Lisa Montgomery’s lawyers have argued their client suffers from severe mental disorders.
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court has cleared the way for the single woman on federal death row to be implemented until President-elect Joe Biden requires office.
U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss had ruled that the Justice Department unlawfully rescheduled Montgomery’s implementation and he vacated an order from the director of the Bureau of Prisons scheduling her passing for Jan. 12.
Montgomery was scheduled to be put to death in the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, in December, but Moss postponed the execution after her attorneys contracted coronavirus visiting their customer and requested him to extend the time to file a clemency petition.
Moss reasoned that under his order, the Bureau of Prisons could not even reschedule Montgomery’s implementation until at least Jan. 1. But the appeals panel .
Meaghan VerGow, an attorney for Montgomery, said her legal staff would request the full appeals court to review the situation and said Montgomery shouldn’t be executed on Jan. 12.
Montgomery was convicted of murdering 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett in the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore in December 2004. She used a rope to strangle Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, and then cut on the baby girl from the uterus with a kitchen knife, authorities said.
Montgomery took the child with her and attempted to pass off the girl as her very own, prosecutors said.
However, her attorneys have argued that their customer suffers from serious mental illnesses.
However, Biden hasn’t said whether he will halt federal executions after he takes office Jan. 20.
