KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia judge on Monday ordered a halt to executions that were already on hold in December, saying questions about the state’s clemency process must be resolved before Stacey Humphries’ execution can be carried out.
Humphreys, 52, was scheduled to face execution on December 17, but the execution was suspended just days before he was to undergo a lethal injection.
He was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in the 2003 shooting deaths of Cyndi Williams, 33, and Lori Brown, 21, at a real estate office in Cobb County, northwest of Atlanta.
At issue: Humphries’ attorneys argued that two members of the Georgia Parole Board had conflicts of interest that would affect their participation in clemency hearings.
Humphries’ attorneys filed a petition earlier this month asking a judge to order two members of the parole board to recuse themselves from considering his clemency application.
One of the board members, Kimberly McCoy, was a victim advocate for the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office at the time of Humphreys’ trial and was assigned to work with victims in the case, attorneys said.
Another board member, Wayne Bennett, is the sheriff of Greene County, where the trial was moved due to pretrial publicity. Humphries’ attorneys said Bennett was responsible for overseeing the safety of jurors and Humphries himself during the case.
In an order filed Monday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote, “Pressing the ‘pause’ button on the enforcement mechanism until we answer the important questions raised by the petitioners regarding the proper composition of the Clemency Hearing Board is the correct course of action.”
He ordered attorneys from both sides to submit additional legal briefs on the issue by Jan. 19.
Additionally, the judge wrote in the order that Humphries should conduct a thorough research and argument on the conflict of interest issue so that the parole board, which does not have a conflict of interest, can decide his case at a clemency hearing.
