Story highlights Ronald B. Smith was convicted of the robbery and murder of a convenience store clerk

It takes five judges to stay an execution and the Supreme Court had only four

(CNN) The Supreme Court, for the second time in one evening, cleared the way for the execution of Ronald B. Smith ,an Alabama death row inmate.

The ruling capped off an unusual flurry of last minute motions and orders in the case that reflect the deep divisions among the justices on some issues related to the death penalty.

Smith was originally scheduled for execution at 7 p.m. ET. At 6:14 p.m. ET, the Court's press office emailed out an order from Justice Clarence Thomas — who has jurisdiction over Alabama-temporarily staying the execution. The order was likely issued to give the justices more time to handle the case.

At 8:25 p.m. ET, the Court issued an order allowing the execution to go forward. The order offered no explanation, but stated that Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor had voted to grant a stay of execution, but it takes five justices to grant a stay of execution.

Lawyers for Smith almost immediately filed a motion asking the Court to reconsider its order. The motion pointed out that last month when the Court was split 4-4 in another death penalty case, Chief Justice John Roberts provided a so called "courtesy vote" to block the execution.

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