| Date of Scheduled Execution | State | Prisoner | Reason for Stay |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | |||
| 11 | OH | Anthony Kirkland | Stay granted by Ohio Supreme Court on October 16, 2014 “pending disposition of available state remedies …. It is further ordered that this stay shall remain in effect until exhaustion of all state post-conviction proceedings, including any appeals.” |
| 12 | OH | James Hanna | Reprieve granted by Gov. John Kasich because Ohio did not have execution drugs.^^ |
| 12 | OH | Ronald Phillips | Stay granted by magistrate judge in U.S. District Court on December 19, 2016 to permit litigation of challenge to Ohio lethal injection protocol; on December 21, 2016, governor then rescheduled execution for February 15, 2017. |
| 23 | OR | Gary Haugen | Reprieve in place, Gov. John Kitzhaber imposed a moratorium on all executions in Oregon. Current Gov. Kate Brown has requested a report on the status of the death penalty and indicated the report will inform future policy decisions. |
| 25 | TX | Kosoul Chanthakoummane | Execution date rescheduled to July 19, 2017. |
| February | |||
| 2 | TX | John Ramirez | Stay granted by U.S. District Court on January 31, 2017 to permit new counsel to file a petition seeking clemency for Ramirez. On February 1, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied the Texas Attorney General’s motion to vacate the District Court’s stay order. |
| 7 | TX | Tilon Lashon Carter | Stay granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on February 3, 2017 on a 5-4 vote. The Court ruled that Texas had failed to timely serve the death warrant upon the Texas Office of Capital and Forensic Writs. |
| 15 | OH | Ronald Phillips | Stay granted by U.S. District Court magistrate judge on January 26, 2017 as part of preliminary injunction order declaring Ohio’s execution protocol unconstitutional. Then rescheduled for May 10, 2017 by Gov. John Kasich on February 10, 2017.* |
| 19 | OH | Raymond Tibbetts | Stay granted by U.S. District Court magistrate judge on December 19, 2016 to permit litigation of challenge to Ohio lethal injection protocol; on December 21, 2016, Gov. John Kasich rescheduled execution for April 12, 2017. |
| March | |||
| 2 | PA | Wayne Smith | Stay granted by U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on January 25, 2017 to provide Smith to vindicate his right to pursue state and federal post-conviction challenges to his conviction and sentence that are available to all criminal defendants. |
| 3 | PA | Richard Poplawski | Stay granted by the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on February 17, 2017 to provide Poplawski the opportunity to pursue state post-conviction challenges to his conviction and sentence that are available to all criminal defendants. |
| 4 | PA | Aric Woodard | Stay granted by the York County Court of Common Pleas on February 9, 2017 to provide Woodard the opportunity to pursue state post-conviction challenges to his conviction and sentence that are available to all criminal defendants. |
| 6 | PA | Patrick Haney | Stay granted by U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on February 8, 2017 to provide Haney the opportunity to pursue state and federal post-conviction challenges to his conviction and sentence that are available to all criminal defendants. |
| 15 | OH | Gary Otte | Stay granted by U.S. District Court magistrate judge on January 26, 2017 as part of preliminary injunction order declaring Ohio’s execution protocol unconstitutional. Then rescheduled for June 13, 2017 by Gov. John Kasich on February 10, 2017.* |
| 22 | OH | Jeremiah Jackson | Stay granted by Ohio Supreme Court until exhaustion of all state post-conviction proceedings. |
| April | |||
| 12 | OH | Raymond Tibbetts | Stay granted by U.S. District Court magistrate judge on January 26, 2017 as part of preliminary injunction order declaring Ohio’s execution protocol unconstitutional. Then rescheduled for July 26, 2017 by Gov. John Kasich on February 10, 2017.* |
| 12 | TX | Paul Storey | Stay granted by Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. |
| 17 | AR | Bruce Ward | Stay granted by the Arkansas Supreme Court on April 14 to permit counsel to litigate whether Ward is mentally competent to be executed. Temporary restraining order granted by Pulaski County court on April 14 in litigation brought by pharmaceutical company seeking to bar Arkansas from using vecuronium bromide in scheduled execution. Restraining order lifted by Arkansas Supreme Court. Stay granted by the Arkansas Supreme Court on April 17 pending decision by the United States Supreme Court in McWilliams v. Dunn on questions concerning the right to an independent mental health expert that may affect the resolution of similar issues in Ward’s case. |
| 17 | AR | Don Davis | Temporary restraining order granted by Pulaski County court on April 14 in litigation brought by pharmaceutical company seeking to bar Arkansas from using vecuronium bromide in scheduled execution. Restraining order lifted by Arkansas Supreme Court. Stay granted by the Arkansas Supreme Court on April 17 pending decision by the United States Supreme Court in McWilliams v. Dunn on questions concerning the right to an independent mental health expert that may affect the resolution of similar issues in Davis’s case. |
