A three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to overturn a stay of execution for condemned inmate John Winfield, who is scheduled to be executed just after midnight tonight.
A federal judge issued the stay Friday based on arguments that Corrections Department Officials pressured a worker at the prison where Winfield was held not to write a letter in support of clemency for Winfield. The Attorney General’s Office argues that point is moot because Governor Jay Nixon (D), who decides whether clemency is granted, has received a copy of a letter of support from that worker.
The Attorney General has appealed for a hearing before the full 8th Circuit Court.
An application for a stay made by Winfield’s attorneys to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is still pending.
Winfield was sentenced to death for the 1996 murders of Arthea Sanders and Shawnee Murphy.
Earlier stories on John Winfield
