Death row inmate Richard Moore appealed to the US Supreme Court to postpone his execution

Lawyers for death row inmate Richard Moore have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the state court’s decision and halt his execution.

Columbia-based law firm Justice 360 ​​filed an emergency motion to delay his execution, according to U.S. Supreme Court filings. The group asked for a stay because they hope the high court will review the South Carolina Supreme Court’s denial of the habeas corpus petition — a last resort after all other legal challenges have been exhausted.

According to the hearing application, Moore filed a habeas corpus petition in 2023, arguing that South Carolina prosecutors violated the U.S. Constitution and court laws when selecting an all-white jury for his 2001 murder trial.

Moore’s lawyers argued in Batson v. an old U.S. Supreme Court case in which the prosecution rejected the participation of some jurors based on their race. He argued that it violated the Kentucky lawsuit.

On August 24, the state Supreme Court denied the claim and denied Moore’s appeal.

More: Richard Moore is scheduled to be executed on November 1; Here’s a timeline of key events in his case

“The (South Carolina) Supreme Court has not found that a prosecutor enforced strict objections in a racially discriminatory manner for 32 years,” Lindsey Vann, lead attorney for Justice 360, said in court filings.

Moore is scheduled to be executed at Broad River Road Prison in Columbia on November 1 at 6 p.m. On October 4, the state Supreme Court ordered Moore’s execution.

“Moore now respectfully requests that this Court stay his execution to permit full and timely consideration of his pending petition for a writ of certiorari. Vann said through the document that a stay of execution was necessary to address and correct the state court’s disregard for this Court’s precedents.

In September 1999, Moore was arrested and charged with murdering James Mahoney at Nikki’s Speed ​​Mart in Spartanburg. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 2001.

This article was first published in Greenville News: Richard Moore asks the US Supreme Court to stay his execution