A DEATH row inmate set to be executed in simply weeks has been requested to make a chilling alternative of how he want to die.
Richard Moore, 59, has been sentenced to loss of life subsequent month for brutally capturing a retailer assistant useless in South Carolina in 1999.
A letter from the state’s prison authorities requested Moore whether or not he would like to get executed by firing squad, deadly injection or electrical chair.
And he should select earlier than October 18, the letter mentioned.
If he fails to decide, he shall be electrocuted to loss of life as per the state legal guidelines.
South Carolina’s electrical chair, which was constructed greater than a century in the past in 1912, was examined final month – and was discovered to be working correctly.
The state additionally permits execution by firing squad, a technique that was launched by the federal government in 2021.
Bryan Stirling, South Carolina’s Corrections Director, mentioned that the jail has skilled and instructed three volunteers on shoot an individual straight within the coronary heart.
The suitable weapons and ammunition have additionally been stocked, he added.
In 1999, an unarmed Moore entered a store run by James Mahoney in a bid to rob it.
The shopkeeper was initially not damage, however a brawl between the 2 led to a shootout the place Moore was capable of seize maintain of a gun and shoot the shop clerk within the chest.
Mahoney later died from the deadly bullet wounds.
Moore was additionally linked to a collection of crimes, together with routine site visitors offences, illegal weapon possession, purse snatching, theft and bodily assault, Post and Courier reviews.
He was additionally a daily shopper of crack cocaine, Daily Mail reviews.
The convicted killer has been sitting on a loss of life penalty sentence for greater than 23 years now.
He’s the primary particular person ever to be given a loss of life sentence in a homicide case the place the killer was initially unarmed.
Moore has pleaded to the US Supreme Court to cease the execution – and has requested the state governor Henry McMaster for a mercy petition.
However a South Carolina governor has by no means granted mercy to an inmate on the loss of life penalty in current instances.
If the execution – set to happen on November 1 – goes forward, Moore will solely be the second particular person to be put to loss of life by authorities after the state resumed loss of life penalties following a 13-year pause.
The primary particular person to be executed in recent times was Freddie Owens who was convicted of murdering a convenience store worker in 1997 following a failed theft try in Greenville.
However he was sentenced to loss of life when he killed Christopher Lee, a fellow prisoner, at a county jail throughout his trial.
His last moments noticed his face twitching for 5 minutes as he was executed in a South Carolina jail final month.
The cold-blooded killer uttered a single “bye” to his legal professional earlier than he was given a deadly injection.
U.S. loss of life penalty legal guidelines
THE loss of life penalty in the US is ruled by each federal and state legal guidelines.
Its legality and software can differ relying on the jurisdiction.
The federal authorities permits the loss of life penalty for sure crimes corresponding to terrorism, espionage, treason, large-scale drug trafficking, and homicide of a federal official or regulation enforcement officer.
The Federal Demise Penalty Act (1994) gives the authorized framework for loss of life penalty procedures in federal instances, outlining offenses which are eligible for capital punishment and procedural protections for defendants.
As of now, 24 states allow the loss of life penalty, whereas 23 have abolished it or have moratoriums.
Every state has its personal legal guidelines relating to which crimes are punishable by loss of life, normally restricted to first-degree homicide with aggravating circumstances (e.g., a number of murders, killing a police officer, or homicide throughout a violent crime like theft).
Deadly injection is the commonest technique of execution throughout the U.S., however some states have different strategies, corresponding to the electrical chair, fuel chamber, hanging, or firing squad, as secondary choices or by alternative of the condemned.
Some states have imposed moratoriums (short-term halts) on executions, corresponding to California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania, despite the fact that the loss of life penalty stays authorized in these states.
There was a rising pattern towards abolition, as public opinion has shifted, considerations about wrongful convictions have arisen, and the prices of loss of life penalty instances have elevated.
Demise penalty instances contain a fancy and prolonged appeals course of, which incorporates computerized appeals to greater courts.
This course of is designed to make sure that convictions are correct and that no constitutional rights had been violated in the course of the trial.
Defendants in capital instances are afforded particular protections, corresponding to the fitting to efficient authorized counsel and psychological well being evaluations.