Stays of Execution 2019
| Date of Scheduled Execution | State | Prisoner | Reason for Stay |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | |||
9 | OH | Elwood Jones | Rescheduled for April 21, 2021 by Gov. John Kasich on September 1, 2017.^ |
15 | TX | Blaine Milam | Stay granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on January 14, 2019 to permit litigation of successive state post-conviction petition raising new evidence claims, “[b]ecause of recent changes in the science pertaining to bite mark comparisons and recent changes in the law pertaining to the issue of intellectual disability.” |
| February | |||
13 | OH | James Hanna | Rescheduled for December 19, 2019 by Gov. John Kasich on September 1, 2017.^ |
13 | OH | Warren Keith Henness | Reprieve granted on January 25, 2019 by Gov. Mike DeWine, and execution rescheduled for September 12, 2019. |
| March | |||
8 | PA | Timothy M. Jacoby | Legally premature death warrant. Stay granted by the York County Court of Common Pleas on February 8, 2019 to permit Jacoby to pursue state post-conviction appeals that are available to all Pennsylvania prisoners as a matter of right. |
20 | OH | Archie Dixon | Rescheduled for June 23, 2021 by Gov. John Kasich on September 1, 2017.^ |
28 | TX | Patrick Murphy | Stay granted by the U.S. Supreme Court on March 28, 2019 “pending the timely filing and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari unless the State permits Murphy’s Buddhist spiritual advisor or another Buddhist reverend of the State’s choosing to accompany Murphy in the execution chamber during the execution.” |
| April | |||
11 | TX | Mark Robertson | Stay granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on April 8, 2019 “pending further order from this Court” on whether to reconsider the issues presented in his 1997 state habeas corpus petition. |
11 | AL | Christopher Price | Stay granted by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama on April 11 as part of preliminary injunction against Alabama execution protocol. New stay granted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to consider jurisdictional issues presented by the District Court stay. By a post-midnight 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the stay, but it was still in effect when the state’s corrections department called off the execution because the death warrant was about to expire. |
17 | OH | Jeffrey A. Wogenstahl | Stay granted by the Ohio Supreme Court on October 24, 2018 pending “exhaustion of all state post-conviction proceedings, including any appeals.” |
| May | |||
2 | TX | Dexter Johnson | Stay granted by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas on April 30, 2019 to provide recently appointed habeas corpus counsel 90 days to develop a series of claims relating to the alleged ineffective representation provided by prior counsel. |
29 | OH | Timothy Hoffner | Rescheduled for August 11, 2021 by Gov. John Kasich on September 1, 2017.^ |
| 29 | OH | Cleveland Jackson | Reprieve granted by Gov. Mike DeWine on March 7, 2019 and execution rescheduled for November 13, 2019.+ |
| June | |||
5 | OH | Alva Campbell | Died on March 3, 2018 |
7 | GA | Tiffany Moss | Legally premature death warrant was stayed as a matter of law when Moss’ lawyers filed a motion for new trial in the trial court. |
| July | |||
10 | OH | Kareen M. Jackson | Reprieve granted by Gov. Mike DeWine on March 7, 2019 and execution rescheduled for January 16, 2020.+ |
| 16 | PA | William Rivera | Legally premature death warrant. Stay granted by the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on June 6, 2019 to permit Rivera to pursue federal habeas corpus review to which all state prisoners are entitled as a matter of law. |
| 31 | TX | Ruben Gutierrez | Warrant withdrawn. New death warrant issued rescheduling execution for October 30, 2019. |
| August | |||
14 | OH | Gregory Lott | Reprieve granted by Gov. Mike DeWine on March 7, 2019 and execution rescheduled for March 12, 2020.+ |
| 15 | TX | Dexter Johnson | Stay granted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on August 14, 2019. |
| 19 | LA | Jason Reeves | Legally premature death warrant. Stay granted by the U.S. District Court in Louisiana on August 9, 2019 to permit Reeves to pursue federal habeas corpus review to which all state prisoners are entitled as a matter of law. |
| September | |||
| 12 | OH | Warren Keith Henness | Rescheduled for May 14, 2020 by Gov. Mike DeWine on July 31, 2019. |
18 | OH | Douglas Coley | Rescheduled for August 12, 2020 by Gov. John Kasich on September 1, 2017.^ |
| October | |||
| 2 | TX | Stephen Barbee | Stay granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on September 23, 2019 to determine whether to apply the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in McCoy v. Louisiana to Barbee’s case. |
| 10 | TN | Charles Wright | Died on May 17, 2019. |
| 10 | TX | Randy Halprin | Stay granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on October 4, 2019 and case remanded to the trial court to address Halprin’s claim of judicial bias in his case. |