| 20 | AR | Stacey Johnson | Temporary restraining order granted by Pulaski County court on April 14 in litigation brought by pharmaceutical company seeking to bar Arkansas from using vecuronium bromide in scheduled execution. Restraining order lifted by Arkansas Supreme Court. Stay issued by Arkansas Supreme Court on April 19 to allow hearing on postconviction DNA testing. |
| 21 | SC | Bobby Wayne Stone | Legally premature death warrant. Stay issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina on April 10, 2017 to permit the court to consider Stone’s motion to appoint counsel to represent him in habeas corpus proceedings to which he was entitled to review as a matter of federal law. Stay expires ninety days after court resolves motion for appointment of counsel. |
| 25 | VA | Ivan Teleguz | Death sentence commuted by Gov. Terry McAuliffe on April 20 to life in prison, with no chance for parole. |
| 27 | AR | Jason McGehee | Preliminary injunction granted by U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas staying McGehee’s execution until Arkansas Parole Board complies with 30-day period for public comment on its 6-1 recommendation for clemency and Gov. Asa Hutchinson decides whether to issue clemency. |
| May | |||
| 10 | OH | Alva Campbell, Jr. | Execution rescheduled for September 13, 2017 by Gov. John Kasich on February 10, 2017.* |
| 10 | OH | Ronald R. Phillips | Execution rescheduled for July 26, 2017 by Gov. John Kasich on May 1, 2017.** |
| 17 | OH | Donald Ketterer | Stay granted by Ohio Supreme Court until exhaustion of all state post-conviction proceedings. |
| 16 | TX | Tilon Carter | Stay granted by Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on May 12 to permit the court to consider claim that new evidence shows that Carter’s conviction was a product of scientifically erroneous and false forensic testimony that the victim had been smothered. |
| 24 | TX | Juan Castillo | Execution rescheduled for September 7, 2017. |
| June | |||
| 13 | OH | William Montgomery | Execution rescheduled for October 18, 2017 by Gov. John Kasich on February 10, 2017.* |
| 13 | OH | Gary Otte | Execution rescheduled for September 13, 2017 by Gov. John Kasich on May 1, 2017.** |
| 28 | TX | Steven Long | Execution rescheduled for August 30, 2017. |
| July | |||
| 19 | OH | Mark Pickens | Stay granted by Ohio Supreme Court until exhaustion of all state post-conviction proceedings. |
| 19 | TX | Kosoul Chanthakoummane | Stay granted by Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on June 7, 2017, to review claims of discredited forensic science. |
| 26 | OH | Robert Van Hook | Execution rescheduled for November 15, 2017 by Gov. John Kasich on February 10, 2017.* |
| 26 | OH | Raymond Tibbetts | Execution rescheduled for October 18, 2017 by Gov. John Kasich on May 1, 2017.** |
| August | |||
| 15 | PA | Omar Shariff Cash | Stay granted by U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on June 28, 2017 to provide Cash the opportunity to pursue state and federal post-conviction challenges to his conviction and sentence that are available to all criminal defendants. |
| 22 | MO | Marcellus Williams | Stay granted by Governor Greitens on August 22, 2017. The Governor appointed a Gubernatorial Board of Inquiry to further consider Marcellus Williams’ request for executive clemency. |
| 30 | TX | Steven Long | Stay granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on August 21, 2017 to permit Long to re-litigate his claim of intellectual disability under Moore v. Texas. The Texas courts had previously denied his claim, applying the “Briseno factors” that were declared unconstitutional in Moore. |
| September | |||
| 7 | TX | Juan Castillo | Stay granted by the Bexar County District Court on August 30, 2017 in response to the Bexar County District Attorney’s motion to withdraw Juan Castillo’s execution date.The request was made after Governor Abbott declared a state of disaster for 30 Texas counties because of Hurricane Harvey. The court also issued an order setting a new execution date for December 14, 2017. |
| 13 | OH | Jeffrey A. Wogenstahl | Stay granted by the Ohio Supreme Court on May 4, 2016 on motion to vacate execution date and to reopen direct appeal. Execution rescheduled for April 17, 2019 by Gov. John Kasich on February 10, 2017.* |
| 13 | OH | Alva Campbell, Jr. | Execution rescheduled for November 15, 2017 by Gov. John Kasich on May 1, 2017.** |
| 26 | GA | Keith Tharpe | Stay granted by the U.S. Supreme Court on September 26, 2017 “pending the disposition of [Tharpe’s] petition for a writ of certiorari” seeking review of a decision by the 11th Circuit denying him an appeal of his habeas corpus claim that his death sentence was unconstitutionally tainted by the participation of a racially biased juror. |
| October | |||
| 5 | AL | Jeffrey Borden | Injunction granted by U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on September 29 staying Borden’s execution through October 19, 2017, but vacated by the U.S. Supreme Court on October 4. Stay granted by U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama on October 5, 2017 |
