South Carolina’s highest court on Wednesday temporarily blocked the state from carrying out what was set to be its first-ever execution of a death row inmate by firing squad.
The order by the state Supreme Court will at least temporarily block the planned execution of Richard Bernard Moore, who was given the death sentence for the 1999 killing of convenience store clerk James Mahoney. His execution, which would have been the first in the US via firing squad since 2010, was scheduled for April 29.
The court issued a temporary stay, and said that it would release a more detailed order later.
Attorneys for Moore, 57, had sought a stay, citing pending litigation in another court challenging the constitutionality of the state’s execution methods. His attorneys also wanted more time to ask the US Supreme Court to review whether Moore’s sentence was proportionate to his crime.
Faced with a shortage of lethal injection drugs, the state of South Carolina made the electric chair its default method of execution. They offered a three-person firing squad as an alternative.
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