May 14, 2008


Judge refuses to lift stay on Del. executions

By SEAN O’SULLIVAN
The News Journal

WILMINGTON -- Delaware will not be resuming executions anytime soon.

U.S. District Court Judge Sue L. Robinson told attorneys this morning that she wants to hold an evidentiary hearing -- perhaps taking as long as four days -- later this year to consider Delaware’s execution methods and whether they pass constitutional muster.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled in a Kentucky case that the procedures used by that state were sufficient to guard against unnecessary and unconstitutional pain and suffering.

At today’s hearing, attorneys representing Delaware argued that thje state’s execution protocols are virtually identical to Kentucky’s and executions should be allowed to go forward.

Federal public defenders representing Delaware’s death row inmates, let by attorney Michael Wiseman, contended they were significantly different and violated constitutional guarantees.

Robinson said she needed to hear more and turned down a request by Deputy Attorney General Elizabeth McFarlan for summary judgment, citing the Supreme Court ruling in Kentucky.

“This is a facts-specific ... life and death case,” Robinson said, not one she was going to dispose of “on a stack of papers.”

Robinson said she wanted to see and hear from experts before making a ruling.

The judge then set June 23 for a pre-trial hearing, where the date and time of a four-day bench trial on the issue would be set.