MISSISSIPPI

Execution date set

JACKSON - The Mississippi Supreme Court on Monday set a July 17 execution date for Tracy Alan Hansen, convicted in the 1987 killing of a state trooper in Harrison County.

Mississippi has not executed a state inmate since 1989, when Leo Edwards was put to death for killing a Jackson convenience store clerk.

Hansen was sentenced to die for the April 10, 1987, murder of Highway Patrolman Bruce Ladner. Hansen's latest appeal -- to the U.S. Supreme Court -- was rejected.

I pray for him and his loved ones.

me too...but does this mean Mississipi will start murdering again? why?

Condemned murderer Tracy Alan Hansen has asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to stay his July 17th execution and requested post-conviction relief. Hansen is sentenced to die for the April 10th, 1987, murder of Highway Patrolman Bruce Ladner in Harrison County. The state high court set the execution date at the request of the state attorney general's office. Hansen's attorney, Merrida Coxwell, of Jackson, said in papers filed Wednesday with the state's high court that Hansen was represented by incompetent counsel at the penalty phase of his capital murder trial. Coxwell also claims Hansen has undergone such severe abuse during the 15 years he's been on death row that his execution is unconstitutional. Coxwell was out of town and unavailable for comment late Wednesday. Hansen has raised the allegation of incompetent counsel in previous appeals, but this time he added claims of harsh treatment he suffered while at the state prison in Parchman. Hansen was sentenced to death on October 26th, 1987. The state Supreme Court denied his first appeal in 1991 and his request for post-conviction relief in 1994. Mississippi has not executed a state inmate since 1989, when Leo Edwards was put to death for killing a Jackson convenience store clerk.

Mississippi's first execution in more than a decade remains on schedule for Wednesday. An attempt to postpone the execution of Tracy Alan Hansen has failed. A federal judge today denied a motion filed by six death row inmates requesting a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. The inmates were seeking a halt so that Hansen can testify in a constitutional rights lawsuit. The inmates claim prisoners were deprived of basic personal hygiene needs, adequate shelter, and health care. U-S District Judge Glen Davidson says Hansen's testimony is not needed. Hansen was sentenced to die for the shooting death of Highway Patrol Trooper Bruce Ladner. Ladner was shot twice with a .38 caliber revolver after a routine traffic stop on Interstate 10 in Harrison County. Hanson's execution will be the first since the June 1989 execution of Leo Edwards.

The stay was denied by Governor Ronnie Musgrove. Hansen will die by lethal injection - the first time this method will be used in Mississippi - tomorrow night at 6:00 pm. Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore will witness the execution.

He killed a copy.... does anyone really think he stands a chance? This is what makes me so angry and sad. It's revenge... that is all it is. Revenge

What goes on with the rest of the prison when someone is murdered like this man? I know the inmates went on lockdown on that Wednesday.