Execution canceled as US court says inmate's pastor should be with him
Supreme Court rules that Alabama state cannot proceed without the condemned man's pastor in the execution chamber
Updated: February 16, 2021 06:02 AM GMT
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Willie B. Smith III was convicted of murder 30 years ago but was granted a last-minute stay of execution on Feb. 11 after a US Supreme Court ruling. (Photo: Alabama Department of Corrections/AFP)
After the Supreme Court blocked the execution of an Alabama man because it ruled his pastor should be allowed to be with him, the state canceled the execution.
In a divided midnight vote Feb. 11, the justices upheld a lower court's ruling that Willie Smith III's pastor should be with him in the execution chamber, which the state opposed.