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A TEXAS death-row inmate was executed after a local court refused to stay open an extra 20 minutes to hear an appeal.
At 10am on September 25, the US Supreme Court announced it would review in early 2008 an appeal by two Kentucky death row inmates challenging the legality of the lethal injection.
The same day, Michael Richard, 48, was due to receive the deadly cocktail at 6pm in southern Texas for the rape and murder of a woman in 1986.
His attorneys said they rushed to draft an appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest court for criminal cases.
At 4.50pm, the lawyers called the court to ask it to remain open 20 more minutes after they were stalled by a computer malfunction.
"We close at five,'' was the response from the court clerk, a quote widely reported by local media.
In a last-ditch effort, Richard's attorneys took their case to the Supreme Court, which remains open for executions.
The legal move delayed the execution by a few hours, but since the convict did not file his appeal with a local court first, his arguments were not accepted in Washington.
The execution went ahead that evening and Richard was declared dead at 8.23pm.
No other death row inmate has been executed since then.
The court's behaviour angered a leading Texas daily newspaper, the Dallas Morning News, which expressed outrage in an editorial entitled "We Closed at 5".
"Hastening the death of a man, even a bad one, because office personnel couldn't be bothered to bend bureaucratic procedure was a breathtakingly petty act and evinced a relish for death that makes the blood of decent people run cold,'' the newspaper said.
On Tuesday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay of execution to convicted murderer Heliberto Chi, 28, a sign that it might step back while the US Supreme Court weighs the constitutionality of lethal injection.
So far this year, 40 of the 41 people executed in the United States have been killed by lethal injection, with one choosing the electric chair.
Most of the executions have taken place in Texas, which has put to death more than 400 people since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the country in 1976.
At 10am on September 25, the US Supreme Court announced it would review in early 2008 an appeal by two Kentucky death row inmates challenging the legality of the lethal injection.
The same day, Michael Richard, 48, was due to receive the deadly cocktail at 6pm in southern Texas for the rape and murder of a woman in 1986.
His attorneys said they rushed to draft an appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest court for criminal cases.
At 4.50pm, the lawyers called the court to ask it to remain open 20 more minutes after they were stalled by a computer malfunction.
"We close at five,'' was the response from the court clerk, a quote widely reported by local media.
In a last-ditch effort, Richard's attorneys took their case to the Supreme Court, which remains open for executions.
The legal move delayed the execution by a few hours, but since the convict did not file his appeal with a local court first, his arguments were not accepted in Washington.
The execution went ahead that evening and Richard was declared dead at 8.23pm.
No other death row inmate has been executed since then.
The court's behaviour angered a leading Texas daily newspaper, the Dallas Morning News, which expressed outrage in an editorial entitled "We Closed at 5".
"Hastening the death of a man, even a bad one, because office personnel couldn't be bothered to bend bureaucratic procedure was a breathtakingly petty act and evinced a relish for death that makes the blood of decent people run cold,'' the newspaper said.
On Tuesday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay of execution to convicted murderer Heliberto Chi, 28, a sign that it might step back while the US Supreme Court weighs the constitutionality of lethal injection.
So far this year, 40 of the 41 people executed in the United States have been killed by lethal injection, with one choosing the electric chair.
Most of the executions have taken place in Texas, which has put to death more than 400 people since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the country in 1976.
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