State's next execution may come as soon as July.
After 2 executions last week, 2010 could go down as the busiest year for the Mississippi death penalty since 1961 - evidence a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court ruling is having impact on Mississippi's death row.3 more death row inmates could run out of appeals this year, and the next execution could be as soon as July.
State Attorney General Jim Hood said it plainly Friday in the wake of back-to-back executions of Paul Everette Woodward, 62, on Wednesday and Gerald James Holland, 72, on Thursday.
"We can expect to see more executions," Hood said.
He cited changes made during the administration of President Clinton that allowed appeals to move faster through the court system. But it was the Supreme Court's 2008 decision in a Kentucky case, Baze v. Rees, upholding lethal injection procedures that paved the way for increased execution in several states.
' Mississippi has not executed more than 2 in any year since 1961, when 5 inmates were put to death.
Death row inmate Joseph Burns' petition for appeal is now before the U.S. Supreme Court. Hood expects the court to decide whether to hear Burns' appeal June 30.
If the court declines, the state will immediately ask the Mississippi Supreme Court to set an execution date.
"We expect that to be the latter part of July," Hood said.
Burns, 42, was sentenced in Lee County in September 1996 for the November 1994 robbery and murder of motel clerk Mike McBride. Burns spent the stolen cash in a casino.
2 other death row inmates have rehearing petitions before the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. That means the court decided against hearing their initial appeals. If that court doesn't change its earlier ruling, the inmates' only hopes lie with the U.S. Supreme Court.
One is Frederick Bell, convicted of the 1991 murder of a Grenada County grocery store clerk.
Bell, 38, was sentenced to death on Jan. 27, 1993.
Hood, who was not in his office when reached Friday, did not have the name of the 5th inmate close to running out of appeals.
But he is prepared for all to be executed in the coming months.
"We believe that will occur in the latter part of summer or early fall," Hood said.
Each execution costs the state roughly $11,000, Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said.
"We are prepared to carry out the executions," said Epps, who has witnessed more than a dozen executions.
Marcie King Walker approves of an increased use of the death penalty. Walker watched Holland's execution Thursday. She was 11 years old when Holland murdered her sister, Krystal Dee King, in 1986.
"I wish we had a fast lane for them," Walker said. "I hope we become like Texas."
Texas has executed more than 450 convicted murderers in the last 25 years.
Death row facts
Mississippi has 59 inmates on death row, of which 56 are males, 31 are black, 27 are white and 1 is Asian.
[source: Mississippi Department of Corrections]
Source: Clarion Ledger, May 23, 2010
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