Warren Hill case heads to Georgia Supreme Court
Oral arguments could be held sometime ‘in the next several months’
- Georgia Department of Corrections
- Warren Lee Hill
A high Georgia court is planning to take a close look at whether Warren Lee Hill’s indefinite stay of execution should remain in effect.
The Georgia Supreme Court yesterday announced that it will hear the state’s appeal contesting a recent ruling that said a new state law, which allows the names of companies who supply lethal injection drugs to the state be concealed, could be unconstitutional.
State Attorney General Sam Olens filed a petition for immediate review last month after Hill, who was scheduled to be killed, received an indefinite stay from Fulton County Superior Court Judge Gail Tusan. After Hill’s lawyers raised concerns, she said the secrecy law may prevent death-row inmates, including Hill, from accessing information needed to defend their rights in court.
Hill, a death-row inmate who has an IQ of 70, was first sentenced to death in 1991 after killing his fellow inmate Joseph Handspike. He had already been serving a life sentence for murdering his then-18-year-old girlfriend, Myra Wright. During the past year, Hill has managed to avoid death on three separate occasions and has received stays of execution for several different reasons.
By the time Olens could appeal, Hill’s execution warrant had expired and the court went into recess for the month of August. Now the state will get a chance to overturn the ruling.
In considering the appeal, the high court says it will look at the following questions:
-Is the case moot since the current supply of pentobarbital has expired and it is unclear how the state would obtain a new supply of execution drugs?
-Did the Fulton County Superior Court have the authority to stay Hill’s execution?
-Could the whole issue of the statute’s constitutionality be avoided if Hill were given a sample of the drug for testing or given other information the statute does not prohibit?
-Did Judge Tusan err by issuing the stay based on Hill’s challenge of the statute’s constitutionality?
Georgia Supreme Court spokeswoman Jane Hansen said in a statement that oral arguments could be held sometime “in the next several months.” Until that time, Hill’s indefinite stay of execution will be upheld.