­tence after con­sid­er­ing dis­turb­ing accounts of phys­i­cal and sex­u­al abuse that Gattis claims to have suf­fered as a child and which his attor­neys argued have nev­er been prop­er­ly con­sid­ered by the courts.

31

GA

Nicholas Tate

Stayed to allow time for appeals.

February

1

TX

Donald Newbury

Stayed by U.S. Supreme Court to con­sid­er an Arizona case that ques­tions whether death row inmates are enti­tled to bet­ter legal help dur­ing initial appeals.

8

MS

Edwin Turner

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves stayed the exe­cu­tion to allow Turner to be seen by a psy­chi­a­trist of his choosing.

16

OK

Garry Allen

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin grant­ed a 30-day stay of exe­cu­tion so that state attor­neys could study whether he should be grant­ed clemen­cy. UPDATE: Allen was exe­cut­ed on Nov. 6.

22

OH

Michael Webb

Stayed by U.S. District Judge Gregory L. Frost, through an agree­ment with Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, to allow time for Ohio to revise their execution protocols.

28

TX

Anthony Bartee

Stayed by State District Judge Mary Roman to allow time for DNA testing.

March

6

NE

Michael Ryan

Stayed by the Nebraska Supreme Court to allow time for a low­er court to con­sid­er a request to have Ryan’s sen­tence com­mut­ed to life in prison.

8

PA

Dustin Briggs

Stayed to allow more time for appeals.

16

OK

Garry Allen

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin issued an addi­tion­al 26-day stay. See Feb. 16.

18

SD

Briley Piper

Stayed to allow more time for appeals.

29

AL

Tommy Arthur

Stayed by the 11^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals due to Alabama’s deci­sion to use pen­to­bar­bi­tal as part of a three-drug execution combination.

April

5

UT

Michael Archuleta

Stayed to allow more time for appeals.

12

AL

Carey Grayson

Stayed to allow more time for appeals.

12

OK

Garry Allen

Granted stay by a fed­er­al District Court judge to give ade­quate oppor­tu­ni­ty to lit­i­gate claims regard­ing com­pe­ten­cy. See Feb. 16.

19

GA

Daniel Greene

Stayed for up to 90 days by the state Board of Pardons and Paroles to allow for addi­tion­al time to exam­ine the sub­stance of claims offered by Greene’s rep­re­sen­ta­tives. Update — Greene’s sen­tence was com­mut­ed to a sen­tence of life with­out parole by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles.

20

DE

Shannon Johnson

Stayed by a fed­er­al judge to allow time to hear men­tal incompetence claims.
Update — Johnson has been executed.

26

TX

Buenka Adams

Stayed by U.S. District Judge Michael Schneider to allow time to review the qual­i­ty of legal help that Adams had in ear­ly stages of his appeal. Update — Adams has been executed.

May

2

TX

Anthony Bartee

Stayed to con­sid­er a request for addi­tion­al DNA testing.

9

LA

Todd Wessinger

Stayed by U.S. District Judge James Brady to allow time to review argu­ments pre­sent­ed by Wessinger’s attorneys.

13 – 19

SD

Eric Robert

Stayed by the South Dakota Supreme Court so the court can ful­ly review the case. UPDATE: Robert was exe­cut­ed on Oct. 15.

16

TX

Steven Staley

Stayed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals due to men­tal health issues raised in his appeal.

16

AZ

Samuel Lopez

Stayed by the Arizona Supreme Court to allow time for issues raised by recent clemen­cy-board appoint­ments to be worked out.

June

6

TX

Bobby Hines

Stayed at the request of the dis­trict attorney’s office to allow fur­ther DNA test­ing. UPDATE: Hines was exe­cut­ed on Oct. 24.

6

OH

Abdul Awkal

Stayed for 2 weeks by Gov. John Kasich to allow a judge to hold a hear­ing on his men­tal com­pe­ten­cy. Update — Cuyahoga County Judge Stuart Friedman has issued a deci­sion that Awkal may not be exe­cut­ed unless and until he has been restored to competency.

July

18/​23

GA

Warren Hill

July 18 exe­cu­tion stayed until July 23 to allow time for the state to switch to a sin­gle-drug exe­cu­tion pro­to­col. Update- July 23 exe­cu­tion stayed by unan­i­mous vote of Georgia Supreme Court to con­sid­er state’s change of lethal injection protocol.

26

OH

John Eley

Governor John R. Kasich com­mut­ed the death sen­tence of John Jeffrey Eley to life in prison with­out the pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole. Kasich stat­ed that Eley, who is of lim­it­ed men­tal capac­i­ty, act­ed under the direc­tion of anoth­er man who was lat­er acquit­ted. Without those fac­tors it is doubt­ful that Eley would have com­mit­ted this crime. Additionally, the for­mer Mahoning County pros­e­cu­tor who tried Eley’s case regret­ted the way the case was han­dled and its out­come, and had called for clemency.

August

1

TX

Marcus Druery

Stayed by TX Court of Criminal Appeals to con­sid­er whether a hear­ing is need­ed to deter­mine his mental competency.

3

MO

Michael Tisius

Stayed to allow more time for appeals.

15

LA

Jason Reeves

Stayed to allow more time for appeals.

22

TX

John Balentine

Stayed by U.S. Supreme Court to allow time for further review.

September

9 – 15

SD

Rodney Berget

Stayed to allow more time for appeals.

13

PA

Michael Travaglia

Stayed to allow more time to pre­pare a federal appeal.

October

3

PA

Terrance Williams

Trial lev­el judge found pros­e­cu­tors with­held evi­dence. New sentencing ordered.

9

PA

Terry Chamberlain

Stayed to allow more time for appeals.

10

PA

Andre Staton

Stayed to allow more time for appeals.

10

TX

Jonathan Green

Stayed by U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas to allow review of Green’s men­tal com­pe­ten­cy. Update — stay has been over­turned by 5^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Update — Green has been executed.

11

PA

David Ramtahal

Stayed to allow more time for appeals.

16

FL

John Ferguson

Stayed by Gov. Scott to allow time for psy­chi­atric test­ing. Execution could go for­ward if Ferguson found men­tal­ly com­pe­tent. Update — The Florida Supreme Court grant­ed a 2‑day stay of exe­cu­tion so the jus­tices can hear anoth­er appeal, the stay will expire 10/​18. Update — pri­or stay required set­ting of a new exe­cu­tion date. Update — Execution date has been set for 10/​23. Update — Execution has been stayed by the United States District Court in Miami to allow a hear­ing on 10/​26 of his habeas cor­pus peti­tion on the grounds that he is men­tal­ly incom­petant to be exe­cut­ed. Update — Stay has been lift­ed by the 11^th Circuit Court after Florida’s sec­re­tary of state filed an emer­gency order to vacate the stay, hold­ing that the District Court abused its dis­cre­tion in issu­ing the stay. Update — Execution has again been stayed by The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11^th Circuit, the stay was upheld by The U.S. Supreme Court.

18

TX

Anthony Haynes

Stayed by the U.S. Supreme Court (7 – 2) to con­sid­er claims of inad­e­quate rep­re­sen­ta­tion at tri­al and appeal.

November

8

PA

Hubert Michael

Stayed to allow more time for appeals.

December

11

IN

Roy Ward

Stayed 90 days to allow time for appeals.

12

TX

Rigoberto Avila

Execution date has been changed to April 10, 2013. No rea­son has been giv­en for the delay.