Friday, March 19, 2010
Death Row Inmate...Can He Be Executed?
KENTUCKY...
A Kentucky death row inmate seeking to end his appeals could have an execution date set for next month, but whether he can be put to death remains in question. The Kentucky Supreme Court rejected the last mandatory appeal of 61-year-old James Hunt, who is seeking to fire his public defenders and waive all remaining appeals. Once the court issues the mandate making the decision final, by law, Hunt's execution date would be set the fifth Friday after the ruling is issued. In this case, that could be as soon as April 16. But Kentucky is currently barred from carrying out executions while it reenacts its lethal injection protocol. The state supreme court threw out the three-drug method in December, saying Kentucky officials improperly adopted it and could not execute any inmate until it was properly readopted. That leaves open the question of whether Hunt's execution can be legally carried out if the protocol isn't adopted by the scheduled execution. Hunt was sentenced to death on July 28, 2006, in Floyd County for the murder of his estranged wife, Bettina Hunt.
A Kentucky death row inmate seeking to end his appeals could have an execution date set for next month, but whether he can be put to death remains in question. The Kentucky Supreme Court rejected the last mandatory appeal of 61-year-old James Hunt, who is seeking to fire his public defenders and waive all remaining appeals. Once the court issues the mandate making the decision final, by law, Hunt's execution date would be set the fifth Friday after the ruling is issued. In this case, that could be as soon as April 16. But Kentucky is currently barred from carrying out executions while it reenacts its lethal injection protocol. The state supreme court threw out the three-drug method in December, saying Kentucky officials improperly adopted it and could not execute any inmate until it was properly readopted. That leaves open the question of whether Hunt's execution can be legally carried out if the protocol isn't adopted by the scheduled execution. Hunt was sentenced to death on July 28, 2006, in Floyd County for the murder of his estranged wife, Bettina Hunt.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 9:13 AM 
