Stays of Execution in 2015

Date of Scheduled Execution	State	Inmate	Reason for Stay
January
7	OH	Warren Henness	Stayed due to all Ohio executions blocked by court order until January 15, 2015 New Date Set
8	PA	Christopher Roney	Stayed to allow defendant to pursue statutorily mandated appeals.
13	PA	Mark Edwards	Stayed to allow defendant to pursue statutorily mandated appeals.
14	TX	Rodney Reed	Stayed to allow time for appeals regarding DNA testing. Judge denied a motion to introduce new DNA testing into the case. New date set.
15	PA	Dennis Reed	Stayed to allow defendant to pursue statutorily mandated appeals.
15	TX	Richard Vasquez	Stayed due to a request for a delay from the prosecution.
28	MO	Marcellus Williams	Stayed to allow the Missouri State Supreme Court to consider a request for DNA testing that might show innocence.
28	TX	Garcia White	Stayed to allow time for the court to consider several factors pertaining to the case.
29	OK	Richard Glossip	Stayed to allow time for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case challenging Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocols.
February
10	TN	Stephen West	Stayed to allow time for appeals regarding Tennessee’s execution methods.
10	TX	Lester Bower	Stayed to allow the court to allow time to consider a petition.
11	OH	William Montgomery	Stayed due to all Ohio executions blocked by court order until January 15, 2015 New Date Set
11	OH	Ronald Phillips	Stayed to allow time for the state to obtain new drugs.
19	AL	Tommy Arthur	FURTHER UPDATE: SECOND STAY GRANTED ON 2/17: A federal judge ordered a second stay, stating that Mr. Arthur had met his burden for further appeals. UPDATE: STAY LIFTED on 2/12 by the 11th Circuit. Stayed to allow time for the district court to conduct fact-finding and gather evidence regarding Arthur’s claims that Alabama’s lethal injection protocol violates his 8th amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.
19	OK	John Grant	Stayed to allow time for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case challenging Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocols.
25	GA	Kelly Gissendaner	Stayed temporarily and rescheduled to 3/2/15 due to weather.
26	FL	Jerry Correll	Stayed to allow time for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case challenging Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocols. (Florida uses the same lethal injection protocol as Oklahoma.)
March
2	GA	Kelly Gissendaner	Stayed due to problems with the lethal injection drug.
4	PA	Terrance Williams	Reprieve issued to allow Governor Tom Wolf to review the report of the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Commission on Capital Punishment
5	OK	Benjamin Cole	Stayed to allow time for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case challenging Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocols.
5	PA	Kenneth Hairston	Stayed to allow defendant to pursue statutorily mandated appeals.
5	TX	Rodney Reed	Stayed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to consider newly discovered evidence.
10	GA	Brian Terrell	Stayed pending an investigation into problems with Georgia’s lethal injection drugs.
10	PA	Alfonso Sanchez	Stayed to allow defendant to pursue statutorily mandated appeals.
11	PA	Robert Diamond	Reprieve issued to allow Governor Tom Wolf to review the report of the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Commission on Capital Punishment
12	OH	Robert Van Hook	Stayed due to all Ohio executions blocked by court order until January 15, 2015 New Date Set
12	OH	Raymond Tibbetts	Stayed due to all 2015 Ohio executions being postponed until 2016 to allow the state more time to obtain new drugs. New Date Set
12	PA	Kevin Mattison	Stayed to allow defendant to pursue statutorily mandated appeals.
18	TX	Randall Mays	Stayed to review issues surrounding the mental health of the inmate.
19	AL	Bill Kuenzel	Stayed by the Alabama Supreme Court pending further orders of the court to allow more time for appeals.
24	TN	Donnie Johnson	Stayed to allow more time for appeals regarding the state’s execution method.
April
14	MO	Andre Cole	Stayed by U.S. District Ct. because of concerns about mental competency. Stay overturned by Cir. Ct. UPDATE: Executed as scheduled on April 14.
23	TX	Richard Vasquez	Stayed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to consider new appellate issues.
28	TX	Robert Pruett	Stayed by trial court to possibly allow DNA testing.
May
3	SD	Rodney Berget	Stayed to allow more time for appeal.
8	PA	Anthony Reid	Stayed to allow defendant to pursue statutorily mandated appeals (two warrants).
12	MO	Kimber Edwards	No reason given for stay.
14	OH	Gregory Lott	Stayed due to all 2015 Ohio executions being postponed until 2016 to allow the state more time to obtain new drugs. New Date Set
June
5	PA	Hubert Michael	Reprieve issued to allow Governor Tom Wolf to review the report of the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Commission on Capital Punishment
18	AL	Robin Myers	Stayed to allow time for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide on a case challenging lethal injection protocols.
23	TN	Charles Wright	Stayed to allow more time for appeals regarding the state’s execution method.
July
15	OH	William Henness	Stayed due to all 2015 Ohio executions being postponed until 2016 to allow the state more time to obtain new drugs. New Date Set
16	TX	Clifton Williams	Stayed by the Texas Ct. of Criminal Appeals after attorneys pointed to possible errors in FBI testimony about DNA from the case.
August
13	TX	Tracy Beatty	Stayed by the Texas Ct. of Criminal Appeals after attorneys pointed to earlier ineffective representation.
18	TN	David Miller	Stayed pending the outcome of legal challenges to both of the state’s execution methods.
26	TX	Bernardo Tercero	Stayed by Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to allow time for further appeals.
27	PA	Maurice Patterson	Stayed by Lycoming County Ct. of Common Pleas to allow defendant to pursue appeals available to all defendants as a matter of state law
28	PA	Hector Morales	Stayed by U.S. Dist. Ct. for Middle Dist. of PA
September
2	TX	Joe Garza	Stayed by trial court judge to allow for DNA testing.
3	PA	Herbert Blakeney	Stayed to allow time for federal review.
16	OK	Richard Glossip	Stayed to allow time for the court to review materials submitted by the defense.
17	OH	William Montgomery	Stayed due to all 2015 Ohio executions being postponed until 2016 to allow the state more time to obtain new drugs. New Date Set
29	TX	Perry Williams	Stayed to allow a federal judge time to appoint an appellate lawyer in the case.
30	OK	Richard Glossip	Stayed by the governor until Nov. 6 due to mixup in execution drugs
October
5	TN	Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman	Stay granted by the Tennessee Supreme Court on April 10, 2015 pending the outcome of legal challenges to both of the state’s execution methods.
7	OK	Benjamin Cole	Stayed pending review of OK lethal injection procedures.†
19	PA	Michael Ballard	Reprieve issued to allow Governor Tom Wolf to review the report of the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Commission on Capital Punishment
21	AR	Bruce Earl Ward	Temporary restraining order granted staying execution so already pending judicial review of AR lethal injection procedures could take place.~
21	AR	Dan William Davis	Temporary restraining order granted staying execution so already pending judicial review of AR lethal injection procedures could take place.~
28	OK	John Grant	Stayed pending review of OK lethal injection procedures.†
28	TX	Christopher Wilkins	Stayed at the request of the prosocution because the Texas Forensic Science Commission “is in the process of addressing emerging issues involving the calculation of DNA population statistics and DNA mixture interpretation.”
November
3	AR	Terrick Terrell Nooner	Temporary restraining order granted staying execution so already pending judicial review of AR lethal injection procedures could take place.~
3	AR	Stacey Eugene Johnson	Temporary restraining order granted staying execution so already pending judicial review of AR lethal injection procedures could take place.~
3	TX	Julius Murphy	Stayed by Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to allow time for further appeals.
3	MO	Ernest Lee Johnson	Stayed by U.S. Supreme Court pending review of claim that Missouri lethal injection procedures unconstitutional as applied to a person with Johnson’s particular medical condition
6	OK	Richard Glossip	Stayed pending review of OK lethal injection procedures.†
17	OH	Robert Van Hook	Stayed due to all 2015 Ohio executions being postponed until 2016 to allow the state more time to obtain new drugs. New Date Set
17	TN	Nicholas Sutton	Stay granted by the Tennessee Supreme Court on April 10, 2015 pending the outcome of legal challenges to both of the state’s execution methods.
18	TX	Raphael Holiday	Stayed (subject to appeal) to give Holiday opportunity to seek clemency. Stay lifted on appeal, execution occurred as originally scheduled.
December
14	AR	Marcel Wayne Williams	Temporary restraining order granted staying execution so already pending judicial review of AR lethal injection procedures could take place.~
14	AR	Jack Harold Jones Jr	Temporary restraining order granted staying execution so already pending judicial review of AR lethal injection procedures could take place.~
18	PA	Antayne Robinson	Reprieve issued to allow Governor Tom Wolf to review the report of the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Commission on Capital Punishment.
29	OH	Shawn Ford	Stay granted by the Ohio Supreme Court on October 8, 2015 to permit adjudication of Ford’s direct appeal.

