Desert Storm vet­er­an Cleve Foster (pic­tured), who faced exe­cu­tion in Texas for the third time this year for a mur­der near­ly a decade ago, was grant­ed anoth­er stay by the U.S. Supreme Court on September 20. The Supreme Court stopped Foster’s exe­cu­tion twice before in 2011. In January, six hours before his sched­uled exe­cu­tion, the Justices grant­ed a reprieve to allow them more time to con­sid­er his appeal. In April, the Court again halt­ed his exe­cu­tion when his lawyers sought a rehear­ing, claim­ing that Foster was inno­cent and had inef­fec­tive legal assis­tance at his tri­al and dur­ing the ear­ly stages of his appeal. They lat­er lift­ed the stay. Foster has always main­tained that his friend was respon­si­ble for the mur­der. The friend also received the death penal­ty for the crime but died of can­cer before he was exe­cut­ed. Duane Buck, who was sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed in Texas on Sept. 15, received a reprieve sim­i­lar to Foster’s from the Supreme Court. On September 21, Lawrence Brewer is fac­ing exe­cu­tion in Texas for drag­ging a man to death in Jasper more than 13 years ago. Some of the vic­tim’s fam­i­ly mem­bers oppose the exe­cu­tion. Also on Sept. 21, Troy Davis is sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed at 7 pm EDT in Georgia.

Maurie Levin, the attor­ney who was with Foster when word of his reprieve was deliv­ered to him, remarked, ​“You’re always hop­ing for the best and fear­ing the worse. I’m thrilled. It’s extreme­ly unusu­al to get three stays from the Supreme Court in nine or 10 months.” 

(“Supreme Court halts ex-Army recruiter’s Texas exe­cu­tion for 3rd time in rape-slay­ing of woman,” Washington Post/​Associated Press, September 20, 2011). See Executions, Innocence and U.S. Supreme Court.

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