*Henderson received a stay of execution so his lawyers would have more time to pursue their argument that death by lethal injection is painful (causes muscle spasms) and therefore cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
**Walton will not be executed yet as the state of Virginia continues to gauge his sanity. The governor of Virginia admits Walton "meets the Supreme Court definition of mental incompetence." His fellow death row inmates describe him as "nuttier than a fruitcake," often laughing at nothing in his cell and answering back to invisible people. His lawyer says he is deeply schizophrenic and mentally retarded. It is not legal to execute the insane as they don't understand that they are being punished.

*Nealy's execution has been stayed so the court can review possible prosecutor misconduct and recanted testimony.

*Michael Johnson committed suicide in his cell just hours before he was to be executed by the state of Texas. He slit his wrist and throat with a sharp piece of metal. He had maintained his innocence in the shooting of a gas station attendant in 1995. He was in a car with a friend, and filled up their tank with gas without paying. As they drove off, one of the two shot the gas station attendant to death. He said his friend shot the man, while his friend testified in court that Johnson had shot him. His friend got a plea bargain for 8 years in prison in exchange for his testimony. His friend served his time in prison and is now free.

**Donnie Johnson received a stay of execution from the state of Tennessee. He is awaiting death by electric chair. He contends that in his trial it was not properly explained that a work-release inmate was granted immunity for testifying against him. Johnson says this inmate killed his wife and he had nothing to do with it. The inmate took the stand and said Johnson had collaborated with him in the murder. The inmate (out on work-release during the day) said Johnson went with him to a local mall and they dumped the body together.

***Danny Rolling is the Florida serial killer who preyed on college students in Gainsville. Five were murdered in 1990. He has confessed to the crimes. He also confessed to 3 previously unsolved murders in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana.

*Holton was granted a stay of execution after he filed an appeal arguing he did not receive good enough legal representation during his trial.

*Hugueley has been given a stay of execution in order to file appeals. He wants visits with his family and pastor before being executed but because of past problems with him in prison the warden was not OKing contact visits in which he could hug them.

**Page received a temporary stay of execution by the Governor of South Dakota because the laws there specify execution by lethal injection of 2 substances, while the current lethal injection methods normally use 3 substances to cause death. The governor wants the law rewritten so there is no discrepancy. This will be the first execution in South Dakota in almost 60 years!

*Hedrick has opted for death by electric chair, an option in the state of Virginia.
**Bridgers has been given a stay of execution to have his IQ tested. Previous tests show him to be borderline mentally retarded and the U.S. no longer executes the mentally retarded.

*Conner's execution has been postponed so that DNA samples can be re-tested using the newest technologies (his trial was in 1991 and the testing was inconclusive).

**O'Brien's execution has been rescheduled for July after issues were raised regarding lethal injection being cruel and unusual punishment.

***Alley was granted a stay of execution just hours before he was scheduled to die. DNA from the crime scene will now be tested.

*Pedro Sosa's execution has been stayed. His attorneys feel he may meet the requirements of mentally retarded who are not executed in the U.S. anymore.

**Derrick Frazier's execution has been stayed so the courts can consider a new appeal.

*Martinez was granted a stay of execution because jury instructions at his trial were not updated to match a new rule. Mitigating circumstances should have been weighed, such as his history of mental illness and stays in psychiatric hospitals.

* Evans' execution has been stayed to allow the courts to hear the 4 appeals issues his lawyers have entered.

** Benner said this as he was prepared for execution: "Over the past 20 years I've caused unimaginable pain. Cynthia and Trina were beautiful girls [2 women he raped and killed]. They didn't deserve what I done to them. They are in a better place. I pray that God will grant you peace."

***Morales' execution has been stayed because he has argued successfully that the execution method in CA is cruel and unusual punishment at odds with The Constitution. CA uses lethal injection with 3 different drugs: the 1st is a barbituate to sedate the prisoner, the 2nd is a drug that paralyzes the muscles and the 3rd causes a heart attack. One of the drugs causes a painful burning throughout the body but the barbituate is supposed to mask this pain. Recently, the medical journal The Lancet published a study finding 40 per cent of the prisoners put to death this way might feel pain and not be sedated enough. A judge in CA ordered Morale's execution could happen if either he was 1st anesthetized by doctors or if he was given a different kind of lethal injection, an overdose of barbituates by a doctor. All the doctors contacted by the state of CA to perform either of these execution types refused to do them, as they feel bound to their doctor's ethics to "do no harm" to their patients.

*Allen is 76 years old, raising issues about executing the elderly. His heart had stopped last year but he was revived by medics.

**Spirko has been given a stay of execution. His defense team will have 6 months to order DNA testing of hairs found on duct tape at the scene of the crime.

***Murphy has been given a stay of execution. He will be given IQ tests to determine if he meets the definition of mentally retarded. The U.S. no longer executes the mentally retarded.

****Hill was given a last-minute stay of execution by the United States Supreme Court while they review his appeals. Journalists, relatives and guests were already seated in the viewing area just outside the execution chamber when the stay was granted!

For more info on any of these cases, just search Google News with the inmate's name in quotation marks, example: "John Johnson."