The state of South Carolina has scheduled what would be its first execution in nearly a decade, but prison officials say they do not yet have lethal injectable drugs to carry out the execution.
COLOMBIA, SC – The state of South Carolina has scheduled what could be its first execution in nearly a decade, but prison officials say it has no lethal injectable drug to execute it.
The State Supreme Court set the date of execution for December 4 for Richard Bernard Moore, a 55-year-old man who spent 19 years on death row after being convicted of the murder of a convenience store clerk in Spartanburg.
“South Carolina is expected to carry out its first execution in nearly a decade under an unprecedented veil of secrecy in the midst of a global pandemic,” says a statement from Justice 360, the nonprofit organization that represents Moore.
“The South Carolina Penitentiary Department refuses to disclose any information about how it intends to carry out the execution – from the type and origin of lethal injectable drugs to the state and testing of the electric chair – creating the risk of torture without supervision . “
Although Moore’s lawyers sued the prison agency in federal court to force it to disclose such information, the department said in a September letter that it was open about its lack of lethal injectable drugs and that it cannot disclose details such as the identities of the execution team members or drug supplies.
The agency also reported that it was updating any preventive measures for COVID-19 during an execution.
By state law, Moore has up to 14 days before the date of execution to choose between the two methods. If he doesn’t make a decision, the method defaults to lethal injection.
But the last drugs from the prison department expired in 2013, agency spokesman Chrysti Shain confirmed on Wednesday: “We have been actively looking for ways to get the drugs needed for lethal injection, but we have none.”
It is a redux for 2017, when prison officials said they could not comply with Bobby Wayne Stone’s execution order without the appropriate drugs. At the time, however, Stone had not yet exhausted his resources in court.
The state’s current injection protocol requires three drugs: pentobarbital, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride.
Like other states, South Carolina has found it increasingly difficult to secure drugs, as opponents of the death penalty have pressured manufacturers to stop supplying them.
Past attempts by the General Assembly to find alternatives and regularly re-schedule executions have been halted, although Governor Henry McMaster and Director of Corrections Department Bryan Stirling have pressured lawmakers to pass a law protecting the identities of drug makers. Lawmakers have also considered a bill that would force prisoners to use the electric chair if the lethal injection is not available.
Moore’s lawyers indicated that Moore could also ask for clemency or another state appeal, according to court records.
Moore is one of 37 people, all men, on death row in South Carolina. He ran out of federal resources earlier this month, when the United States Supreme Court refused to accept his case. Prosecutors said Moore killed James Mahoney in 1999 while robbing a convenience store.
The last execution in South Carolina was in 2011, when Jeffrey Motts, on death row for strangling a cellmate while serving a life sentence for another murder, abandoned his resources and opted for the death chamber.
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This story corrects the spelling of the first name of the Department of Corrections spokeswoman for Chrysti, not Christi.
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Michelle Liu is a member of the Associated Press / Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a national nonprofit service program that puts journalists in local newsrooms to report on covert issues.