Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

U.S. judge reluctant to give woman on death row more time to seek clemency

Published 11/16/2020, 05:34 PM
Updated 11/16/2020, 05:35 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Lisa Montgomery, a prison inmate scheduled for execution, poses at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Fort Worth

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Lisa Montgomery, a prison inmate scheduled for execution, poses at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Fort Worth

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge signaled reluctance on Monday to grant Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row, extra time to petition for clemency after her attorneys fell ill with COVID-19 before they could complete her application.

In a hearing in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Randolph Moss questioned why lawyers for the convicted killer had not completed a draft of the clemency petition sooner, saying he believed Montgomery could still authorize other attorneys to proceed on her behalf.

The Justice Department said in October it would execute Montgomery on Dec. 8, in what would be the first federal execution of a woman since 1953.

Montgomery, now 52, was convicted in 2007 of kidnapping and strangling Bobbie Jo Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant. Montgomery then cut the baby, who survived the attack, out from the womb.

"I would think that any vigorous and experienced counsel ... would begin on Day 1 and would have done a great deal for early November to have at least started the process of putting something together," Moss said.

"What I can tell you is that the amount of time was very short, given all that they had to do," responded Sandra Babcock, an attorney for Montgomery, telling Moss later in the hearing that clemency arguments "can't be put together by any old person."

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Lisa Montgomery, a prison inmate scheduled for execution, poses at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Fort Worth

Babcock said lead clemency attorneys Kelley Henry and Amy Harwell were too sick to meet the Monday night deadline to file Montgomery’s petition.

Montgomery’s lawyers say she has long suffered severe mental illness and was the victim of sexual assault, including gang rape.

Separately, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a petition in federal court on Monday seeking a stay of the execution on the grounds that Montgomery is being held in "torturous conditions" likely to re-traumatize a woman who was "sexually terrorized for decades."

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.