AG says South Carolina doesn't need mandatory waiting period between executions (2024)

COLUMBIA — How many weeks should the state government wait between carrying out executions? This is a question before the South Carolina Supreme Court as the Department of Corrections prepares to hold the state’s first execution in 13 years.

Five death row inmates — who have exhausted their appeals and are expecting to be issued execution notices — are asking the court to set a gap of at least 91 days between executions.

The state attorney general's office disagrees, saying in a court filing that any wait time should be no longer than 28 days. It also said the state's modern-day history shows back-to-back executions have been done successfully.

In a petition to the Supreme Court last week, the inmates said shorter gaps would increase the risk of serious error in the execution process and lead to hurried legal resolutions of any last-minute issues.

They also said tighter intervals would overburden the corrections staff involved in executions. They cited the experience of Oklahoma, whichrecently extended to 90 days the wait time between executions.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and a couple of his deputies said the inmates' request for a three-month gap can only bring "unnecessary delay" in delivering justice, given that the Supreme Court has already ruled as constitutional the state’s three execution methods. Inmates have a choice of lethal injection, the electric chair or firing squad.

Wilson and his team said prison staff are prepared and trained to conduct the executions, their written court response shows. After consulting with corrections, they said prison staff "stand ready to accomplish their duty as required by our law with professionalism and dignity."

The attorney general's team also pointed to South Carolina's history, providing examples of multiple executions within a day or a few weeks.More than 25 years ago, the state executed six inmates by lethal injection within a seven-week period.

On Dec. 4, 1998, the state executed half-brothers Larry Gilbert and J.D. Gleaton on the same day. They were convicted of fatally stabbing and shooting Ralph Stoudemire during a 1977 robbery at his service station in South Congaree.

Two more were executed before that Christmas. Louis Joe Truesdale was put to death on Dec. 11 for the fatal shooting of Rebecca Ann Eudy after sexually assaulting her in Lancaster County in 1980. Andrew Lavern Smith was next, on Dec. 18, for stabbing to death elderly couple Christy and Corrie Johnson in Anderson County in 1983, after the husband refused to let Smith borrow their car.

After a two-week break during the holidays, Ronnie Howard was executed on Jan. 8, 1999. He and an accomplice were found guilty of killing Chinh Le in 1985 after they nabbed the woman and her car in Greenville County.

The sixth on the list was Joseph Ernest Atkins, who was executed on Jan. 22, 1999. He was convicted of shooting to death his father, Benjamin Atkins, and a 13-year-old neighbor, Karen Patterson, in 1985 while he was on parole for a previous killing.

State executions are expected to restart on Sept. 20 with inmate Freddie Owens.The state’s last execution took place in May 2011.

It's unclear when the state Supreme Court will issue a decision on the time-interval question.

Meanwhile, the petitioning inmates — Owens, Marion Bowman Jr., Mikal Mahdi, Richard Moore and Brad Sigmon — asked the court to inform them of the order in which the additional death warrants will be issued.