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| SCOTUS issued an 11th hour stay of
execution one hour before the scheduled procedure. Katherine Welles / Shutterstock.com |
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito did not explain why he
issued the order suspending Russell Bucklew’s execution, which was scheduled
for 12:01am Wednesday. But Chris Koster, Missouri’s Attorney General, stated
his office understands the Supreme Court would consider Bucklew’s request.
The state still has 24 hours to continue the proceeding of
the death warrant. Under Missouri state law, they could legally execute Bucklew
anytime Wednesday if the court rejected the appeal.
Sentenced in 1996 for the death of a Missouri man, Bucklew
has a rare medical condition that might cause him tremendous pain when given the
lethal injection. The consideration came under the likelihood of “unnecessary
pain and suffering beyond the constitutionally permissible amount inherent in
all executions.”
The condition is congenital and is known as cavernous
hemangioma that causes a weakening of the blood vessels. Bucklew, 46, and his
attorneys argued that he would suffer great pain during the process and in an
interview told to the AP last week he is scared of what might happen.
If the execution were to continue today, it would be the
first US execution since the botched
injection in Oklahoma last month. An inmate was left in agony on the gurney
before he died of a heart attack nearly 40 minutes after the procedure began.
Bucklew’s hopes rest with the courts, as Missouri Gov. Jay
Nixon rejected his clemency request late Tuesday.
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