July 10, 2020

July 15 execution temporarily stayed, July 13 and 17 executions still planned

By Natalie Hoefer

The July 15 execution of federal inmate Wesley Ira Purkey has received a temporary stay from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, according to The Indiana Lawyer.

A July 6 article of the publication notes the court deemed that two of three technical points raised by Purkey’s lawyers require further investigation. The temporary stay will remain in place until the investigation is complete.

His lawyers also filed a second claim asking a federal judge to halt Purkey’s execution altogether based on his Alzheimer’s disease impeding his ability to understand the current situation. As of The Criterion going to press on July 7, there was no word on this petition.

Also as of July 7, the executions of federal inmates Daniel Lewis Lee on July 13 and Dustin Lee Honken on July 17 were still set to take place as scheduled, as well as the execution of federal prisoner Keith Dwayne Nelson on Aug. 28.

The executions will take place at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute. †

 

Related story: Anti-death penalty rally and day-of-execution vigil plans are underway

Also: Bells toll, sharing the piercing news of the first federal execution in 17 years

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