Justices promise at least 5 weeks between backlogged executions in South Carolina

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s Supreme Court is promising to wait at least five weeks between putting inmates to death as the state restarts it death chamber with up to six executions looming. Friday’s one-page order rejected a request from lawyers for the condemned inmates to set three months between executions to relieve pressure on prison staff and give lawyers time to dedicate solely to each prisoner’s case. Still unanswered by the justices is another legal question before Freddie Owens is brought to the death chamber on Sept. 20 — can Owens have his lawyer choose whether he dies by lethal injection, electrocution or by the new firing squad?