Posted on 03/19/2004 2:08:51 PM PST by aomagrat
(Columbia S.C.-AP) March 19, 2004 -The United States Supreme Court on Friday voted 5-4 to let South Carolina execute a man convicted of killing a Georgetown police officer ten years ago.
The ruling erases a reprieve the man received two weeks ago.
The announcement came in time for officials in Columbia to move ahead with plans for the 6:00pm execution of 39-year-old David Clayton Hill at the Broad River Correctional Facility.
Hill's only hope for staying alive is if the governor steps in to grant clemency. Governor Sanford's press secretary says no repreive has been issued.
A federal judge had blocked the execution to give Hill's lawyers time to argue that the way South Carolina performs lethal injections is cruel and unusual punishment.
One of Hill's lawyers says some inmates executed in South Carolina may have been conscious when they were put to death because not enough sedative was used. They cite toxicology results of 23 executed inmates. South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster has said the toxicology results lack a firm scientific basis.
The Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the delay this week, but the attorney general's office immediately appealed to the justices. The South Carolina Supreme Court earlier Friday refused to stop Hill's execution.
Hill is sentenced to death for killing Georgetown police Major Spencer Guerry in 1994. Guerry was shot in the head after he had pulled over a car with an expired license plate.
State prisons director John Ozmint says his department is ready to carry out Hill's execution on time Friday night.
Hey, if Castro can do this in six days and all the whackos thing Castro is so great, how come it took SC TEN YEARS to send this guy to his just reward?
Another real good thing about an execution, it brings out many of the aging, B level rock and movie stars that you don't otherwise see much any more.
I imagine his victim(s) was/were concious when they were put to death so why worry about the murderer?
If anyone thinks this guy has been on death row nine years too long, please raise your hand.
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