Ronald Smith was executed by lethal injection Thursday night in Alabama. Throughout the execution, Smith seemed to be in significant pain. Press in attendance reported that he "heaved and coughed through about 13 minutes." Two consciousness tests were apparently performed. It took him 34 minutes to die.
Smith was set to die at 6 PM, but was ultimately killed closer to midnight. The night was a flurry of appeals filed, temporary stays granted, and, ultimately, denials of the requests to block his execution.
In 1995, Smith was convicted of the murder of Casey Wilson, a convenience store clerk. His jury rejected a death penalty sentence, instead recommending life without parole. The judge overrode that recommendation, sentencing him to death instead.
In the last few weeks, Smith's attorneys had filed last minute appeals requesting a stay on his execution. In one appeal, they argued that the current three-drug method of lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment. That request was denied by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday.
Last Friday, Smith's attorneys made another attempt to prevent his execution, filing an appeal and a request for stay of execution with the U.S. Supreme Court. His attorneys argued that his sentencing was invalid because a judge had overridden the jury. From the Associated Press:
"Alabama is the only state that allows a judge to sentence a defendant to death when the jury has recommended a sentence of life," lawyers for Smith wrote in the petition, noting that Florida and Delaware abolished that capability this year.
His attorneys noted that three other cases were pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, all of which argue that Alabama's death penalty statute is unconstitutional.
From AL.com:
"It is appropriate for this Court to stay Mr. Smith's execution in order to consider how it will resolve the issues raised by these cases, and the others sure to follow from Alabama," according to Smith's response. "Granting a stay of execution to Mr. Smith and granting his petition for certiorari will resolve at least some of these issues."
On Thursday evening, hours before his execution, SCOTUS denied Smith's request for a stay.
Smith's lawyers then filed last minute requests with both the U.S. Supreme Court and the 11th Circuit Court, appealing their denials. Thus began a night of appeals, temporary stays, and denials. From AL.com:
Smith had been granted a temporary stay at 5:14 p.m. Thursday. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas issued the stay "pending further order of the court." The Department of Corrections treated this as a temporary stay of the execution and as of 6:30 p.m. Thursday had not cancelled it.
But, at 7:25 p.m., the U.S. Supreme Court vacated Thomas' order and denied the stay. "The application for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to Justice Thomas and by him referred to the Court is denied. The order heretofore entered by Justice Thomas is vacated." Four justices - Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan would grant the application for stay of execution but they needed five to grant the stay.
The Department of Corrections then reset the execution at 8:15 p.m. But then about 7:40 p.m. prisons spokesman Bob Horton announced that the Attorney General's Office had been told that another U.S. Supreme Court Justice has asked for another temporary stay.
Smith's lawyers had filed another appeal asking for reconsideration since four justices had requested a grant of the stay. "Because the court's inconsistent practices respecting 5-4 stay denials in capital cases clash with the appearance and reality both of equal justice under law and of sound judicial decision-making," they said, "Mr. Smith asks this court to reconsider the court's denial of his application for a stay of execution."
Ultimately, that appeal was also denied.
The issue of judicial override was recently addressed by the Supreme Court in the case of Hurst v. Florida. From the New York Times:
In January, the Supreme Court struck down Florida’s capital sentencing system, which also allowed judicial overrides of jury recommendations of life sentences. “The Sixth Amendment requires a jury, not a judge, to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death,” Justice Sotomayor wrote for the majority in the case, Hurst v. Florida. “A jury’s mere recommendation is not enough.
Florida’s legislature hastily rewrote their statute after SCOTUS's ruling, but in October the Florida Supreme Court struck down the new statute, as well. That decision, which was called one of the most important death penalty decisions in years, says that only a unanimous jury can sentence someone to death. (It was reported yesterday that Attorney General Pam Bondi is appealing the state Supreme Court's decision.)
The Alabama Supreme Court also examined the state's death penalty statute after Hurst was decided. However, unlike the Florida Supreme Court, Alabama's Supreme Court decided the statute did not violate the Sixth Amendment. From the New York Times:
[T]he Alabama Supreme Court upheld the state’s capital sentencing system in September, saying it differed from Florida’s. The court said Alabama juries play a constitutionally sufficient role in the process when they convict a defendant of a capital offense, even if they then recommend leniency.
Alabama law allows judges to override jury recommendations in either direction: from life to death or from death to life. But Alabama judges mostly use their power in favor of death.
AL.com reported that Smith's final meal was three pieces of chicken and fries. He also made a special request to attend Holy Communion, which he did a few hours before he died.
Smith was pronounced dead at 11:05 PM.