Supreme Court Stays Delma Banks Execution
The Supreme Court has granted a last-minute indefinite stay to Delma Banks, just minutes before his scheduled execution tonight, which would have been Texas' 300th execution since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstated.
Jim Marcus, a lawyer with the Texas Defender Service, a nonprofit law firm that represents indigent defendants, said Banks' case is typical of the problems with death penalty appeals. Finding additional evidence in a case is only part of the challenge; the bulk of an appellate lawyer's time is spent trying to persuade a court to look at it, Marcus said.The Court's order indicated the justices were undecided about the case and wanted time to consider whether to take it on."You spend 80 percent of your time asking, `Can we please get to the merits?' " Marcus said.
The Board of Pardons ands did not consider Banks' clemency petition because his attorneys filed it Feb. 24, two weeks before the execution date but a week past the deadline.
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