A federal circuit court in St. Louis is considering whether to continue the stay of execution for prisoner Roderick Nunley. The corrections department is continuing to prepare for Nunley’s execution while the case is in process.
Nunley says his death penalty is wrong because it was not made with a jury’s recommendation. Attorney General Chris Koster argues the stay should be overturned .because Nunley did not want a jury for his trial and pleaded guilty. He says Nunley should abide by the rules established for himself two decades ago.
Nunley and another man were sentenced to death for the kidnap, rape, and murder of a 15-year old Kansas City girl in 1989. His accomplice, Michael A. Taylor, came within less than an hour of being executed in February, 2006 before a stay was issued. The corrections department decided about twenty hours later that he would not be executed that day because of ongoing court issues. Taylor remains under a death sentence but his appeals have not been fully resolved. No new execution date has been set for him.
Koster and Priddy discuss the stay mp3
