The suspension order was to allow his lawyers time to recover from COVID-19.
A federal judge suspended the scheduled execution of the only woman on federal death row in the midst of a battle over the suspension of execution.
Lisa Montgomery, 52, was convicted of the murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, 23, in the city of Skidmore, in northwest Missouri, in December 2004, according to the United States Department of Justice. Montgomery strangled Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, and then used a kitchen knife to cut the girl out of the womb.
Montgomery, who kidnapped the baby and tried to make the girl his, was convicted of federal kidnapping that resulted in death in October 2007 and was sentenced to execution.
Montgomery’s execution date was initially set for December 8, 2020, according to court documents.
But in November, U.S. District Court judge Randolph Moss granted an order to suspend execution to allow Montgomery’s lawyers to recover from COVID-19 and prepare a petition for Montgomery to receive executive leniency from President Donald Trump.
After the suspension was granted, the Justice Department rescheduled Montgomery’s execution for January 12, 2021. She is currently being held in a federal prison in Texas, but was scheduled to be sentenced to death at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute , Indiana.
Moss decided on Thursday that the Bureau of Prisons acted illegally in resetting Montgomery’s execution date and that a new execution date cannot be scheduled as long as the suspension order remains in effect.
A Justice Department spokesman, who oversees the Bureau of Prisons, did not respond to a request for comment from the Associated Press.
Montgomery’s lawyers agreed with Moss’s decision.
“The district court’s decision requires the government to follow the law by not setting an execution date for Lisa Montgomery while execution is suspended,” said Sandra Babock, Montgomery’s lawyer, in a statement.
Montgomery’s lawyers argued that his client suffers from severe mental illness.
“[Montgomery] she suffers from a dissociative disorder, complex post-traumatic stress disorder and other serious mental illnesses exacerbated by the extreme physical, emotional and sexual abuse she has suffered since childhood, “said Babcock.
Montgomery had a deadline to file a “sentence commutation petition” until November 15, but in early November his two lawyers fell ill with COVID-19 and were unable to work on Montgomery’s behalf.
The lawyers then filed a motion to suspend scheduled execution, arguing that Montgomery would be denied access to the criminal justice system’s “fail safe” because he did not have a significant opportunity to apply for clemency, according to court documents.
Moss granted the suspension on November 19 – Thursday’s decision prohibits a new execution date from being rescheduled while the suspension is in effect until January 1.
“The Court, therefore, concludes that the Director’s order setting a new date of execution while the Court’s suspension was in effect ‘was not in accordance with the law,'” wrote Moss.