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death penalty

Executions will remain on hold until the state fixes its lethal injection protocol, says Gov. Lee

Anna Gallegos-Cannon

January 6, 2023

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Inmates on death row in Tennessee were granted reprieve on Friday when Gov. Bill Lee announced that the state’s highest court will not reschedule executions, for now.

Filed Under: Criminal Justice, News Hits, Programs, WPLN News Tagged With: death penalty, death row, execution, executions, lethal injection

Tennessee’s lethal injection chemicals haven’t been tested properly for years, according to third party review

Marianna Bacallao

December 28, 2022

Gov. Bill Lee is changing the way Tennessee carries out its executions, following an independent review of the state’s lethal injections.

Filed Under: Criminal Justice, WPLN News Tagged With: Bill Lee, death penalty, execution, executions, lethal injection

Defense attorneys ask Tennessee governor to stop all executions until protocols can be independently reviewed

Samantha Max

April 28, 2022

Middle Tennessee’s federal public defender is asking Gov. Bill Lee to halt all executions until an independent group can review the state’s protocols. The defense attorneys sent a letter to the governor Thursday morning, one week after he granted a last-minute reprieve for Oscar Smith.

Filed Under: Criminal Justice, WPLN News Tagged With: Bill Lee, death penalty, electric chair, lethal injection

Tennessee governor postpones first scheduled execution since the pandemic, citing concerns about lethal injection protocol

Samantha Max

April 21, 2022

Oscar Smith was not killed by the state of Tennessee as planned Thursday night.
Gov. Bill Lee granted Smith a temporary reprieve barely an hour before the execution was scheduled to take place, citing “an oversight in preparation for lethal injection.”

Filed Under: Criminal Justice, WPLN News Tagged With: Bill Lee, death penalty, execution, Tennessee Department of Correction

Oscar Smith and Tennessee’s history of capital punishment

Andrea Tudhope

April 21, 2022

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Update: About 15 minutes before Oscar Smith was scheduled to be executed, Gov. Bill Lee released this statement: “Due to an oversight in preparation for lethal injection, the scheduled execution of Oscar Smith will not move forward tonight. I am granting a temporary reprieve while we address Tennessee Department of Correction protocol. Further details will […]

Tagged With: At Us, death penalty

A man on Tennessee’s death row tells the courts he would rather face a firing squad than lethal injection

Samantha Max

April 12, 2022

Oscar Smith’s attorneys think lethal injection is cruel and unusual. But he doesn’t want to choose the electric chair, either. Instead, they’re asking for an alternative: firing squad.

Filed Under: Criminal Justice, WPLN News Tagged With: death penalty, electric chair, lethal injection

New DNA testing casts doubt on triple murder conviction that landed a man on death row, attorneys say

Samantha Max

April 5, 2022

Attorneys have filed a last-minute plea to reopen a death penalty case before their client’s scheduled execution later this month at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.

Filed Under: Criminal Justice, WPLN News Tagged With: death penalty

A Tennessee man has been spared from execution, yet his attorneys still want to prove his innocence

Samantha Max

November 23, 2021

When Pervis Payne walked into a Memphis courtroom on Tuesday morning, he hugged his attorney and sobbed.

Filed Under: Criminal Justice, Race & Equity Tagged With: Bill Lee, death penalty, pervis payne

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