A South Carolina law set electrocution as the default method and added a firing squad option after officials were unable to obtain the drugs needed for lethal injection, the state's third method.
COLUMBIA, South Carolina -- A South Carolina prisoner scheduled to be the first man executed in the state in more than a decade has decided to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair later this month, according to court documents filed Friday.
Only three executions in the United States have been carried out by firing squad since 1976, according to the Washington-based nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center. Moore's would mark the first since Ronnie Lee Gardner 's 2010 execution by a five-person firing squad in Utah. "I believe this election is forcing me to choose between two unconstitutional methods of execution, and I do not intend to waive any challenges to electrocution or firing squad by making an election," Moore said in the statement.
His lawyers are also asking the state Supreme Court to delay the execution so the U.S. Supreme Court can review whether his death sentence was a disproportionate punishment compared with similar crimes. The state justices denied a similar appeal last week. Corrections Department Director Bryan Stirling reiterated in an affidavit last week that the agency still couldn't obtain the drugs because manufacturers and compounding pharmacies contacted by the state refused to help.
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South Carolina inmate picks firing squad over electric chairA South Carolina prisoner scheduled for execution later this month has chosen to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair
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South Carolina Inmate Picks Firing Squad Over Electric ChairIf Richard Bernard Moore is executed as scheduled on April 29, he would be the first person put to death in the state since 2011.
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South Carolina inmate picks firing squad over electric chairA South Carolina prisoner scheduled to be the first man executed in the state in more than a decade has decided to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair later this month, according to court documents filed Friday.
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South Carolina inmate picks firing squad over electric chairA South Carolina prisoner scheduled for execution later this month has chosen to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair
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South Carolina inmate picks firing squad over electric chairA South Carolina prisoner scheduled to be the first man executed in the state in more than a decade has decided to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair later this month, according to court documents filed Friday.
Read more »