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| Supreme Court Stops Texas Execution |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 05/03/2002 |
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The U.S. Supreme Court granted a last-minute reprieve Wednesday to a death row inmate whose attorneys say is mentally retarded. Curtis Moore, 34, was already in a small holding cell adjacent to the death chamber when he got the news less than three hours before his scheduled execution. Attorneys had been attempting to show Moore was mentally retarded. They cited a Virginia case now before the high court questioning the constitutionality of executing the mentally retarded as reason to look at Moore's case. State prosecutors questioned why the issue should surface now because Moore's mental capacity was not addressed at his trial. 'It was an unusual procedural posture and the court went ahead and stayed it anyway,' said Chip Wilkinson of the Tarrant County district attorney's office. The reprieve will remain in effect until the court decides whether to review Moore's case. If the court refused to review the case, the reprieve would be canceled and a new execution date could be set. A decision in the Virginia case is expected before July. Moore was convicted of killing three people in a pair of drug-related shootings in 1995 in Fort Worth. |
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