Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing

US Supreme Court Issues Stay of Execution for Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman

Monday, 04/08/02
By John Shiffman

The U.S. Supreme Court today issued Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman a stay of execution, exactly 36 hours before his scheduled execution Wednesday.

Today's order does not necessarily mean the U.S. Supreme Court will take the case. The stay of execution will remain in affect until the court decides whether it will hear Abdur'Rahman's appeal. That could take several days, if not weeks or months.

''We are extremely pleased that it looks like Mr. Abdur'Rahman will have his day in court, which is what this case has been about for years,'' said Thomas Goldstein, the Washington, D.C. defense lawyer handling the U.S. Supreme Court appeal.

''We know that justice, fairness is on our side,'' defense attorney Brad MacLean told the Associated Press. ''We've always had the faith that we would get relief.''

Tennessee Attorney General Paul Summers had no comment, his spokeswoman said.

Abdur'Rahman had been transferred Sunday to ''death watch,'' a special cell near the execution chambers. Goldstein said defense lawyers were working this afternoon to transfer him back to regular cell on death row. A prison spokesman wasn't immediately available.

Abdur'Rahman, formerly James Lee Jones, was sentenced to death in 1987 for slaying of Patrick Daniels, a Nashville marijuana dealer.

The order staying the execution was issued at 1 p.m. today.

In its appeal to the nation's highest court, defense lawyers argued that federal procedural rules shouldn't bar a hearing on certain claims of prosecutorial misconduct. They asked the court to stay the execution until the justices could hear the appeal, known in legal terms as a writ of certiorari.

This is a complete text of the order:

''The application for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to Justice (John Paul) Stephens and by him referred to the court is granted pending the disposition of the petition for a writ of certiorari.

''Should the petition for a writ of certiorari be denied, this stay shall terminate automatically.
''In the event the petition for a writ of certiorari is granted, the stay shall terminate upon the sending down of the judgment of this court.''