| 16 | TX | Randall Mays | Warrant withdrawn on October 3, 2019 by the Henderson County District Court “to permit the Court time to properly review all medical records submitted” to determine Mays’ competency to be executed. |
17 | OH | James Frazier | Rescheduled for October 20, 2021 by Gov. John Kasich on September 1, 2017.^ |
| 17 | OH | Angelo Fears | Resentenced to life without parole on May 22, 2019, by agreement between the defense and prosecutors. Warrant vacated on June 24, 2019 by Ohio Supreme Court. |
| 23 | OH | Jason Dean | Date removed. |
| 30 | TX | Ruben Gutierrez | Stay granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on October 22, 2019 based on defects in the issuance and service of the death warrant. |
| 30 | GA | Ray Jefferson Cromartie | Stay granted by the Georgia Supreme Court to afford the court time to address issues raised in an already pending appeal. |
| November | |||
| 7 | FL | James Dailey | Stay granted on October 23, 2019 by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida until December 30, 2019 to provide newly appointed habeas corpus counsel time to investigate and present potential claims for relief. |
| 13 | OH | Cleveland Jackson | Reprieve granted by Gov. Mike DeWine on September 20, 2019 and execution rescheduled for January 13, 2021. |
| 13 | TX | Patrick Murphy | Stay granted by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas on November 7, 2019 to permit full review of claim that Texas denies non-Christians equal access to religious advisors during execution process. Stay upheld on November 12 by a split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. |
| 20 | TX | Rodney Reed | Stay granted on November 15, 2019 by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals with directions that the trial court review Reed’s claims that “the State suppressed exculpatory evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland”; “the State presented false testimony in violation of due process”; and that Reed “is actually innocent.” |
| 30 | SC | Timothy Jones, Jr. | Legally premature warrant. Execution stayed by operation of law in June 2019 by Rule 246 of the South Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure when Jones’ lawyers filed a notice of intent to appeal his conviction and sentence. |
| December | |||
| 9 | Federal | Daniel Lee | Preliminary injunction granted on November 21, 2019 by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia based on a determination that the federal execution protocol announced in July 2019 violates the federal death penalty statute. Motion to vacate injunction denied on December 2 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Application to vacate injunction denied on December 6 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Stay granted on December 5, 2019 by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana to permit litigation of a claim that federal prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence and presented false argument exaggerating Lee’s involvement in a prior murder. Stay vacated on December 6 by U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. |
| 11 | Federal | Lezmond Mitchell | Stay granted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on October 4, 2019 pending resolution of an appeal for which a certificate of appealability had already been granted prior to the issuance of the death warrant. |
| 11 | OH | John Hanna | Reprieve granted by Gov. Mike DeWine on October 30, 2019 and execution rescheduled for July 16, 2020. |
| 13 | Federal | Wesley Purkey | Preliminary injunction granted on November 21, 2019 by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia based on a determination that the federal execution protocol announced in July 2019 violates the federal death penalty statute. Motion to vacate injunction denied on December 2 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Application to vacate injunction denied on December 6 by the U.S. Supreme Court. |
| 13 | PA | Jakeem Towles | Legally premature death warrant. Stay granted by the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on November 15, 2019 to permit Towles to pursue federal habeas corpus review to which all state prisoners are entitled as a matter of law. |
* On February 19, 2019, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine stated that the state would not carry out any executions until it devised a new execution protocol that was approved by the courts. However, he did not formally halt the executions scheduled in the state.
^ On September 1, 2017, Ohio Governor John 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.
+ One of three reprieves Ohio Governor Mike DeWine issued on March 7, 2019 as a result of the absence of an acceptable lethal-injection protocol.
“Volunteer” refers to prisoners who have voluntarily waived their normal appeals (not necessarily that they have volunteered for execution).
