Two prisoners in the US state of Arkansas who are scheduled to be killed by the state tonight (24 April) have appealed on the grounds that their poor health is such that it would lead to them experiencing extreme pain during the scheduled lethal injection.
If Arkansas carry out the killings, Jack Jones and Marcel Williams will be the victims of a first double execution in the US in more than 16 years, as the state's aggressive plan to execute several inmates before one of its lethal injection drugs Midazolam expires. The last time a US state put more than one inmate to death on the same day was in 2000 when Texas executed two inmates.
Ledell Lee became the first victim of Arkansas last week and became the first victim of capital punishment in the state since 2005. Governor Asa Hutchinson scheduled four double executions towards the 30 April when its supply of the sedative expires.
Several legal challenges failed to spare Lee's life, including a 5-4 vote by the US Supreme Court rejecting a last-minute appeal. Three of the executions have been cancelled by court decisions and another was given a stay. The state is scheduled to execute three other inmates during the last week of April, including Jones and Williams.
Meanwhile, Virginia bishops said they "welcome with gratitude" the decision by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe to commute the death sentence of Ivan Teleguz. "We are all children of the same merciful, loving God, and he alone has dominion over all life," said Bishop Francis X. Di Lorenzo of Richmond and Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington in an April 20 statement released by the Virginia Catholic Conference.
The bishops added that they have a "profound respect for the sanctity of every human life, from its very beginning until natural death" and they "continue to express deep sorrow and pray for all victims of violence and their loved ones".
They also said they would continue to "pray for a change of heart and a spirit of remorse and conversion for all those who commit acts of violence".
Teleguz, found guilty in 2001 for the murder for hire of his former girlfriend, was set to be executed last week (18 April). He petitioned the governor with a request for a pardon, which was not given; he will now serve life in prison without a chance of parole.
McAuliffe said he believes Teleguz is guilty, but he also said the sentencing phase of Teleguz's trial was "terribly flawed and unfair".
And the Louisiana Supreme Court has thrown out the conviction and death sentence of Rodricus Crawford, citing racial discrimination for excluding some African-American jurors. The case now goes back to a lower court for a new trial.
Crawford was convicted of murdering his 1-year-old son, but the defense argued that the boy had pneumonia and could have died from natural causes.
"In many respects, this case may reflect both the past and future of the death penalty in America," said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in an April 19 statement. "A jurisdiction with a history of racial bias, prosecutorial misconduct and overuse of the death penalty chose to pursue a death sentence against a grieving father, despite evidence that his child had unexpectedly died of natural causes."
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