A judge further postponed the planned execution of the only woman on federal death row in the United States.
In a decision that potentially leaves the Trump administration with no choice but to postpone execution beyond the end of his term, a federal judge concluded that an attempt to reschedule it for January was illegal.
Lisa Montgomery, 52, was convicted of the murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, 23, in Skidmore, northwest Missouri, in December 2004.
After strangling Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, Montgomery cut the girl from the womb with a kitchen knife. The child survived and prosecutors said Montgomery then tried to pretend it was hers.
Montgomery was scheduled to be sentenced to death in December at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, but U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss delayed the execution after his lawyers contracted coronavirus and asked him to extend the time allowed to request clemency petition.
Moss forbade the Bureau of Prisons to carry out Montgomery’s execution before the end of the year and the authorities rescheduled the execution date to 12 January. But on Wednesday, Moss determined that the agency was also prohibited from rescheduling the date while the suspension was in effect.
“The court therefore concluded 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.
A Justice Department (DoJ) spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the order, the Bureau of Prisons cannot reschedule Montgomery’s execution until at least January 1.
Generally, according to DoJ guidelines, a death row inmate must be notified at least 20 days before execution.
Because of the judge’s order, if the DoJ decides to reschedule the date in January, it could mean that the execution will be scheduled after Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20.
A spokesman for Biden told the Associated Press that the president-elect “opposes the death penalty now and in the future” and would work as president to end his use in office.
Biden’s representatives did not say whether executions would stop immediately when he took office.
Montgomery’s legal team argued that she has severe mental illness. One of her lawyers, Sandra Babcock, said in a statement: “Given the severity of Mrs. Montgomery’s mental illness, the sexual and physical torture she endured throughout her life and the connection between her trauma and the facts of her crime , we appeal to President Trump to grant his mercy and commute his sentence to life imprisonment. “