softheart
01-28-2004, 08:39 PM
Jan. 28
TEXAS----execution
Vickers executed after second trip to death house
Condemned prisoner Billy Frank Vickers, 58, who has a history of
convictions and prison terms, was executed today for the slaying of a
Lamar County grocery store owner during a botched robbery almost 11 years
ago.
Vickers spent 10 hours in a small cell just outside the death chamber Dec.
9 while the courts considered an appeal challenging the constitutionality
of the drug combination used in executions.
When the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could not resolve the case by
midnight, six hours after Vickers was scheduled to die, the execution
warrant expired and Vickers was returned to death row.
It was the 1st time since Texas resumed carrying out capital punishment in
1982 that a condemned inmate's death warrant expired without a resolution.
The following day, inmate Kevin Lee Zimmerman won a court-ordered reprieve
in the same appeal. But the reprieve was lifted less than a week later
when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal, clearing the way for new
execution dates for Zimmerman and Vickers.
Zimmerman was put to death last week for a fatal stabbing during a robbery
in Beaumont. The contention that the drug combination resulted in cruel
and unusual punishment was raised again in his case, but it failed on a
Supreme Court vote.
The drug issue was included in new appeals pending in Vickers' case.
Vickers was convicted of killing grocery store owner Phillip Kinslow.
Vickers and 2 accomplices weren't aware Kinslow had a gun when Vickers
tried to rob him in 1993 near Arthur City, just south of the Red River.
Vickers was shot 3 times, and Kinslow was fatally shot.
Vickers becomes the 4th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
Texas and the 317th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on
December 7, 1982. At least 10 others are on the execution schedule for
2004, including 4 in February.
Vickers becomes the 78th condemned inmate to be put to death during the
tenure of Rick Perry as Governor of Texas, all since 2001.
Vickers becomes the 8th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
the USA and the 893rd overall since America resumed executions on January
17, 1977.
(sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin)
TEXAS----execution
Vickers executed after second trip to death house
Condemned prisoner Billy Frank Vickers, 58, who has a history of
convictions and prison terms, was executed today for the slaying of a
Lamar County grocery store owner during a botched robbery almost 11 years
ago.
Vickers spent 10 hours in a small cell just outside the death chamber Dec.
9 while the courts considered an appeal challenging the constitutionality
of the drug combination used in executions.
When the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could not resolve the case by
midnight, six hours after Vickers was scheduled to die, the execution
warrant expired and Vickers was returned to death row.
It was the 1st time since Texas resumed carrying out capital punishment in
1982 that a condemned inmate's death warrant expired without a resolution.
The following day, inmate Kevin Lee Zimmerman won a court-ordered reprieve
in the same appeal. But the reprieve was lifted less than a week later
when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal, clearing the way for new
execution dates for Zimmerman and Vickers.
Zimmerman was put to death last week for a fatal stabbing during a robbery
in Beaumont. The contention that the drug combination resulted in cruel
and unusual punishment was raised again in his case, but it failed on a
Supreme Court vote.
The drug issue was included in new appeals pending in Vickers' case.
Vickers was convicted of killing grocery store owner Phillip Kinslow.
Vickers and 2 accomplices weren't aware Kinslow had a gun when Vickers
tried to rob him in 1993 near Arthur City, just south of the Red River.
Vickers was shot 3 times, and Kinslow was fatally shot.
Vickers becomes the 4th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
Texas and the 317th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on
December 7, 1982. At least 10 others are on the execution schedule for
2004, including 4 in February.
Vickers becomes the 78th condemned inmate to be put to death during the
tenure of Rick Perry as Governor of Texas, all since 2001.
Vickers becomes the 8th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
the USA and the 893rd overall since America resumed executions on January
17, 1977.
(sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin)