UPDATE: As perhaps a sign of the harried pace of these suits, a spokesman for the state Attorney General, who earlier sent out a press release saying the state’s motion to the Arkansas Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to stay the execution of Bruce Ward, now says he was mistaken. The Court has not yet ruled on the motion.
The Arkansas Supreme Court has rejected the state’s request to lift the stay the Court put on the execution of Bruce Ward, who was scheduled to die today.
Ward’s attorneys say that he is mentally incompetent to be executed. He suffers from severe and life long schizophrenia and delusions, according to his attorney.
The state had argued that Ward made his claim too late and hadn’t sufficiently demonstrated that his mental state deserved further consideration during his original trial.
In today’s formal order, the Court gave no reason for denying the motion, but indicated that three justices, Karen Baker, Shawn Womack and Rhonda Wood, would have denied the stay.
Three justices, Karen Baker, Shawn Womack and Rhonda Wood, dissented in the decision to grant a stay for Ward.
