Kelly Gissendaner, who was convicted for plotting the murder of her husband, is set to die by lethal injection Monday. Gissendaner could become the first woman to be executed in the state since 1945.
Gissendaner, who was sentenced to death for her role in planning her husband's murder with her boyfriend, is scheduled to be executed Monday night after the State Board of Pardons and Paroles denied her clemency last week. Her execution, originally scheduled for Feb. 25, was delayed due to a winter storm.
Several clergy are urging the governor to stop her execution on the grounds that she had "profoundly transformed" in prison and had become a "theologian and pastoral figure to many."
More than 48,000 people had signed the petition as of Monday asking Deal to commute Gissendaner's sentence to life in prison.
In an emergency request, the lawyers said the Board did not hear the testimony of many "vital witnesses" from the Department of Corrections.
They said that the DOC employees' perspective would "would have left no doubt that a grant of clemency is supported in this case."
According to the application, the witnesses did not come forward because of their role as DOC employees although the rules say "they are permitted to speak to counsel in capital clemency proceedings if desired." Gissendaner's lawyers said the reality of this rule was "less than clear."
They named DOC employees who would be able offer perspective on Gissendaner's behavior as an inmate and her rehabilitation.
The Department of Corrections announced that Gissendaner would be executed on Monday, March 2, 2015, at 7 p.m.
from BuzzFeed - Latest http://ift.tt/1K9cSNI
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment