Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — A federal appeals panel today cleared the way for Arkansas to put two condemned killers to death in the next three weeks, including one execution scheduled for Monday.
The panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis dissolved stays issued this week for death-row inmates Don W. Davis and Stacey Eugene Johnson. Davis is scheduled to be put to death Monday; Johnson’s execution is set for May 4.
In a 2-1 ruling, the 8th Circuit panel said U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes abused his authority in staying the executions of Davis and Johnson.
The two joined a lawsuit filed last month by another death-row inmate, Jack Harold Jones Jr., challenging Arkansas’ lethal injection procedure.
Holmes agreed to hear Jones’ lawsuit and stayed his scheduled March 16 execution. Davis, Johnson and four other death-row inmates later were allowed to intervene in the case.
Holmes dismissed Jones’ lawsuit Monday, calling it “speculative,” but stayed his execution pending an appeal. Holmes then granted stays for Davis and Johnson as well because he had done so for Jones.
The 8th Circuit previously lifted the stay for Jones and on Friday granted the state’s motion to do so in the case of Davis and Johnson.
The judges said the plaintiffs did not meet requirements set by the U.S. Supreme Court in seeking time to challenge the manner in which the state plans to execute them, including a showing of a significant possibility of success on the merits.
“The plaintiffs in Jones have failed to show — and the district court did not find — that they have any realistic chance of prevailing on the merits, much less that they have a significant possibility of success on the merits,” the appeals court said.
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel’s office said Friday it was sending a letter to Gov. Mike Beebe asking that a new execution date be set for Jones.
Meanwhile, state prison spokesman Dina Tyler said preparations were under way to carry out Davis’ execution, scheduled for 9 p.m. Monday.
“When we have an active date, even when there’s a stay, we continue with staffing,” Tyler said. “We’re ready to proceed. At this hour, the execution is on go.”
After the 8th Circuit ruling Friday, lawyers for Davis filed an emergency motion asking the state Supreme Court to reconsider granting a stay of Davis’ execution. They argued the federal appeals court decision “reflects absolutely no view whatsoever on merits of Mr. Davis’ state constitutional challenge to the Method of Execution Act of 2009.”
Davis petitioned the state Supreme Court for a stay of execution Monday.
On Thursday, the high court said the petition was moot because the federal court had stayed the scheduled execution.
Johnson’s lawyer, Jeff Rosenzweig of Little Rock, said Friday he was prepared to take Johnson’s case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
Davis was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for the 1990 execution-style slaying of Jane Daniel of Rogers.
Johnson was sentenced to death for the 1993 slaying of Carol Heath, who was killed in her De Queen apartment.
Jones was sentenced to death for raping and killing Bald Knob bookkeeper Mary Phillips in 1995. Phillips’ daughter also was severely beaten in the attack.
