Another One Down
2016-12-09 09:25:00 UTC
He's dead.
The court narrowly ruled Thursday evening that the execution
could proceed, although four liberal justices said they would
have voted to grant the stay, according to an order emailed by
the court giving no further explanation.
Forty-five-year-old Ronald Bert Smith, Jr. is scheduled to
receive a lethal injection at 6 p.m. Thursday.
A jury recommended life imprisonment by a 7-5 vote, but a judge
sentenced Smith to death.
Smiths attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the
execution, saying a January ruling raises legal questions about
Alabamas allowance of judicial override.
Smith was convicted in the 1994 slaying of Huntsville
convenience store clerk Casey Wilson. Lawyers for the state said
Smith pistol-whipped Wilson when he wouldnt open the cash
register and then shot him through the head.
Smiths lawyers wrote in a clemency petition that Smith was a
former Eagle Scout whose life spiraled downward because of
alcoholism.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-latest-high-court-
lets-alabama-execution-go-forward/2016/12/08/1ecc17d8-bdb1-11e6-
ae79-bec72d34f8c9_story.html?utm_term=.e0df58692d3a
The court narrowly ruled Thursday evening that the execution
could proceed, although four liberal justices said they would
have voted to grant the stay, according to an order emailed by
the court giving no further explanation.
Forty-five-year-old Ronald Bert Smith, Jr. is scheduled to
receive a lethal injection at 6 p.m. Thursday.
A jury recommended life imprisonment by a 7-5 vote, but a judge
sentenced Smith to death.
Smiths attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the
execution, saying a January ruling raises legal questions about
Alabamas allowance of judicial override.
Smith was convicted in the 1994 slaying of Huntsville
convenience store clerk Casey Wilson. Lawyers for the state said
Smith pistol-whipped Wilson when he wouldnt open the cash
register and then shot him through the head.
Smiths lawyers wrote in a clemency petition that Smith was a
former Eagle Scout whose life spiraled downward because of
alcoholism.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-latest-high-court-
lets-alabama-execution-go-forward/2016/12/08/1ecc17d8-bdb1-11e6-
ae79-bec72d34f8c9_story.html?utm_term=.e0df58692d3a