Kentucky Attorney General pushes to resume lethal injections

The debate over whether to resume executions, lifting a 14-year ban on the death penalty, has made its way to a Kentucky appellate court.

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman told the Courier Journal this week that he has promoted a seasoned prosecutor in his office to oversee legal challenges in various death cases as his office pushes for the resumption of lethal injections. The Commonwealth's last execution, of Marco Allen Chapman, took place in 2008.

Coleman's office is challenging the continuation of a stay on all executions issued in 2010 in Franklin Circuit Court.

Currently, there are 25 condemned inmates, including one woman. The prisoners and the death chamber are housed at the Kentucky State Penitentiary, a male maximum security prison in Eddyville, 180 miles southwest of Louisville.

Attorneys for death row inmate Ralph Baze, who killed two police officers, successfully argued before Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd in 2010 that some of the Kentucky Department of Corrections lethal injection protocols were unconstitutional. Attorneys with the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy's capital post conviction branch are representing Baze on appeal.

Changes have been made to comply with the judge's order, with Governor Andy Beshear's administration publishing the final amended capital punishment regulation in March. This change allows for an automatic stay of execution if a DOC review finds reasonable grounds to believe the condemned inmate is intellectually disability.

Then, Coleman filed a motion in March to dissolve the injunction barring lethal injections to clear the way for the executions of Baze and others. Baze, 69, who was sentenced to death in 1994 in Rowan County for the murder of two lawmen . Arthur Briscoe, Powell County deputy sheriff, went to Baze's home to serve an active warrant from Ohio. When Briscoe returned with Sheriff Steve Bennett, Baze killed both men with an assault rifle.

Coleman argued that the latest DOC action brought the state protocols into full compliance with the judge's 2010 ruling. The judge decided not to lift the injunction, since questions may arise over the constitutionality of the new regulations.

Coleman's office filed an appeal of the judge's decision, which remains pending before the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

Regardless of which side wins in the appellate court decision, the issue is expected to reach the Kentucky Supreme Court. Coleman's office is hoping for the opportunity to make oral arguments before the high court later this year or early 2025.

The Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty continues to lobby lawmakers through online petitions for a death penalty abolition bill. Its website cautions: "Kentucky's death penalty is dormant, but many are trying to revive it!" They also urged the governor to sign a bill to abolish the death penalty.

Earlier this year, a group of state lawmakers proposed legislation to abolish the death penalty, commuting current death sentences to life without parole, but it failed to make it out of either the House or the Senate.

In another death penalty case, Assistant Solicitor General Elizabeth Hedges, with the Kentucky Attorney General's Office of Criminal Appeals, is urging a federal appellate court in ongoing motions to uphold the death sentence of Karu Gene White.

White, awaiting execution for three murders in 1979, is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals to review his case, court records show. A jury convicted White in 1980 of the murders of Charlie Gross, 75, his wife, Lula Gross, 74, and Sam Chaney, 79.

White has remained on death row for 44 years − longer than any other inmate awaiting execution − for the murders of three elderly shopkeepers in Breathitt County, 159 miles southeast of Louisville.

"For 40-plus years, the families of the victims have been forced to wait for justice, enduring unacceptable delays and frustrating appeals," Coleman said.

"We are asking the court to respect the jury's verdict, deny this last-ditch appeal and clear the way for lawful punishment."

Staff writer Beth Warren can be reached at bwarren@courier-journal.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @BethWarrenCJ.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky Attorney General pushes to resume lethal injections