The Arizona Republic reports, "Arizona inmate's stay of execution upheld by court." It's written by Michael Kiefer.
Wednesday morning, Edward Harold Schad, the man who was twice convicted of Grove’s murder, was supposed to be executed by lethal injection at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence.
But his appeals went down to the last minute. On Tuesday around 8 p.m. Arizona time, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a stay of execution by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That court also ordered the District Court in Arizona to re-evaluate Schad’s case in light of a Supreme Court decision to see if it mattered that Schad’s trial attorney had failed to present his mental illness as a good reason not to sentence him to death.
At issue are overlapping Supreme Court decisions controlling when new evidence resulting from “ineffective assistance of counsel” can be introduced in federal appeals. And on Tuesday night, the high court determined that Schad’s case did merit another look.
"Court refuses to clear way for AZ execution," is the AP report, via the Arizona Daily Star.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had blocked Schad's execution while a judge considers his claim that he was denied effective legal representation after his conviction. The state had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let the execution go ahead as planned.
Earlier coverage of this Arizona case begins at the link.
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