Mo. Supreme Court Denies Franklin's Appeal
Source: Associated Press
Mo. Supreme Court Denies Franklin's Appeal
ST. LOUIS November 20, 2013 (AP)
By JIM SALTER Associated Press
The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday turned away appeals on behalf of white supremacist serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin, hours before Franklin's scheduled execution, leaving few options to spare his life.
The court declined to grant a stay based on three separate appeals: One claiming Franklin's life should be spared because he is mentally ill, one claiming faulty jury instruction when he was given the death penalty, and one raising concern about Missouri's first-ever use of a new execution drug, pentobarbital. The rulings were without comment.
Franklin, 63, is scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday for killing 42-year-old Gerald Gordon in a sniper attack outside a suburban St. Louis synagogue in 1977. It was one of as many as 20 killings committed by Franklin, who targeted blacks and Jews in a cross-country killing spree from 1977 to 1980. He was convicted of seven other murders but the Missouri case was the only one resulting in a death sentence.
Appeals were still pending before federal courts, said Franklin's attorney, Jennifer Herndon.
The state Supreme Court ruling followed a decision on Monday by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon denied Franklin's clemency request, calling his crime in Missouri a "cowardly and calculated shooting."
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mo-supreme-court-denies-franklins-appeal-20941875
