Stays of Execution in 2011

January

11

TN

Edmund Zagorski

TN Sup. Ct. stayed exe­cu­tion to allow attor­neys time to respond to new lethal injection procedures.

11

TX

Cleve Foster

U.S. Supreme Court stayed the exe­cu­tion with­out expla­na­tion. UPDATE: Executed on Sept. 25, 2012

12

MO

Richard Clay

MO Governor Jay Nixon com­mut­ed sen­tence to life with­out parole after sup­port­ers pre­sent­ed evi­dence of possible innocence.

14

OK

Ricky Ray Malone

OK Ct of Criminal Appeals stayed exe­cu­tion after a Comanche County judge sen­tenced Malone to death fol­low­ing a non-jury trial.

31

MT

Ronald Smith

Judge Jeffrey Sherlock grant­ed Smith a stay of exe­cu­tion so his civ­il law­suit chal­leng­ing the con­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of lethal injec­tion could be decided. 

February

9

GA

Roy Blankenship

Stayed to review DNA evi­dence UPDATE: see June 23

15

TN

Edward Harbison

TN Sup. Ct. stayed exe­cu­tion to allow attor­neys time to respond to new lethal injec­tion pro­ce­dures. Update - Gov. Bredesen com­mut­ed sen­tence to life in prison with­out parole to bring sen­tence in line with oth­ers in the state.

April

5

AZ

Daniel Cook

Execution stayed by U.S. Supreme Court after his lawyers pre­sent­ed a peti­tion argu­ing Cook did not have effec­tive legal rep­re­sen­ta­tion dur­ing his tri­al or appeals process. The stay may be temporary.

5

TX

Cleve Foster

Stayed by the U.S. Supreme Court to allow con­sid­er­a­tion of a request for a rehear­ing regard­ing inef­fec­tive­ness of coun­sel. Update — stay has been lift­ed, exe­cu­tion set for Sept. 20, 2011. UPDATE: Executed on Sept. 25, 2012

6

IN

Wayne Kubsch

Stayed by U.S. fed­er­al judge to allow Kubsch to file a habeas corpus petition.

May

24

MS

Robert Simon Jr.

Stayed by the 5^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, but no imme­di­ate rea­son was giv­en for its deci­sion. (Simon’s lawyers had raised claims about his mental competency.)

25

AZ

Don Beaty

The Arizona Supreme Court issued the stay in order to give Beaty time to review the changes of a lethal injec­tion drug in the exe­cu­tion pro­ce­dure. Update — Beaty was exe­cut­ed on May 25.

June

14

NE

Carey Moore

Stayed by the Nebraska Supreme Court due to objec­tions that the sodi­um thiopen­tal that Nebraska pur­chased from a Mumbai com­pa­ny fails to com­ply with U.S. pharmaceutical standards. 

14

OH

Shawn Hawkins

OH Governor John Kasich com­mut­ed sen­tence to life with­out parole because the pre­cise details of Hawkin’s role in the crime were unclear.

15

TX

John Balentine

Stayed by the U.S. Supreme Court to allow for review of a peti­tion regard­ing inef­fec­tive assis­tance of coun­sel dur­ing Balentine’s state appeal.

16

VA

Ricky Gray

Stayed by U.S. Federal Court to allow more time for an appeal.

22

AR

Frank Williams Jr.

Stayed by Arkansas Supreme Court due to two appeals involv­ing con­sti­tu­tion­al issues regard­ing the death penal­ty are pend­ing in the court.

23

GA

Roy Blankenship

Temporary stay grant­ed by Superior Court Judge Wendy Shoob to con­sid­er a chal­lenge to Georgia’s deci­sion to adopt a new lethal injec­tion drug. Update — stay has been lift­ed; executed

July

12

AR

Marcel Williams

Stayed by Arkansas Supreme Court due to chal­lenges to the state’s execution protocol.

19

OH

Kenneth Smith

Stayed by U.S. District Court to review exe­cu­tion pro­to­cols in Ohio.

20

GA

Andrew DeYoung

Stayed by Georgia prison offi­cials until July 21; no rea­son giv­en, but a court has ordered that the exe­cu­tion be video­taped in con­nec­tion with a chal­lenge to the lethal injec­tion process. Update: DeYoung was exe­cut­ed on 7/​21/​11.

26

AR

Jason McGehee

Stayed by Arkansas Supreme Court due to chal­lenges to the state’s execution protocol.

29

DE

Robert Jackson III

Stayed by U.S. District Court to review changes to the drug used in exe­cu­tions. Update- stay has been lifted.

August

2

FL

Manuel Valle

Stayed until September 1^st by the Florida Supreme Court to allow time to review state lethal injec­tion pro­ce­dure. Update — exe­cu­tion resched­uled for September 6.

16

AR

Bruce Ward

Stayed by Arkansas Supreme Court due to chal­lenges to the state’s execution protocol.

16

OR

Gary Haugen

The Oregon Supreme Court stayed the exe­cu­tion until there’s more con­sid­er­a­tion of the inmate’s mental competence. 

16

OH

Brett Hartmann

Stayed by Gov. Kasich, cit­ing a fed­er­al judge’s rul­ing in anoth­er case that called the state’s pro­ce­dures ​“hap­haz­ard.”

18

TX

Larry Swearingen

Stayed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to allow time to review forensic evidence.

23

TX

Randall Mays

Stayed for unknown reasons.

30

TX

Ivan Cantu

Stayed for unknown reasons.

September

6

FL

Manuel Valle

Stayed by fed­er­al court to con­sid­er whether Valle was denied a clemen­cy hear­ing; UPDATE: Stay lift­ed; exe­cu­tion may occur Sept. 8. UPDATE: Executed on Sept. 28.

13

TN

Joel Schmeiderer

Stayed to allow for con­tin­u­a­tion of appeals.

15

TX

Duane Buck

Stayed by U.S. Supreme Court to allow fur­ther con­sid­er­a­tion of his claims. UPDATE: The Sup. Ct. denied cert., open­ing the pos­si­bil­i­ty of a new execution date.

20

OH

Billy Slagle

Stayed by Gov. Kasich until Aug. 7, 2013 because of chal­lenges to lethal injection process

20

TX

Cleve Foster

Stayed by U.S. Supreme Court. UPDATE: Executed on Sept. 25, 2012

27

TN

David Jordan

Stayed to allow for con­tin­u­a­tion of appeals.

October

4

TN

John Henretta

Stayed to allow for con­tin­u­a­tion of appeals.

5

GA

Marcus Johnson

Stayed by Superior Court Judge Willie Lockette to eval­u­ate new DNA evidence.

18

OH

Joseph Murphy

Commuted to life in prison with­out parole by Gov. Kasich fol­low­ing the unan­i­mous rec­om­men­da­tion of clemen­cy by the Ohio Parole Board.

25

TN

H.R. Hester

Stayed to allow for con­tin­u­a­tion of appeals.

November

9

TX

Henry Skinner

Stayed by Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to review request for DNA testing.

10

VA

Anthony Juniper

Stayed to allow fur­ther federal appeals.

December

6

OR

Gary Haugen

Gov. John Kitzhaber declared a mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions in Oregon on November 22.