TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Nov 19, 2020

A federal judge today delayed the execution of federal death row inmate Lisa Montgomery after her two Tennessee-based public defenders contracted the COVID-19 virus, the Commercial Appeal reports. Assistant federal public defenders, Kelley Henry and Amy Harwell, had asked for an injunction to postpone the execution until they could prepare a thorough clemency appeal. Montgomery was scheduled to die by lethal injection on Dec. 8, the first female to be put to death by the U.S. government in more than six decades. Her execution has been delayed until at least Dec. 31 under an order filed today by U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss. A new date has not yet been set. If Henry and Harwell are still too unwell to finalize the clemency petition by Dec. 24, they are ordered to add other attorneys or ask the court to appoint additional qualified counsel to the case.