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August 22, 2012
Condemned Texas killer gets last-minute reprieve from SCOTUS
As reported in this AP article, the "U.S. Supreme Court again halted the scheduled execution of a Texas inmate convicted of a triple murder less than an hour before he could have been taken to the death chamber Wednesday." Here is more:Justices decided to stop the punishment of John Balentine, condemned for fatally shooting three teenage housemates in Amarillo in 1998. Balentine also came within an hour of receiving the lethal injection a year ago and the high court took the same action on an appeal that ultimately was rejected. In 2009, he won a reprieve a day before his death date.
The high court said in a one-paragraph ruling Wednesday that it was giving the reprieve so it could consider Balentine's petition for a review. Attorneys said the appeal would be discussed by the court at a conference late next month. If the request for review is rejected, the reprieve would end and prosecutors again could ask for a judge in Amarillo to set another execution date.
August 22, 2012 at 11:16 PM | Permalink
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Comments
Appalling.
Balentine's original habeas petition was denied by the Supreme Court in October of 2009. Three years later, after the Supreme Court denied a rehearing in the case, the Supreme Court sees fit to stay based on a Rule 60 denial. Utter garbage. This is clearly contrary to AEDPA.
The Supreme Court, once again, has conclusively shown that it is unable to follow its own rules about stays and executions. Neither the victims' families nor the state of Texas should be suffering this indignity. The Supreme Court embarrassed itself today. It has shown itself to be governed by caprice, rather than the rule of law, and it doesn't even have the decency to explain why it granted the stay. Surely, the family members of the victims of this horrible triple-murder deserve at least that, but the arrogant Justices cannot even give them that.
What's worse is that the Court passes on so many injustices because it doesn't have the time--yet it will intervene in a case like this, where the defendant is clearly guilty and where the defendant has had his full habeas review. Obviously, some priorities are seriously out of kilter.
The federal courts as a whole and the Supreme Court in particular have shown themselves to be utterly irresponsible when it comes to capital punishment. It is high time that Congress removed federal habeas power over state death sentences.
Posted by: federalist | Aug 22, 2012 11:31:11 PM
Whether Mr. Balentine has had "full habeas review" is actually one of the questions the Court will consider. The petition for cert was based on Martinez v. Ryan.
Posted by: John | Aug 23, 2012 12:18:31 AM
Didn't the Fifth Circuit hold that Texas state law is immune from Martinez? This will be interesting.
Posted by: SashokJD | Aug 23, 2012 12:37:38 AM
John, he has--it was denied in 2009. That's a full round.
Posted by: federalist | Aug 23, 2012 1:35:45 AM
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