Lynn Fitch, Attorney General of Mississippi which is a republican party An execution date is being sought for a convicted murderer. He has been on death row for 30 years, but his lawyers argue the request is premature. Because this man plans to appeal to the US Supreme Court.
Charles Ray Crawford, 58, was sentenced to death for the 1993 kidnapping and murder of 20-year-old community college student Kristy Ray. Related news agencies–
During his trial in 1994, jurors pointed to a past rape conviction as an aggravating circumstance when they issued their decision against Crawford. But his lawyer said Monday that They are appealing the decision to the Supreme Court. After the Court of First Instance sentenced them last week.
Crawford was arrested a day after Ray was kidnapped from her parents’ home. and was stabbed to death in Tippah County. Crawford told officers he had turned off the lights and did not remember killing her.
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Charles Ray Crawford, prisoner on death row in Mississippi who was convicted and sentenced to death in 1994 for the kidnapping and murder of 20-year-old community college student Kristy Ray in 1993. (Mississippi Department of Corrections via AP)
He was arrested just days before his scheduled trial for assaulting another woman by hitting her in the head with a hammer.
His trial on the assault charge was delayed for several months before he was found guilty. In another trial Crawford was found guilty of raping a 17-year-old girl who was a friend of the victim of the hammer attack. The victims were at the same location during the attack.
Crawford said he turned off the lights during those events. And he doesn’t remember ever being beaten with a hammer or raped.
During Crawford’s capital murder trial in Ray’s death, The jury found that the rape conviction was “The situation was dire” and gave him the death penalty. According to court records
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During the capital murder trial of Crawford, The jury found that his previous rape conviction was “The situation was dire” and sentenced him to death. (Istock)
In the latest federal rape appeal Crawford claims his previous attorney provided unconstitutionally ineffective assistance of the insanity defense. He received a psychiatric evaluation at a government hospital. But the trial judge repeatedly refused to allow a psychiatrist or other mental health expert outside of the state’s expert to assist in Crawford’s defense. Court records indicate
on Friday A majority of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit rejected Crawford’s appeal.
But the dissenting judge wrote that he had received The dissenting judge referred to “inadequate preparation and defense of insanity” and “it would take several years for a qualified physician to fully evaluate Crawford.” The dissenting judge referred to Dr. Siddhartha Nadkarni, the neurologist who examined Crawford
“Charles was operating under impaired reasoning from epilepsy. He did not understand the nature and quality of his actions at the time of the crime,” Nadkarni wrote. “He was a man who had suffered serious brain injuries. (This was confirmed by both his history and neurological examination) which was basically of no benefit. Because he had epilepsy at the time of the crime.”
Photograph shows the gurney of the execution chamber. (AP Photo/Sue Oakrocki, File)
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Crawford’s case has been appealed multiple times using various arguments. This is common in death penalty cases.
It came hours after a federal appeals court rejected Crawford’s latest appeal. Fitch has filed documents calling on the state Supreme Court to set a date for Crawford’s execution by lethal injection, arguing “he has exhausted all state and federal remedies.”
However, attorneys representing Crawford in the Mississippi Post-Conviction Counsel Office The documents were filed on Monday. They said they planned to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the appeals court’s decision.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