#On February 13, 2015, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf issued a memorandum announcing a moratorium on all executions in the state. The memo stated that no executions will take place at least until he has “received and reviewed the forthcoming report of the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Commission on Capital Punishment.”

^On January 30, 2015, the Ohio State Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections announced that it would postpone all of the six executions scheduled in 2015 to that point. All of these executions would be scheduled in 2016 to allow time for the state to obtain new drugs for lethal injections. The new drugs that Ohio announced it would be trying to obtain were sodium thiopental and pentobarbital.

^^ On October 19, 2015 the Ohio Department of Corrections issued a statement that Gov. Kasich granted reprieves postponing all executions that the state had scheduled in 2016. Ohio has been unable to obtain the execution drugs required to conduct executions under state law. All execution dates have been rescheduled by the state.

† On October 2, 2015 The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals granted the Attorny General’s request to indefinitely stay all pending executions to allow for review of lethal injection procedures.

~ On October 8, the Arkansas Circuit Court granted a temporary restraining order staying all eight scheduled executions so that already pending judicial review of the state’s execution procedures could take place.

*On September 5, 2014, the Ohio State Department of Rehabilitation Corrections revised its execution schedule for all death sentences previously scheduled from March 2014 and beyond. This was done in order to comply with the August 6, 2014 Federal Court ruling that no executions could be carried out until at least January 2015. The court imposed this moratorium in order to compel a review of Ohio’s lethal injection protocol. For more information about the ruling, click here. For the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections press release regarding the revised execution schedule, click here.

Stays of Execution in 2015

South Carolina Supreme Court Sets First Execution Date in More Than 13 Years

Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole Denies Clemency for Willie Pye, Scheduled for March 20 Execution, Amid Pending Secrecy and Equal Protection Lawsuits

Missouri Clemency Petition Highlights Prisoner’s Extraordinary Artwork