SC death row inmate wants his attorney to decide how he will die

The above shows the space in the Department of Corrections' Columbia prisons complex for executions, as seen from the witness room. The firing squad chair (left) was added following a 2021 state law that made death by firing squad an option. The electric chair is under the cover. (Provided by the S.C. Department of Corrections)

COLUMBIA — The South Carolina inmate scheduled for execution next month gave his attorney the power to decide how he will die, according to court filings.

Meanwhile, the state Supreme Court said it will not schedule any more executions until justices decide how much time should pass between them, according to a Friday order.

Freddie Owens is still scheduled to die Sept. 20, which would mark the first execution in the state since 2011. But additional executions are on hold, pending a ruling on a request from condemned inmates’ attorneys to space them at least 13 weeks apart.

Under a state law upheld by the high court last month , Owens has three options for how his execution will be carried out: Lethal injection, firing squad or electrocution. Without a decision in writing, the default method is the electric chair, as per a 2021 law.

But Owens signed over decision-making powers to his attorney Aug. 14, more than a week before the court issued his execution order Friday. He signed the documents under his new legal name, Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah. But his court filings remain in his old name to reduce confusion.

Owens’ attorneys informed state prisons officials of Owens’ decision after his warrant was issued, according to legal filings.

Corrections Director Bryan Stirling asked the high court Monday to decide whether an inmate can relinquish that power to his attorney — basically, whether the attorney’s decision would be valid, since state law doesn’t address that specific scenario.

Justices have ordered attorneys for Owens and the state to submit their responses to Stirling’s question by this Friday.

State law sets a decision deadline of two weeks after an execution order. In Owens’ case, that would be Sept. 6.

Question about timing

Owens is also among five inmates asking the court to wait at least 13 weeks between executions.

The five men who have signed onto the motion, including Owens, are those who have exhausted their normal appeals processes and are not waiting on any further decisions from the courts. Owens’ execution was twice scheduled and halted in 2021 due to legal wranglings over the lack of available options.

State law does not set any rules about the frequency of executions. Rather, it refers only to the timeline between the court issuing a death warrant and the execution date, which must be four Fridays later.

The Supreme Court’s ruling last month, which enables executions on hold since 2021 to proceed, creates the possibility of five consecutive Fridays of executions. There are multiple problems with that, the inmates’ attorneys argued in the motion.

“First, scheduling executions close in time to one another heightens the risk of serious error during the execution, likely resulting in cruel or unusual punishment,” the attorneys wrote.

The “compressed time period” would take a “punishing toll” on the mental and physical health of staff who must carry out the executions, the attorneys wrote.

It would not give executioners the potential time needed to learn from any mistakes and adjust protocols — and for the attorneys to sue to ensure they do. Plus, if problems do arise with a particular method, inmates should be able to choose a different one. They can’t do that if the 14-day deadline has already passed, the inmates’ attorneys continued.

SC set to execute death row inmate next month, the state’s first execution in 13 years

The Attorney General’s Office declined to comment on the motion because it is an ongoing legal matter.

Asked Tuesday about the request for 13-week intervals, Gov. Henry McMaster told reporters that decision should be decided by the Legislature.

If legislators want to insert a frequency delay into state law, then they should do that. In the meantime, justices should not create such a rule themselves, he said.

“I think the current law is a good law,” McMaster said. “It was carefully devised, and there have been years of history on these kinds of things all over the country, and if our Legislature made that decision (to keep the law as is), I think that’s a good decision. It’s a sound decision.”

“If they want to change it, then that will be up to them,” he added.

Clemency?

McMaster, who served as attorney general for eight years, declined to say Tuesday whether he would give Owens clemency. He pointed to his repeated support for the death penalty as a form of justice for victims’ families, especially once an inmate has exhausted the legal processes.

“My position, after years of involvement, is that there are some things that are not highly praised or that are not comfortable for some but that are necessary for some under our rule of law,” McMaster said. “The death penalty is one that our Legislature and those around the country and other places have determined is necessary.”

By law, the governor will receive a call from the Department of Corrections minutes before an execution is set to proceed. McMaster will be asked then whether he wants to grant clemency. He told reporters he won’t give an answer until he gets that call.

But he certainly suggested that the answer will be “no.”

“I think that when the rule of law has been followed, then there’s really only one answer, but you make that statement at the time the law says it’s to be made,” McMaster said.

Owens was convicted in 1999 of killing gas station clerk Irene Graves as part of a crime spree two years prior. The single mother of three was shot in the head because she didn’t know how to unlock the safe. Owens and his accomplice left with $37.29 from the cash register.

The night after he was convicted, Owens killed another inmate at the Greenville Detention Center, then confessed to the crime in court the next day.

The Supreme Court twice sent Owens’ sentence back to the courts over problems in his case, and both times, the jury recommended the death penalty. In 2008, the court agreed.

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