Texas death row inmate Jose Briseno was issued a stay of exe­cu­tion by a Texas judge so his pen-pal from England could fly to the state to meet him before he was exe­cut­ed by lethal injec­tion. Briseno’s attor­ney, Richard Burr, said the stay ​“had to do with Jose’s extra­or­di­nary abil­i­ty to reach out to peo­ple all over the US and the world – as a pen-friend – to offer sup­port and kindness.”

In late November, Burr filed a motion with the tri­al court in South Texas ask­ing that the exe­cu­tion date of January 15, 2009, be with­drawn and re-set to allow a per­son in England who had been cor­re­spond­ing with Briseno to vis­it him before his death. The woman want­ed to meet and thank Jose for the good he had done in her life and had planned long before the exe­cu­tion date was set to vis­it on January 28. She was unable to vis­it before January 15 due to seri­ous health prob­lems and a reg­i­men of treat­ment. Despite oppo­si­tion from the pros­e­cu­tion, the judge with­drew the January 15 date and reset the exe­cu­tion for April 7.

(Source: com­mu­ni­ca­tion from R. Burr, attor­ney for Jose Briseno, Jan. 16, 2009). See Executions.

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