John Middleton - MO (New date set)

12:01 AM EDT
John Middleton is scheduled to be killed by the people of Missouri in revenge for the murders of Randy Hamilton and Stacey Hodge.




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Judge rules Missouri executions constitutional
By CHERYL WITTENAUER – Jul 16, 2008

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A federal judge in Missouri has ruled that the state's method of executing condemned prisoners by injection is constitutional.

U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan in Kansas City made the ruling late Tuesday. Two years ago he issued a moratorium on executions in Missouri.

But he says the state has since revised its procedures and that they are now constitutional.

On Friday, the Missouri Supreme Court postponed the execution of John Middleton, scheduled for July 30. There was no immediate word on rescheduling it.

(Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jsIEE3NOKKeu4ux-XCXrvoHQOxJwD91V4S501)

The Missouri Supreme Court says it plans to set a date to execute convicted killer John Middleton.


According to the Associated Press, the court announced on Tuesday that it would issue a warrant to execute Middleton on Sept. 17. He had earlier been scheduled to be executed on July 30, but that order was stayed while courts decided whether the state’s method of executing prisoners by chemical injection was constitutional. A federal judge ruled on July 15 that the state’s procedure is constitutional.
Middleton, who would be the first prisoner executed in Missouri since October 2005, was convicted of first degree murder in the June 1995 shooting deaths of Spickard residents Stacy Hodge and Randy Hamilton and Davis City, IA resident Alfred Pinegar. He received the death penalty in all three murders, which he committed in an attempt to hide his methamphetamine operation.
In addition, on Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court denied a writ of mandamus filed on behalf of Middleton, which sought to have funding from the Missouri State Public Defender’s Office made available to pay for an independent mental health exam to determine if he is competent to be executed. One of Middleton’s attorneys, John W. Simon, told the Republican-Times earlier this month that he was not certain that Middleton is competent to be executed, citing his long history of drug abuse and his extended wait on death row as reasons for his possible incompetence. Simon said that he is not an expert in such matters and neither is the Department of Corrections, so an independent expert is needed to determine Middleton’s competency. Simon noted that Middleton, whom he described as a “sweet, simple, man” has said things that “cut both ways.”
Prior to his latest stay of execution, Middleton had already been moved from the Potosi Correctional Center at Mineral Point to the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center at Bonne Terre, where Missouri executions are carried out.