The constitutionality of the lethal injection procedure used to execute death row inmates has again stalled what would have been the first execution of a Texas man in the past eight months.
The executions of two other Texas inmates, scheduled for June 11 and June 17, will proceed as planned. Jason Clark, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said the department has not received court orders to delay their executions.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a reprieve Tuesday to Derrick Sonnier of Humble, Texas, 90 minutes before his planned execution.
Sonnier has been on death row for nearly 15 years for the double murder of Melody Flowers and her 2-year-old son Patrick. He would have been the fourth person in the U.S. to be executed since the nationwide moratorium ended in April.
In October 2007, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted death row inmate Heliberto Chi a stay of execution and considered the constitutionality of the lethal injection procedure.
The U.S. Supreme Court accepted a case on Sept. 25, 2007 that challenged the constitutionality of the three-drug lethal injection cocktail used by many states, including Texas. Two Kentucky death row inmates filed the case on the basis that lethal injection violates the Eighth Amendment against cruel and unusual punishment. Executions around the country, including executions in Texas, were put on hold.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the legality of lethal injection on April 16.
Scott Cobb, president of the Texas Moratorium Network, said he does not see Sonnier's stay as a sign that Texas will declare lethal injection inhumane.
"I expect the reason he got a stay is because the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has come under a lot of criticism lately, particularly because of the events on Sept. 25," Cobb said.
Michael Richard, the last Texas inmate executed before the nationwide moratorium, received lethal injection on Sept. 25, the same day the Supreme Court agreed to hear the Kentucky inmates' case.
Richard's lawyers missed the deadline to file an appeal by 20 minutes, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals would not consider the request.
Cobb said the court may have issued the stay because it has not reviewed the lethal injection protocol since the Texas Department of Criminal Justice supposedly changed the injection procedure.
A spokesman for The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said Chi's case is still pending.