| 18 | OH | Melvin Bonnell | Rescheduled for April 11, 2018 by Gov. John Kasich on February 10, 2017.* |
| 18 | OH | William Montgomery | Rescheduled for January 3, 2018 by Gov. John Kasich on May 1, 2017.** |
| 18 | OH | Raymond Tibbetts | Rescheduled for February 13, 2018 by Gov. John Kasich on September 1, 2017.^ |
| 18 | TX | Anthony Shore | 90-day stay of execution granted by Harris County trial court to permit prosecutors to investigate claim that Shore was colluding with another death-row prisoner to confess to the murder in that case. Execution rescheduled for January 18, 2018. |
| 19 | AL | Torrey McNabb | Injunction granted by U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama on October 16, 2017 staying McNabb’s execution, and affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on October 18. Injunction vacated by U.S. Supreme Court on October 19, 2017 and stay lifted. EXECUTED. |
| 26 | TX | Clifton Lee Young | Stay granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on October 18, 2017 and evidentiary hearing ordered on Young’s claim that newly discovered evidence (gunshot residue on the gloves of the prosecution’s key witness and affidavits of four prisoners that this witness had bragged about committing the killing and framing Young) shows that his conviction and sentence were obtained with false or perjured testimony. |
| November | |||
| 9 | AR | Jack Greene | Stay granted by the Arkansas Supreme Court on November 7, 2017 on petition raising issue related to Arkansas procedures for determining competency to be executed. |
| 14 | NV | Scott Dozier | Stay granted by the Clark County District Court on November 9, 2017 to permit the prosecution to appeal its ruling barring the use of a paralytic drug in Nevada’s execution protocol. |
| 15 | OH | Alva Campbell | Gov. John Kasich called off the execution on November 15, 2017 after personnel of the Ohio Department of Corrections failed five times to find a suitable vein to insert an intravenous execution line. |
| 15 | OH | Robert Van Hook | Rescheduled for February 13, 2018 by Gov. John Kasich on May 1, 2017.** |
| 16 | TX | Larry Swearingen | Stay granted by trial court on October 27, 2017 because of clerk’s error in serving notice of execution. |
| 17 | PA | Junius Burno | Stay granted by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on October 2, 2017 to provide Burno the opportunity to pursue state and federal post-conviction challenges to his conviction and sentence that are available to all criminal defendants. |
| December | |||
| 1 | SC | Bobby Wayne Stone | Legally premature death warrant. The death warrant was issued before Stone had been provided habeas corpus review to which he is entitled as a matter of federal law. Stay granted by the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina on November 21, 2017 to permit Stone to pursue federal habeas review of his conviction and death sentence. |
| 14 | TX | Juan Castillo | Stay granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on November 28, 2017 and evidentiary hearing ordered on Castillo’s claim that his conviction and sentence were obtained with false or perjured testimony from a prison informant. |
| 29 | PA | Michael Pruitt | Stay granted by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on December 4, 2017 to provide Pruitt the opportunity to pursue federal habeas corpus challenges to his conviction and sentence that are available to all criminal defendants. |
* On February 10, 2017, Ohio’s Governor John R. Kasich issued a statement revising the schedule for eight upcoming executions. This revised schedule is in response to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s denial of a motion to stay enforcement, pending appeal, of a federal magistrate judge’s order declaring Ohio’s execution procedures unconstitutional.
** On May 1, 2017, Ohio’s Governor Kasich issued another statement revising the schedule for nine upcoming executions. This revised schedule was in response to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s order setting a briefing schedule for the Court’s en banc rehearing of the state’s appeal of a federal magistrate judge’s order issuing a preliminary injunction barring Ohio from carrying out 3-drug executions using midazolam or any execution using a paralytic agent or potassium chloride.
^ On September 1, 2017, Ohio’s Governor Kasich issued a statement and an updated execution schedule, which changed the execution dates for 19 of 26 condemned prisoners who had scheduled dates between September 2017 and September 2020. The execution schedule for these 26 prisoners now extends through April 2022.
^^ On October 19, 2015, the Ohio Department of Corrections issued a statement that Governor Kasich granted reprieves postponing all executions that the state had scheduled through 2017. 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.
~ In 2011, Gov. John Kitzhaber imposed a moratorium on all executions in Oregon. Current Governor Kate Brown has requested a report on the status of the death penalty and indicated the report will inform future policy decisions.
“Volunteer” refers to prisoners who have voluntarily waived their normal appeals (not necessarily that they have volunteered for execution).
