Judge stays executions of two federal inmates with COVID-19
By (0)
Jan. 12 (UPI) A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Justice Department from executing two death row inmates this week as they recover from COVID-19.
District Judge Tanya Chutkan of the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction in effect through March 16 in the executions of Dustin Higgs and Corey Johnson. The inmates lawyers asked for stays after their clients came down with the novel coronavirus in December.
Advertisement
Johnson, 52, was scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., for his role in a Richmond Va., drug gang tied to 10 murders.
When is Cory Johnson due to be executed? thesun.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thesun.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Federal death row inmate Corey Johnson on Friday asked an appeals court to issue a stay of execution allowing his attorneys to argue in court that he s intellectually disabled and thus shouldn t be put to death.
On Thursday, lawyers for Dustin Higgs, who is also housed in Terre Haute, said their client also tested positive.
Johnson’s attorneys said they will ask the federal government to withdraw his execution. He is scheduled to die on Jan. 14.
“Mr. Johnson’s diagnosis will substantially interfere with his attorneys’ ability to have meaningful contact with him during these critical days before his scheduled, execution, and the widespread outbreak on the federal death row only confirms the reckless disregard for the lives and safety of staff, prisoners and attorneys alike,” defense attorneys Donald Salzman and Ronald Tabak, said in a statement.
2nd inmate slated for execution next month tests positive for COVID-19
By (0)
Dec. 18 (UPI) A second federal death row inmate set to be executed next month has tested positive for COVID-19, his lawyers announced Friday.
Corey Johnson, 52, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Jan. 14 at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., for his role in a Richmond Va., drug gang tied to 10 murders.
Advertisement
Attorneys Don Salzman and Ron Tabak said their client tested positive for the novel coronavirus amid a growing outbreak on federal death row. The government must stop conducting executions during a COVID-19 outbreak in the facility, and we have called on the Department of Justice to withdraw Mr. Johnson s execution date, they said.