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U.S. Supreme Court

SCOTUS stays execution of inmate who's been on death row for more than 30 years

The U.S. Supreme Court has stayed the execution of Texas inmate who claims executing him after more than 30 years on death row is cruel and unusual punishment.

The court stayed the execution of Lester Leroy Bower Jr. on Thursday. The stay will terminate if the court denies certiorari, according to the court order (PDF). SCOTUSblog, Reuters and the Associated Press have stories.

Bower, 67, was convicted of the 1983 murders of four men in an airplane hangar. Prosecutors alleged Bower shot the four men to steal an ultralight plane; he has “steadfastly maintained his innocence,” his cert petition (PDF) says.

Bower’s assertion of cruel and unusual punishment is one of three issues raised in his cert petition. Other issues are: whether the procedures in effect at his sentencing allowed jurors to fully consider evidence of good character, and whether Bower’s due process rights were violated when the state presented evidence at trial—later contradicted—that Bower was one of only a small number of people who had the type of specialty ammunition used in the slayings.

Hat tip to How Appealing.