Judge halts execution of Lisa Montgomery after her attorneys contract COVID-19
A federal judge Thursday temporarily blocked the federal government from executing a Kansas woman, who killed an expectant mother in northwest Missouri, after her attorneys contracted COVID-19.
The order, handed down by U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington, prohibits the federal Bureau of Prisons from carrying out Lisa Montgomery’s execution before the end of the year.
Montgomery was scheduled to be the first woman executed by the federal government in 67 years. The only woman among the 55 prisoners on federal death row, Montgomery had been scheduled to die by lethal injection Dec. 8.
Her attorneys sought a delay of her execution after they contracted the virus visiting her in prison. Her lawyers were experiencing debilitating symptoms and asked that she not be put to death until they could prepare and submit her clemency application.
One of Montgomery’s attorneys, Sandra L. Babcock, hailed the ruling as “a meaningful opportunity.” The virus has left Montgomery’s two lead attorneys virtually bedridden.
“Mrs. Montgomery’s case presents compelling grounds for clemency, including her history as a victim of gang rape, incest and child sex trafficking, as well as her severe mental illness,” Babcock said in a statement. “She will now have the opportunity to present this evidence to the President with a request that he commute her sentence to life imprisonment.”
In his ruling, Moss said that if the execution moves forward as scheduled, Montgomery would “lose her statutory right to meaningful representation by counsel in the clemency process.” He said the lawyers should file a clemency petition by Dec. 24 or bring on other lawyers to assist.
The 52-year-old Montgomery, who is from Melvern, Kansas, was convicted in 2007 of strangling 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett in Skidmore, Missouri and kidnapping her unborn baby after cutting her from her womb. The child was later found safe.
A coalition of more than 1,000 supporters last week urged President Donald Trump to stop the execution, citing the horrific abuse Montgomery suffered throughout her life and her ongoing mental illness.
The American Civil Liberties Union also filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia earlier this month, contending that the death row conditions in which Montgomery is being held violate her Eighth Amendment rights, which protect her from cruel and unusual punishments. The ACLU also argued in the lawsuit that prison officials are discriminating against her based on her disability.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 19, 2020 at 2:52 PM.
