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| Supreme Court rejects state's request to allow execution |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/27/2001 |
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The Supreme Court denied a motion that would have cleared the way for the Friday execution of an Alabama inmate whose case never got a full federal review because he didn't have a lawyer. Thomas D. Arthur, convicted in a 1982 murder-for-hire slaying, had been scheduled to die in the state's electric chair at 12:01 a.m. Friday. But the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to lift a stay granted Tuesday by a federal judge and upheld earlier Thursday by a three-judge appeals court panel. The decision will allow Arthur, who now has a lawyer, to pursue a federal review of his conviction. Arthur, 59, was sentenced in the shooting death of Troy Wicker, which occurred while Arthur was in a prison work-release program for another killing. Arthur's first two convictions and death sentences were overturned on appeal. His third conviction, in 1991, was not appealed to federal courts because he didn't have a lawyer. Death penalty opponents have said the case highlights a weakness in Alabama capital cases in that the state doesn't ensure lawyers for condemned inmates after their first round of appeals. Assistant Attorney General Clay Crenshaw argued for the high court to lift the stay. 'A compelling case of innocence cannot be made from evidence that has already been considered by a jury that voted to convict,' he said. But Arthur's attorney, Arnold Levine, contends there's little evidence connecting his client to the slaying. |
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