Entries tagged with “Walter Barton”
Issues
May 21, 2020
First Execution, New Death Sentence During Coronavirus Pandemic Highlight Grave Flaws in U.S. Capital Punishment System
The first new death sentence and first execution since public health concerns arising from the coronavirus pandemic shuttered most court proceedings across the country have highlighted several of the gravest concerns about the death penalty in the United States. On May 18, 2020, as defense lawyers questioned their client’s mental competency, a three-judge panel sentenced Joel Drain to death in Warren County, Ohio in trial proceedings lasting less than six hours. Drain, who had attempted…
Issues
Upcoming Executions
,May 15, 2020
As Blood Spatter Evidence Causes Jurors to Question His Guilt, Missouri Prepares to Execute Walter Barton
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has vacated a stay of execution for Missouri death-row prisoner Walter Barton (pictured) who is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. The court’s unsigned opinion, issued on Sunday, May 17, lifted a stay of execution that had been issued May 15 by a federal district court judge. The district court said a stay was necessary to afford it time to address a petition Barton had filed that challenged his conviction and death sentence based…
Issues
Upcoming Executions
,May 01, 2020
Missouri Supreme Court Denies Stay of May 19 Execution for Brain-Damaged Man Tried Five Times for the Same Murder
In a case long marred by prosecutorial misconduct, the Missouri Supreme Court has denied a stay of execution for Walter Barton (pictured), rejecting his claims of innocence and incompetence to be executed. The court’s ruling on April 27, 2020 made no mention of Barton’s additional request to put off his execution because of public health dangers relating to the coronavirus pandemic. If Barton’s execution is carried out as scheduled on May 19, it would be the first in the nation since the…