As the U.S. Supreme Court pre­pares to con­sid­er the con­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of Kentucky’s lethal injec­tion pro­ce­dures, pros­e­cu­tors in three Texas coun­ties have decid­ed to await the Justices’ rul­ing rather than ask judges to set exe­cu­tion dates and press for­ward through the courts. ​“It seems the com­mon-sense thing to do at this point,” said Roe Wilson, who han­dles death penal­ty appeals for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in Houston. Harris County sends more inmates to death row than any oth­er coun­ty in Texas. Wilson said she plans to ask a judge to with­draw a February 26 exe­cu­tion date for Derrick Sonnier rather than face a court-imposed halt to his exe­cu­tion. Bell County District Attorney Henry Garza has also asked a judge to can­cel a sched­uled January 24 exe­cu­tion date for the same rea­son. He not­ed, ​“It just seemed to me that the writ­ing was very appar­ent. Now we’ll let them rule and we can come back in and act accord­ing­ly.” In addi­tion, Nueces County pros­e­cu­tor Carlos Valdez has said he will not seek any more exe­cu­tion dates until the mat­ter is resolved.

There were no exe­cu­tions in the U.S. dur­ing October. The Justices will hear argu­ments in the Kentucky case ear­ly next year and a rul­ing is expect­ed by June. If exe­cu­tions remain on hold, the year will end with a total of 42 exe­cu­tions in the U.S., few­er than any year since 1994. Of those, 26 have been in Texas.
(Associated Press, October 31, 2007). See Lethal Injections and Executions.

The U.S. Supreme Court has recent­ly grant­ed stays of exe­cu­tion in lethal injec­tion chal­lenges from Texas, Virginia, and Mississippi, and upheld stays grant­ed in oth­er states. There is still a pend­ing exe­cu­tion date in Florida: Mark Schwab on Nov. 15. The Florida Supreme Court reject­ed his chal­lenge to the state’s lethal injec­tion process on Nov. 1. Alabama recent­ly set an exe­cu­tion date of Dec. 6 for Tommy Arthur, even though the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit grant­ed a stay to anoth­er Alabama inmate on Oct. 24. (DPIC; news sources).

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