The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an application for a hearing from an Arkansas death-row inmate whose execution this week is on hold.
The nation's highest court rejected a petition for a writ of certiorari from Bruce Ward, who is one of two inmates scheduled by Gov. Asa Hutchinson last month to die by lethal injection this Wednesday.
Since Hutchinson's order, the scheduled executions of Ward and seven other inmates were stayed by Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Wendell Griffen, who is considering a lawsuit filed by death-row inmates over a state law that shields information about the supply of the state's lethal injection drugs.
Last week, the Arkansas Supreme Court also stayed Ward's execution pending a second petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, which will be unable to consider Ward's application until Oct. 30, nine days after he would have been put to death. The second request, still pending, pertains to how Ward's case was handled in the courts.
Hours after Ward's application was denied Monday, his attorneys filed a petition with the Arkansas Supreme Court asking it to issue another stay in the man's execution, arguing that Ward is too mentally ill to be executed.
Ward was first convicted and sentenced to death in 1990 following the murder and sexual assault of an 18-year-old Little Rock gas station clerk, Rebecca Doss.
In June, Ward's attorney, Josh Lee, filed a petition with the nation's high court, arguing that Ward was not of sound mind during his sentencing and that he should have been offered an independent mental health analysis that could have proven to be a "mitigating" factor for the jury when considering a sentence.
The case was set for consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, and the application was denied Monday. An attorney for Ward declined to comment.
In September, Lee filed the second petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that Ward was being denied due process because his execution was allowed to go forward despite a procedural error.
As of Monday night, Ward's Wednesday execution remained stayed by separate orders by Griffen and the Arkansas Supreme Court.
State attorneys have appealed Griffen's stay and asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to block Griffen's order. Attorneys for the inmates argue that Griffen's ruling was proper in order to give enough time for the inmates to challenge the constitutionality of the state law that keeps the source of the state's lethal drugs a secret.
Metro on 10/20/2015